If you’ve ever spent any measure of time with Russians, Uzbeks, or Kazakhs, you’ve probably eaten a dish of plov. It’s a one-pot meal of the best kind, combining tender chunks of cumin-scented lamb with fluffy rice.
There are a handful of plov recipes on the internet, each appended with a string of comments and criticisms from plov connoisseurs. Most agree on the necessary ingredients (lamb, onions, carrots, and rice), but cooking techniques vary widely.
Based on my readings, I have come up with a few plov maxims I’d like to share with you.
1. DO NOT LET THE PLOV BURN. This one’s obvious enough, but it can be difficult to get the amount of liquid exactly right, so that the rice is fully cooked by the time all of the simmering liquid has just evaporated. A tight-lidded cooking vessel and moderate stove heat will help a lot with this one. Since cooking vessels and stove heats vary, you may follow a recipe to a T and still end up needing to add more water as your plov simmers. If this is the case, poke a few holes in the rice, carefully pour some water in, and close the pot as quickly as you can to continue cooking.
2. JULIENNE, DON’T GRATE THE CARROTS. Ideally, the carrots will still have some texture by the time your plov has finished cooking. If you grate them, they will disappear into nothingness. I used a julienne slicer to prepare my carrots, which worked fairly well, but I would venture to say that a hand-cut, slightly larger julienne (1/8-inch by 1 1/2 inches or so) would be even better.
3. DO NOT STIR THE PLOV. The magical combo of fluffy rice and long-cooked lamb is only possible because the rice steams *on top* of the lamb. The simmering meat/vegetable mixture on the bottom is called the zirvak, and it must be developed before you even begin to think about putting rice into the mix. If you stir the zirvak into the rice during cooking, you’ll end up with a gloppy mess. Don’t do it. Furthermore, plov is best served by first scooping the rice off the top onto a large serving platter, then topping it with the lamb, which has been simmering on the bottom of the pot.
From what I can tell, these are the cardinal rules of successful plov-making. Beyond these basic three, you’ll find all sorts of other helpful hints and methodologies hidden in the comments sections of plov recipes online. Some people gather the rice into a mound on top of the zirvak (either during cooking, or when most of the liquid has evaporated, but before turning the heat off), and some spread it out into an even layer. From what I can tell, the most “authentic” way to cook plov is to 1. make the zirvak, 2. spread out the rice over it, 3. leave it uncovered over medium heat until the water evaporates but the zirvak hasn’t burned, then finally 4. mound the rice into a cone, poke holes into it, add more water, cover, and simmer 15-20 minutes. But many people cover their plov for the entire cooking time, too.
As for seasonings, some cooks flavor their plov with just garlic, salt, and pepper, and some add more spices such as cumin, barberries (soaked first, then added at the end of cooking only!), coriander, paprika, and even saffron.
The rice is a source of contention, too. Most cooks soak the rice before cooking, sometimes in tap water, sometimes in salted water. Some do not soak the rice at all. Varieties of recommended rice vary too, from basmati to arborio, though nearly all agree that a long-grained variety is best.
Oh, and here are a couple other curveballs, in case your head isn’t spinning already — a few very discerning cooks insist that you must use alya, rendered fat from a fat-tailed sheep’s rump, to brown the meat. And some insist that without the fabled yellow carrots of Tashkent, a plov isn’t authentic at all.
And then there are the myriad comments from curmudgeonly plov-o-philes who offer no suggestions at all, carefully guarding their own esoteric knowledge and stating that a recipe is inauthentic and not worth making. Gotta love ‘em.
As for my recipe, I don’t make any claims on its being authentic or traditional. While it is common to add whole bulbs of garlic to the pot along with the rice, I stirred in a heaping spoonful of Garlic Gold nuggets instead. Oh, and the picture you see above is of the next-day leftovers. I shaped 1/3-cup portions of the rice and lamb into cakes, then pan-fried them in a little bit of olive oil. Served with lemon zest and cilantro on top, a lemony pile of mixed greens, and a dollop of Narsai’s nectarine chutney on the side, they made for a great lunch.
Plov
serves 6
2 C. long-grain rice
1.5 lbs. bone-in lamb shoulder pieces
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
2 medium yellow onions, halved and sliced 1/8″ thick
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 large carrots, julienned
2 C. boiling water
1 Tbsp. Garlic Gold nuggets
1 C. boiling water
1. Put the rice in a medium mixing bowl, and cover it with cold water by about 3 inches. Let soak for 1 hour, then rinse and drain thoroughly in a mesh strainer. Set aside.
2. Trim whatever meat you can from the lamb shoulder bones, trimming off the fat and setting aside, along with the bones. Cut the meat into 1-inch pieces.
3. Heat the olive oil in a medium (5-quart) dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the pieces of lamb fat, rendering for about five minutes.
4. Turn the heat up to medium. Add the bones to the dutch oven with the oil and fat, browning for another 10 minutes, turning once or twice during browning.
5. Remove the bones and any other solids from the dutch oven and set aside, leaving the rendered fat and olive oil in the dutch oven.
6. Add the cumin seeds, sliced onions, and salt to the dutch oven. Stir, to mix everything evenly, then cover for 10 minutes. Remove lid, stir, and saute uncovered for another five minutes, until onions are limp and just begin to brown.
7. Add the carrots and boiling water to the dutch oven, along with the reserved browned lamb bones and meat. Cover, bring up to a boil, then turn down to low heat and let simmer for 1 hour.
8. Uncover the dutch oven, and stir in the Garlic Gold nuggets.
9. Pour the rice into the dutch oven, taking care not to stir it in. Spread it out in an even layer on top of the other ingredients.
10. Carefully pour the boiling water over the rice. Cover and let simmer for 45 minutes, checking after a half-hour to make sure there is still liquid in the bottom of the pot. If all the liquid has evaporated, make a few holes in the rice and carefully pour in another half-cup of boiling water, close, and continue cooking.
11. Turn off the heat and let sit an additional 15 minutes before serving.
