Honestly, our family plov recipe, while ridiculously delicious, is a little (a lot) more time consuming than a regular dinner recipe. It usually takes 3-4 hours and a lot of well practiced technique to produce a family celebration worthy plov. Read more about eating plov as an authentic Ubek experience.
So here is an adapted version of our family recipe, cut down to a more manageable size for most family dinners. Although you’ll find a plethora of “pilaf” knock-off recipes around the web, true plov is significantly improved by longer cooking times.
This amended version has a two hour cooking time.
If you can’t get your hands on a Kazan, the traditional Uzbek cooking vessel for plov and don’t want to bother with cooking over a wood fire, here is a recipe you can make with a Dutch oven on your stove top.
In Uzbekistan, it is traditional to use medium or short grain rice as opposed to other countries which use long grain rice. In the U.S. my parents like to use parboiled rice.
And for the full Uzbek plov experience, serve with a Tomato Onion Salad and boil a kettle to serve your meal alongside a steady stream of hot green tea. The tea is said to aid the digestion of this delicious, but heavy dish.
Did you know that a blessing over food recited with deep intention draws down spiritual light and heals the soul of the one saying it? Get more Jewish food thoughts here.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lamb or beef stew meat cut into cubes
- 1 pound medium grain rice
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 pound carrots julienned
- 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 heads garlic whole
- Barberries optional
Nutritional Facts
Instructions
- Wash rice until it runs clear, cover with cold water and let it soak.
- Heat oil in Dutch oven on a very high heat. Brown meat in batches until golden brown. Remove to a plate.
- Saute onions until golden, return meat to the pot, add carrot and stir. Cook until carrots begin to soften. Add chickpeas and stir well. Add hot water to cover. Add salt, cumin, paprika, whole heads garlic and barberries if using.
- Lower heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 1 hour, until almost all water evaporates and meat is very tender and juicy (if the meat is a tougher cut it might take longer). Do not stir.
- Turn heat back to high.
- Drain rice and place it on top of the meat in one layer.
- Cover the rice with about ½ inch of water, let it boil and cook uncovered until the water is absorbed.
- Reduce heat to low, cover tightly with lid and let it steam for 20 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, remove garlic heads to serve separately.
- Carefully mix rice with meat and carrots. Salt to taste.
- Pile the plov on a big platter and serve with the garlic and a Tomato Onion Salad.
