Uzbek Plov (beef and rice pilaf)

5 from 2 votes

Uzbek Plov (beef and rice pilaf)

Uzbek Plov is the signature dish of Uzbekistan. Plov is a main course. Uzbeks make it with with rice, pieces of meat (usually lamb), carrots and onions. Plov is cooked over an open fire in a kazan (or deghi).

Prep Time25

Cook Time2

Total Time2 25

Course: main

Cuisine: Uzbekistan

Keyword: Beef, lamb, palov, pilaf, plov

Servings:

Calories: 431kcal

Ingredients

1½ lbs lamb shoulder or beef chuck or chicken
⅓ cup vegetable oil canola or similar
2 onions finely chopped
3 carrots grated or julienned
1 tsp salt for the meat and veggies + 1 1/2 tsp salt for the rice
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
4 bay leaves
1¾ cups water for braising meat
3 cups long grain rice Basmati or Jasmin rice work great!
4 cups water hot water for cooking rice
1 head garlic
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric optional
½ tsp sumac or 1/2 cup barberries, cranberries or any tart berry/fruit, optional

Instructions

Trim beef of excess fat and sinews (aka the chewy stuff), pat the meat dry with a paper towel and chop into 1/2" to 3/4" pieces.
Preheat your Dutch oven (or your large soup pot with a heavy bottom), to high heat. Once it's hot, stir in your 1/3 cup canola oil. Once oil is hot, add chopped meat and sauté uncovered 7 min over high heat until meat is browned, stirring every minute or so so it doesn't scorch to the bottom of the pan. Note: it's important to preheat the Dutch oven first for the meat to sear over very high heat, otherwise it will juice out and become dry.
Reduce heat to medium and add chopped onion, stirring often until onion is softened (5 minutes). Stir in julienned carrots, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 3-4 bay leaves and continue to cook over medium heat 5 minutes until carrots are softened.
Add 1 3/4 cups hot water, cover and simmer over medium/low heat 45 min or until meat is tender.
Meanwhile, rinse rice until water runs clear, then drain and set aside (this gets rid of the starch so you won't end up with a sticky rice).
Spread rice over the meat and add 4 cups hot water. Sprinkle the rice with 1 1/2 tsp salt (DO NOT STIR), bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered until most of the water is absorbed (10 min).
Cut off the base of your whole garlic head to expose the cloves. Put your head of garlic, cut side down into the center of the rice and sprinkle the top of the rice with 1 tsp ground coriander.
Poke 7-10 holes through the rice to allow steam to escape to the surface, reduce the heat to low then cover and cook an additional 15 minutes or until rice is cooked through. Remove the garlic head and bay leaves and stir everything gently to combine and you're done.

Video

Notes

Recipe adapted from olgasflavorfactory.com

Nutrition