Uzmerica: Plov!

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Plov, or in Murod's dialect, Palov (Uzbek dialect is Osh), is probably as traditional as Uzbek traditional food can get. It takes attention to detail, time, and a love for oil, but it's really not too difficult to make and sooo easy to eat.

Murod never measures anything, but I forced him to make a pot of plov with measurements. There are a TON of versions of plov, but this one is customary in Uzbekistan's capital city, Tashkent. It has carrots, raisins, cumin, and chick peas, where other versions may have other spices, just rice & meat, etc.

Note: You can make this without meat - just skip over the meat part. Begin with the onions in the oil.

This recipe takes about 90 mins and made about 10 cups.

To begin, you will need:

A wide, deep pot
1cup vegetable/corn oil (Absolutely no EVOO...sorry Rachel Ray!)
3 Carrots (We used 2 fairly large and 1 medium)
1 large tomato
2 medium, white onions
Meat (Typically lamb. Beef is fine, it's just drier)
1.5cups/15.5oz chick peas/garbanzo beans --- canned & drained or soaked overnight
1cup raisins
3cups Uncle Ben's Long Grain Rice (other rices don't seem to do the job)
5cups cold water
2tsp salt
2tbls cumin seeds

How to make the good stuff:

With pot on burner, turn burner on Medium
Pour vegetable oil into pot
While oil is on the burner, prepare the carrots, onions, and tomato

Carrots: Clean, cut off ends, cut each in half. With each half, cut length-wise into wide, vertical strips. Cut each strip length-wise again making thin, vertical strips (think "french fry" style).
Onions: Cut into "half-moons"
Tomatoes: Cut in slices

Put meat into oil and fry "well" - turn heat to High and watch out for splashing oil. Turn the meat over when the underside is browned and continue flipping sides every couple minutes until it's near done.
After approximately 5 minutes, or when the meat is very browned, add onions and mix together.
When onions are turning soft (about 1-2 minutes), add the carrots and mix together. Cover the pot with a lid (heat remains on High). Mix every few minutes.
About 15 minutes later (when the carrots begin sticking to the bottom--but still able to be easily scraped/pushed off with the spoon), add tomatoes, mix, & cover. Lower heat to Medium-High.
5 minutes later, smooth out everything in the pot to prepare for the final ingredients. Everything will now be "layered", hence the smoothing out process.
Add the chick peas and raisins. Turn heat to Medium-Low
Sprinkle in the rice & smooth out
Add 3 cups of the water, being sure to distribute evenly. After the 3rd cup is added, smooth out again - not mixing. The top should look soupy. Add remaining 2 cups of water.
To be very Uzbek, you need to check if the correct amount of water has been added. Do this in several places in the pot by placing your middle finger into the top of the water so you touch the top of the rice. The water should come just below the 1st knuckle.
After the water is added, turn the heat up to High & be very sure the heat is directly in the middle of the pot. The plov should boil.
When the boiling starts, sprinkle & evenly distribute the salt and cumin. Do not mix, but gently smooth into top of rice.
Taste the liquid on top to check seasonings & salt. Adjust as needed.
Use the spoon or the handle to poke in many places into the bottom of the pot, allowing the seasonings to go through. Do not mix. The rice should not be sticking to the bottom.
As the water is getting soaked up, move the rice away from the edges of the pot and lower the heat to Low. Cover.
After 15 minutes, remove the cover (flipping the lid quickly and dumping out the water so the H20 doesn't get in the plov). Flip the top portion of rice so the other side is facing up.
After about 10 mins, plov should be done. Turn off the heat, mix.
Take the meat out and cut into small pieces to put on top of the rice.
Eat!

1. Wide, deep pot necessary for plov goodness

3. Carrots: Clean, cut off ends, cut each in half. With each half, cut length-wise into wide, vertical strips. Cut each strip length-wise again making thin, vertical strips. This picture is cutting into the thin strips.