Traditional Uzbek plov: rice with lamb, yellow carrot and cumin cooked in the kazan

Plov, or osh, is more than a dish in Uzbekistan: it is recognized by UNESCO as cultural heritage, has a dedicated center in Tashkent that cooks for a thousand people a day and is mandatory at weddings, funerals and every family gathering. Tradition says Alexander the Great already ate it; Uzbeks say it is the dish that keeps men on their feet, and it is the man of the house who prepares it on important occasions.

The base is the zirvak: lamb browned in tail fat or very hot oil, onion fried until dark and a frightening quantity of carrot, in thick matchsticks, sautéed until soft. On top goes the rice, which cooks in the steam of the broth without being stirred, with a whole head of garlic buried in the middle and barberries, the sour little berries that burst in the mouth.

The right pot is the kazan, the round-bottomed cast-iron cauldron, but a heavy, thick-bottomed pot works. It is served on a large platter, with the meat on top and the garlic in the center, and eaten, traditionally, by hand, from a single platter, with a tomato and onion salad on the side.

Recipe card

• Origin: Uzbekistan
• Category: Main course, rice with meat
• Difficulty: Medium
• Preparation time: 40 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 kg lamb shoulder or leg (or beef round) in 4 cm cubes
• 1 kg medium- or long-grain rice (devzira, basmati or long-grain), rinsed until the water runs clear and soaked in warm salted water for 30 minutes
• 1 kg carrots in thick 5 mm matchsticks (half yellow, if you can find them)
• 3 large onions in half-moons
• 1 cup oil (or 200 g lamb tail fat)
• 2 whole heads of garlic, unpeeled, base trimmed
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1/2 cup dried barberries (or dark raisins)
• 2 whole dried red chilies
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Hot water as needed

Method

1. Heat the oil in the kazan or a large thick-bottomed pot until almost smoking.
2. Fry the onion on high heat, stirring, for 10 minutes, until deep golden, almost brown.
3. Add the meat and brown on all sides for 10 minutes.
4. Add the carrot and sauté, stirring carefully so as not to break the matchsticks, for 10 minutes, until slightly softened.
5. Cover with hot water to 2 cm above, add half the cumin, the coriander, dried chilies, garlic heads and salt and simmer on low, uncovered, for 40 minutes. This is the zirvak.
6. Remove the garlic heads and set aside. Drain the rice and spread it over the zirvak in an even layer, without mixing.
7. Carefully pour hot water down the side until the rice is covered by 1.5 cm. Raise the heat and cook uncovered until the rice absorbs the water, about 15 minutes.
8. Sprinkle the rest of the cumin and the barberries, bury the garlic heads in the rice, poke holes to the bottom with the handle of a spoon, cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 25 minutes.
9. Turn off and let rest 10 minutes covered. Mix the rice with the meat and carrot only when serving and arrange on the platter with the meat and garlic on top.

Tips and variations

• Rinsing the rice well and soaking it is what keeps the grains loose, never sticky.
• Yellow carrot is traditional in Tashkent; orange works and is the Samarkand kind.
• Cooked chickpeas added to the zirvak are common in Bukhara.
• A teaspoon of turmeric gives the rice a golden color in the festive version.
• A thin-bottomed pot burns the bottom: use the heaviest one you have.
• Leftovers reheat well in a frying pan with a little water.
• Achichuk salad (tomato, paper-thin onion and chili) is the only side needed.

Plov is one pot, a feast day and a platter in the middle of the table. Make it for a crowd and serve with the soft garlic heads to squeeze over the rice.