THE NATIONAL DISH OF UZBEKISTAN "PLOV / OSH"

Plov to Uzbek is like pasta to Italians. Plov is Uzbekistan's main coarse, mainly served to large gatherings of guests, such as a wedding. Uzbeki people have been considered to be leaders in plov. There are about 200 different varieties of Plov. Depending on the variety you make, it is seen as everyday, special or occasional dish. The legend behind Plov: A prince fell in love with a beautiful woman from a poor family. Not being able to marry her, the prince started to fade away, refusing to eat. The king invited Abu Ali Ibn Sina, the great doctor, to heal the prince. He suggested that the prince needed to connect hearts of lovers and feed them with a calorie dish – “Palov Osh”, in order to heal. This explains the presence of this dish at Uzbek weddings. “Palov Osh” is made of 7 ingredients: P – piyoz (onion ), S – sabzi (carrots ) , G – gusht (meat) , Y – yog'(fat) , T – tuz (salt) , S – suv (water) , G - guruch ( rice).

Cook Time: 65 minutes

Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS
200 ml oil
500 g lamb or beef
700 g carrots
2 onions
100 g chickpeas canned rinsed and drained.
150 g raisins
2 garlic heads unpeeled
500 g rice long-grained
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp cumin seeds

1. Dice the onions, slice the carrots in long thin strips and cut the meat in big chunks
2. On high heat, heat the oil and add the meat until brown, stirring frequently
3. Add the onions, continue frying
4. When the onions are light brown, add the carrots. Fry until carrots are half cooked
5. Add 500 ml water together with the chickpeas
6. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, add in the garlic heads and let cook for 15 minutes.
7. Add the raisins. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
8. Add turmeric, cumin, coriander and salt, stir well.
9. Take out garlic heads, add the rice; layer it evenly on top of the carrots, then place the garlic heads on top of the rice layer.
10. Add enough water to cover the surface of rice for a little less than 2 cm.
11. Set the heat on high and wait until all the water is soaked by rice, salt to taste
12. Mix only the top of the rice and close the lid, reduce the heat on very low.
13. After 15 minutes, open the lid and again mix only the top of the rice, close the lid and then cook for another 10 minutes.
14. When rice is cooked, remove from the heat and gently mix all the ingredients together
    Serve in large flat plate, along with fresh salad.

Plov is delicious, festive, and it taught me some things about cooking and about the world. I hope you enjoy it too!

If you try this recipe I hope you’ll come back to leave a comment and tell me what you think!