Uzbek-Style Plov: Recipe and Tips for Cooking in a Cast-Iron Kazan

Aiva Kalve, writing in Latvijas Avīze's magazine “Praktiskais Latvietis”, has published a recipe for plov in the Uzbek style. Plov is a rice and meat dish regarded as a national dish in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. The author recommends it for group work gatherings, since rice, unlike potatoes, does not need peeling.

Basic principles

The main ingredients are rice and meat, in equal amounts. Rice absorbs flavors and aromas, so spices matter. The finished dish should be crumbly; if the rice turns into a creamy mass, the result is a different dish – risotto.

Methods differ between peoples: Uzbeks cook meat and rice together, while Azerbaijanis prepare them separately and then mix them.

Ingredients

The recipe calls for 1 kg of rice, 1 kg of lamb or chicken, 1 kg of carrots, 300 g of onions, three heads of garlic with their stalks, and 200 ml of oil. Salt and spices – red and black pepper and cumin – are added too.

Preparation

Onions are fried in hot oil until golden, then meat and carrots are added. The carrots are cut into 3 mm strips, not grated. The mixture is covered with boiling water and simmered with whole garlic. Once the meat and carrots are soft, salt and spices go in.

The rice is rinsed in six changes of water and carefully spread on top in a small mound. Water is poured through a skimming spoon so the rice does not mix with the base; it should stand about 1 cm above the rice. The pot lid is wrapped in three layers of newspaper and a linen towel to stop condensation dripping back, and the plov simmers on low heat for an hour. Then the garlic is removed, the dish is stirred and left to stand for three minutes.

The authentic Central Asian recipe calls for lamb, but beef or pork can also be used.

Why a cast-iron kazan

Plov is cooked in a cast-iron kazan with a semicircular bottom. Cast iron heats and cools slowly and has low thermal conductivity, so food cooks evenly. Cooks say that food prepared in cast-iron cookware is healthier.