Uzbek Plov 🍚

Method

1. 1

   Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then soak it in warm salted water for an hour; plov rice must start hydrated or the meat will demand more cooking than the grain can give.

2. 2

   In a cast-iron cauldron, heat a generous cup of oil until it shimmers and smoked the whole pot's worth of onions once — many cooks discard those onions; they were only there to flavour the oil.

3. 3

   Brown the lamb in bone-in chunks over high heat, add sliced onions and fry until jammy, then the carrots cut into thick matchsticks — shredded carrots turn to mush and make a sticky plov.

4. 4

   Pour in boiling water barely to cover, add cumin, barberries, raisins, bay, salt and pepper, and simmer 40 minutes: this zirevak base should taste intensely seasoned, almost too much on its own.

5. 5

   Lay the drained rice on top in an even bed, push a whole garlic bulb and chickpeas down into it, and add hot water until it sits one knuckle above the rice.

6. 6

   Cook uncovered until the water is absorbed to the rice surface, then poke holes through to the bottom, lid tightly with a towel under the lid, and steam on the lowest heat 30 minutes; fluff from the sides inward and turn out onto a platter, meat on top.