1. Plov is the most popular traditional Central Asian dish. It is usually cooked at weddings, funerals and other special occasions where lots of people must be full-fed up with non-expensive yet delicious dish.
2. Original ingredients include:
- Back leg of a fat lamb.
- Carrots, onions, garlic.
- White short grain rice.
- Unrefined cotton oil.
- Various dried herbs such as basil, bay leaves, cloves, red and black pepper seeds, calendula, coriander, etc. for good flavour.
3. Following ingredients can be used instead:
- Any boneless fat red meat that is pork, beef, turkey etc.
- Refined sunflower oil or corn oil.
- Any rice sorts except for half-finished like “Uncle Ben’s”.
- Any spices you like.
- Carrots and onions are essentials and could not be substituted.
4. Original tools:
- Big 2-20 Gal cauldron (a special hemispherical bronze or iron pan with a heavy lid and thick walls).
- Gas-stove.
- Sharp slicer or special graters.
- A kettle to boil water.
- A special 2-sided sieve to hold spices so that they couldn’t mix with the dish.
5. Following tools can be used:
- Any 1-2 Gal pan with thick bottom and height/width proportion no less than ½.
- Any kitchen stove providing the heat range of 200-2000 Watt.
- Modern kitchen units are not to be used to chop vegetables.
- Any tool for boiling of water except for microwave ovens or coffee-machines.
6. The recipe:
Pour one pint of oil into the pan and heat it at high heat until it starts bubbling (~5min). Slice the meat into 2-4 ounce pieces (don’t break bones, if any) and fry it in the boiling oil while the lid is open until slightly roasted. Stir if necessary but not much (~10min). Salt the meat, close the lid, reduce the heat to medium then let it stew for a while (~10-30min). This interval should depend on type of the meat that is beef needs more time while poultry needs less.
Chop onions (2lbs), garlic (1 clove) and carrots (2lbs). Onions and garlic should be chopped crosswise forming thin circles and carrots lengthwise forming long narrow pieces of square section. Put onions then carrots into the pan forming two layers. Stew it at medium-high heat under closed lid until carrot is soft and flexible (~20min). Don’t stir much.
Prepare the rice (2-3lbs) by rinsing it in cold water if necessary. Pour the rice into the pan forming a hillock then carefully spread it to the sides. Don’t press it down to the bottom. Very carefully pour the boiling water (2-3Pt) on the rice. Don’t stir. Rice should be covered by water by one inch. Boil the rice at high heat then medium-high under closed lid until water disappears from the surface.
Then put spices into the sieve, close it and stick it into the rice along with unpeeled whole cloves of garlic (3-4 Pieces). Make several vertical puncture holes in rice so that the steam could go through it up from the bottom. Let it stew at low-medium heat (20-30min). Then remove the sieve and stir the dish thoroughly. Rice should absorb juices so let it stand for 10-15 min before serving.
7. Serving.
Put the whole dish on a big plate, chop the meat to smaller pieces and put it atop. Pour chopped parsley, leek, dill and pomegranate grains. The dish is usually served with green salad containing radish and cucumber dressed by some vegetable oil. Red table wine served in cups harmonizes the meal.
8. Some valuable hints.
- It’s better to get a proper mood first. Turn on some soft, good music that you can listen and sing to.
- Roast the meat slightly just to keep its shape while braising.
- Good plov should have carrot pieces unbroken and onion rings completely dissolved. Lengthwise chopping saves taste while crosswise gives out.
- Choose large carrots and onions to ease chopping.
- Taste all the raw products first to avoid bad results.
- Vegetarians may use soaked beans or raisins instead of meat. Add them with vegetables.
- Bulgarians use sauerkraut along with carrots sometimes.
- Plov is traditionally eaten by hands – no spoons no forks.
- To check if rice is cooked properly you may take some in your hand, gripe then open. The rice should crumble.
- It’s better to chop carrots and onions beforehand.
- Boiling rice at high temperatures too long may cause cracking.
- Plov is traditionally put on large plates serving 2-6 people to avoid leftovers.
- It may take several reincarnations to achieve excellence in cooking, take your time.
- A pan must be covered all the time. If steam goes out, cover it with a towel or a small blanket and press it down with some heavy stuff. Don’t let the dish exhale its soul.
- This recipe is thousand years old – feel eons breathing.
(Copyright © 2000 Yerbolat Dosbayev)