Meal #3 - Uzbekistan - Plov

The next stop on my dinner tour takes me to the landlocked central Asian country of Uzbekistan. A former Soviet republic located north of Afghanistan and south of Kazakhstan. Once part of the Persian Empire, the country was captured by Uzbek nomads of Turkic descent in the 16^th century. Today, most of Uzbekistan’s 27 million people belong to this Uzbek ethnic group, speaking the Uzbek language, and preparing food unlike other Middle Eastern and Asian countries.

For dinner tonight, I made plov (also known as palov or osh), the national dish of Uzbekistan. Much like chili in the United States, there are about as many recipes for plov as there are people who cook it. Pretty much everyone seems to agree on a few key ingredients: rice, carrots, onions, meat and cumin. I chose a recipe that added coriander and peppercorns to this recipe as well. Making the dinner was much easier than I had anticipated, which is good because Katelin had friends over for dinner and I had no backup plan if my plov failed. The best bet for making this is to prep all the ingredients ahead of time before heating up the oil and beginning the actual cooking process.

The food itself was delicious and quite filling. Our guests said they enjoyed the texture of the carrots and onions in the rice, and the strong almost spiced taste the cumin gave the rice. It’s tough to give an exact comparison for the taste, but it was reminiscent of both Pakistani and Northern Iranian food. I used lamb stew meat from a local grocery store and was not disappointed. If you wanted to substitute beef or chicken, I’m sure it would work; it just wouldn’t be traditional Uzbek food. 

Recipe:

2 cups long grain parboiled rice
5 large carrots
2 large onions 

3/4 pound cubed leg of lamb
1/4 pound lamb fat or oil
4 cups vegetable or lamb broth
1 tsp peppercorns (can substitute regular pepper)
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds (can substitute cumin powder)

1.    Peel and cut two large onions in half, then thinly slice crosswise. Peel and coarsely grate 6 large carrots. Set aside.

2.    Grind the spices in a mortar until you have a spice powder. Set aside.

3.     Prepare your workspace with the broth behind, a large Dutch oven in front and the ingredients on the side. Set two plates aside to reserve the meat and lamb fat.

4.      Heat the lamb fat or oil in a large Dutch oven until the fat/oil bubbles and emits a whitish smoke. Be careful not to burn the oil. If using lamb fat, remove the unmelted hunks of fat from the hot oil.

5.      Fry lamb meat in hot oil until browned on all sides and cooked throughout. Remove from oil and reserve meat.

6.      Add sliced onions to Dutch oven and cook in hot oil until browned (about 5-10 minutes.)

7.      Add ground spice mixture and mix well. Heat for one minute.

8.      Add grated carrots and cook for two minutes or until carrots and soft.

9.      Add the reserved meat. Reduce heat to medium high and cook until all ingredients are hot

10.  Pour two cups of uncooked rice over the top of the meat and vegetable mixture (known in Uzbek as the zirvak). I used par-boiled long grain rice to make my plov, but you could substitute a more Asian rice like jasmine rice for better flavor. If you do substitute rice, make sure you adjust the amount of time you let your plov simmer to ensure the rice will be cooked.

11.  Pour hot broth over the rice. Turn heat to low and simmer until rice is tender and cooked (about 15 minutes)

12.  Serve and enjoy