Uzbek Plov
Uzbek food is to Russians what Mexican food is to Americans: a spicy, inexpensive, and delicious alternative to other meat and potato options. And they're not just similar in function, but in spices as well, as cumin, onion, garlic, cilantro, and red pepper play a key role in both. I guess that could be attributed to the fact that both Mexico and Uzbekistan are mostly dry, hot places, with an ancient culinary tradition. Whatever the reason, Uzbek food is fucking awesome, matched only by the former Soviet state of Georgia...but that's another story.
I fell absolultely in love with plov on my 2010 journey to Russia, when a colleague of my friend Nina prepared a batch. I ate myself stupid, so stupid that I ended up hoarding packs of plov spice mix so that I could prepare the same dish back home. Not surprisingly, my version didn't turn out as well as I had hoped--it didn't have the chewy grains of rice, the tender morsels of pork, nor the right amount of salt. Here, I'm going to tell you how to do it the right way.
First off, there are two things that are paramount to a successful plov: a GAS STOVE and a big ass pot with a thick bottom. Those capitals are no mistake: I am shouting at you, because if you cook plov on an electric stove, you probably won't get the same result unless you are an absolute wizard with those bastardly dials.
Due to Islamic dietary laws, plov is usually prepared with mutton or lamb, and though this will give you a truely Uzbek taste, I prefer pork, because it browns nicely and its the most noble of all meat. You can use venison, though, or beef. But don't puss out and use chicken; the flavour of chicken is too weak to fight with the strong flavours and garlic and cumin. (If you can, however, fiddle with the spices, you can come up with your own chicken version. I just don't recommend it.)
So, here's what you'll need:
1 pound mutton or pork, preferably on the bone, and cut into large chunks
2 pounds round grained rice (not long grained; sushi rice can be used, but may require more soaking)
4 ounces of salted pork fat (or another type of fat)
Vegetable oil
2-3 onions, cut into half-circles
1 pound carrots, cut into thin match sticks
3 heads of garlic
2-3 jalapenos, whole
3 tablespoons whole cumin seed
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons red currants, raisins, or other small, sour, dried fruit (optional)
salt
0. Start by washing the rice. As I've said, you should use only round grained rice, as this will maintain shape and texture. Another other will turn into disgusting mush. Also, when you wash the rice, upon rinsing it the first time, it should be cloudy. That means that your rice will soak up water, and you won't need to use a lot of water later. If it's clear, you should soak it for about 30 minutes. Put it to the side.
1. Start by heating up your pan on high heat and adding the pork fat. Render the fat until you are left with little chunks of crispy fat/meat, which you then remove. If you have the bone from your meat, you should cook it with the fat at this stage--it will impart an amazing flavour to your plov.
2. Add some vegetable oil to the rendered fat (you should have about half an inch). Throw in your onions, and brown them until they've thrown off almost all their liquid.
3. Add the meat, and stir it into the onions. Cook until it starts to brown.
4. Once the meat is nice and brown, put your carrots over the top. Do not mix. Cover and let the steam from the meat slightly cook the carrots for about 5 minutes.
5. Uncover, mix gently, lower the heat to medium high. Now, add the cumin seed, cayenne pepper, peppercorns, and your dried fruit. My wife and I prefer our plov to be salty, but you should at least use 2 tablesppons. Add your chili peppers and garlic on top. Do not mix. Add just enough water so that it covers the meat; the peppers and garlic should be sticking out of the top. Do not overwater! Let it cook for about 15-20 minutes, until the meat is cooked.
6. Remove the chilis and garlic. By now, a good deal of moisture should have evaporated from the pot. Carefully add the rice over the top of the meat/carrot/onion mixture, and then add water. The water should not cover the rice, but just enough so that the top grains are poking out like little islands. (Note: If you're using a hard grained rice, you should use more water.)
7. Mound the rice up in the middle of the pot to form a small mountain. Push the garlic and chilis into the mound. Cover this with an inverted mixing bowl or another thing to tightly enclose the rice; it should basically steam in the vapour from the cooking meat below. Put the lid on the pot and turn it way down the lowest setting. Let cook for about 25 minutes. Don't open it to check--you'll lose a lot of the steam. If it's not done at the end, you can add just a tiny bit of boiling water, and let it cook a bit longer.
8. Eat your plov, damn it
