Get ready, because this week, we’re going to learn how to make one of my all-time favorite Central Asian dishes: Plov!

Plov, also known confusingly as “ash” in Osh and “osh” in Tajikistan, and has many variants in Iran called “polo” or “pelow,” is essentially a special traditional rice pilaf (the word pilaf actually comes from this dish, and is probably the most accurate translation of the word).  It’s considered the definitive national food of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and is also one of the national dishes of Kyrgyzstan (especially in my region, Osh).

I’m going to give you first my apa’s recipe for Kyrgyz plov, then we’ll talk about how it’s different in different countries, and how you can personalize and prepare your perfect plov (and applaud my alliterative skills).

First, you’re going to need:
– sunflower oil
– onions
– meat (traditionally lamb or mutton)
– carrots (Kyrgyz people use yellow carrots)
– brown basmati rice (if you have Uzgen rice, use it!)
– 2 heads garlic
– water
– salt
– thyme

Start out with a BIG pot, and heat up some sunflower oil.  Chop the onions and carrots into thin strips (onions will do this by themselves, carrots require a bit of work).

Cube the meat.  Then, you’re going to sauté the onions and brown the meat in the oil.  You probably should use 1 onion, and maybe half a pound of meat (I’m bad at guesstimating!).  You can also make this dish vegetarian, or with extra meat if you like. Fatty meat works really well for this dish.

After browning the meat and cooking the onions, add the carrots and mix it up, letting them soften for a while.

After you’ve got that mixture, you’re going to add water.  You should add 1.5 cups of water for every cup of dry rice you use.  In our case, at this point, we added 4.5 cups of water and some salt.  Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for an hour, adding a good helping of thyme and whatever spices inspire you.

At the same time, wash and soak the rice for an hour.

After an hour, add the rice, and stir it up.  Add the whole heads of garlic at the same time.

Stir, and as the water level gets low, you can mix it up and create a pyramid of rice in the pot.  Apa told me to let it simmer for 20 minutes at this point, but I’m pretty sure we actually let it go for an hour.  The longer you let it go, the more of a crispy crust you can get at the bottom, which is SUPER yummy!

While that’s simmering, you have the option to make shekerob, literally “sugar water,” which is a salad that you traditionally put in your spoon to accompany the plov.  Just chop up some tomatoes (save the juice!) and onions, mix them up, and add some salt, then add the mix (with the juice!) to a plate in the middle of the table next to the plov.

When the plov is done cooking, scoop it into a large serving platter and place it at the middle of the table.  Traditionally, everyone eats from this shared plate with their hands, although nowadays we all use spoons.  Take the heads of garlic and give them to the eldest at the table to remove the cloves from the peel (or to your favorite child), and then scoop up some shekerob, some rice, some meat, and a clove of garlic, and enjoy!

Modifications:

I mentioned that you can make this dish vegetarian, which is exciting.  You can also mix in some barberries or raisins to make “Tashkentski” plov.  Some recipes call for you to add cloves of garlic right at the very beginning (including my Tajik host mother’s recipe).  A lot of people also like to top it at the time of serving with spring onions.  My Tajik host mother always made it with chickpeas added as she cooked the rice.

In the interest of spice accuracy, some of the traditional spice mixes I’ve heard about include cumin, coriander, and black pepper.  Cumin is particularly prominent in Tajik plov, as is coriander.  My apa mentioned that a touch of saffron is also quite delicious.  Tajiks and Uzbeks also use orange carrots instead of yellow carrots (and I think I prefer it with orange carrots).

And, if you want to REALLY go native on this one, you can cook it in a kazan (like a mega-wok) over a fire, which is how it’s cooked for major parties and by my Tajik host grandma pictured here.

Let me know what you think in the comments!  What other foods do you want to hear about?