• #1
• Comment by parshu.naraynan

The garlic looks divine. Alas for the ribbons of war and distrust (Pak-Afghanistan - Iraq- Iran- Chechnya) that divides the other Pulao-eating lands from India. Just imagine staring with a prawn-and-coconut milk muslim pulao in kerala in South India, then  a fiery Hyderbadi  biryani and then driving all the way north through Lucknow in North India, Pakistan, central asia and the middle east, sampling different culture's takes on the rice + meat theme all along the pulao trail, ending with a paella in Spain. War and politics have no sympathy for the harmless little desires of us foodies:-)

• #2
• Comment by Melissa

The palov looks great, and it is the same way that my Uzbek husband makes it. You are right that the men like to come over and make it, with that same attitude as grilling out. They love to criticize the person cooking, saying they aren't doing it right. It is almost identical to the attitude of American men and grilling out.The way you presented it is almost accurate. The only difference is that the men make the lamb pieces just a little bigger, and when it is done they stir the pot and try to put the meat on top, so that when it is served you can just scoop out the rice mix, then put the lamb on top, rather than it all being mixed together (even though it is all cooked together).

• #4
• Comment by Dmitry

I don't mean to criticize you, but this recipe looks very odd for me.I'm sorry, but what is "uzbek plov"?! In Uzbekistan known dozens of plov recipes. This one is Ferghana's plov. Ingredients are Ok, but the way you suggests to cook it is very  very strange, cause it will be not plov, but "kasha" (if you know what it means).You suggesting to add spices right after onions, which is very strange cause better to add powder at  the final stage of cooking, and at at the beginning usually adds whole cumin seeds.And about rice :) Rice need to soaked in water approx. for one hour. When you adding dry rice it drinks too much liquid from plov, and it's very hard to calculate amount of water, which you need to add.About water. Known that after you added rice, you need to add water, which should be 2-3 centimeters higher that rice. And usually, heat should be lowered, when water boiled out from rice _surface_. After that plov should be covered, and better to put between dutch oven and cover some towel, and put some weight on the cover. This action allow to avoid loss of water in plov.And it's totally wrong to turn plov, while it's cooking with rice. Totally! At the beginning lamb's fat floating on water surface, and when water boiling away and going to the bottom, this fat continuously cover rice layer by layer, and in such way it never will overcooked, believe me! Off cause, you may check cooking, is there water remains or not, I'm doing it with the knife, making a little hole in rice, just to see is there water or not.I'm sorry, if it looks like critics, I think you are a good cook, but I believe that this recipe can be significantly improved with suggestions above.with best regards,Dmitry

• #5
• Comment by Kyle

Great, simple recipe!  Just wondering about your thoughts on using long grain "wild" rice that is native to my corner of the world (Wisconsin, USA).

• #6
• Comment by Caio

Hey Fx! Just to let you know that I'm loving your blog and all of your recipes. They are amazing. I'm still trying to find the courage to give them a try, though! LOL I'm 17, btw, and I have no experience cooking whatsoever. At least not when it comes to real dishes...Cookies, cakes and some kinds of spaghetti is as far as I dare go! at least for now!You've really inspired me and I'm really grateful for that! Thank you so much!My best regards,Caio

• #7
• Comment by Andrey

I second to Dmitry. Your recipe seems more like a plov done in institutionalized eateries in Russia, not the genuine Uzbek way. You should NEVER EVER turn the plov during cooking. He also has a point about spices: you can put the kumin after cooking meat and vegetables, but you shouldn't grind it, and it's better to put only half of it. Another half, now very lightly ground, should go with the barberries in the end. Another important matter is that after frying the meat and vegetables mixture, you should put in come water of broth, covering it for aboult half inch, and gently simmer it for at least one hour -- only after that you should add salt and spices. This stew (commonly called "zirvak") is a heart of a real plov. You can make it well in advance, btw, -- it keeps very well if frozen -- and make plov at your convenience.And some other fine points -- carrots are better be sliced than grated, as it gives better texture, and you do not need to bake garlic beforehand: you can simply peel the head of outer skin, wash it, and put directly into the stew before adding rice. (turning aside) yup, I'm exactly that "other Russian man" who criticize other's plov. Although I have an excuse of being fairly good at it. ;)

• #8
• Comment by Dima

Hey MateJust tried the recipe. Sounds to me exactly the way my mom used to cook it for me when i was young :). Andrey got a point about the carrots and about the simmering. As to the spices - from my experience with Indian cuisine, they add the whole spices to the oil in the very beginning (before the onions and other stuff) and let them cook on med flame for about 1-2 minutes. By this much more flavor is released into the oil. Just for the record - you just made 4 people very happy. :)Take care and keep posting :) P.S. It's much easier to get barberries in Liverpool than in Tel-Aviv :).Thanks again,    Dima

• #9
• Comment by Ayubkhon

Hello everybody! To be honest I am really glad to see real Uzbek plov. I am from Uzbekistan, exactly from Margilan. If you know Margilan, of course you will know about the Margilan Plov. Cos it is the most famous Plov in Uzbekistan. The way to cook it also differs from other parts of Uzbekistan. And the type of rice is much beautifull than white rice, we call it "Ozgan", "Dasta Sariq" or "Qora qiltiriq". And we use not red carrot, but yellow, we put there onion more than others do. Cos you know onion makes the food more delicious. Since I don't have a time to explain you all cycle of preparing Margilan Plov, I suggest you to go there and just try and of course enjoy it.Have a nice day.Sincerely yours, Ayubkhon!!!

• #11
• Comment by constantins

Dear FX: I love your site, but it breaks my heart to see this poor plov recipe still there. This is definitely not Central Asian plov. Could you perhaps so kindly rename it perhaps as your "best plov" or something of the sort? Should you wish so, I could send you quite nice examples of real plovs. Thank you and warm regards.

• #13
• Comment by Elena S.

I would like to know if it is possible to purchese rights to the photos you've taken?  Especially the veg by itself, beautiful colors and composition.  I would love to put it on my walls in diner.  Thank You.  Sincerely, Elena.

• #15
• Comment by aklan flig

Superb!
This is how every good recipy shall be written!

Thank You

• #16
• Comment by GongWong

Thanks for the recipe;

So I am sitting in the kitchen
I am working on a plov
It's tasty and its spicy
I guess a lot like love


I didn't stir after adding the stock and I added some paprika.

Still it tastes fantatstic, no where near as gluggy as I expected, the rice is perfect

• #18
• Comment by Irina

This is a great recipe desription.  You described this whole cooking process step by step and it makes me want to cook this dish right this second! Thank you for such a detailed desription with wonderful pictures.  This is a big help for beginning cooks such as myself!

• #20
• Comment by Angelo

Hohohoho! Well, it looks like you were right about one thing Francois, the way to cook plov is a subject that sparks much discussion. It like talking about the way to cook chili in Texas. Regardless of what you do you will always be doing something "wrong". You take criticsm with such steadfastness. Such a diplomat.

Filipinos are pretty touchy when it comes to cooking adobo, just like the way Uzbek men are when it comes to their beloved plov.  

• #22
• Comment by cathryn

I had learned to make plov from an israeli ex-boyfriend (his mother was bukhari) many years ago.  and, while I made it frequently, for years, there was a period of about 10 years, where I didn't make it once, and consequently forgot some of the finer points.  I thank you for reminding me of some of them (though, to be honest, I had to learn to julienne the carrots, and NOT shred or grate them... there's a completely different feel and taste to them (I know it sounds strange, but, it IS true).  in fact, while growing up, my kids ate this at least 2 or 3 times a month... to the point, when my oldest son was dating a bukhari girl, and went to her parents house for dinner, and her mother thought to treat him to something exotic and serve plov, his reaction was "wow! PLOV! It smells about as good as my mothers!) (which caused great amusement and consternation at the table, (they broke up sometime after that incident)

so, I'm thanking you for posting this recipe... and asking if you have one for 'sholeh'?  It's similar to plov, in that it's a rice, onion, meat one-pot dish, but, this has tomatoes, instead of carrots, and it's cooked OPEN, and stirred (sort of like a congee).  Sadly, I made these recipes so often, that I didn't need to write them down... and then didn't make them for long enough, where I've forgotten some of the points of making them....

bon appetit!

• #23
• Comment by Sarah

So, I read everyone's comments, and must say..plov is one of those things that you add yourself to when preparing, for all my fellow russians....it's like zharkoe, you can't go wrong. True, if you don't follow the basics, you can create something that might look like plov, but isn't..who cares, don't you people know it's not what's in the plates it's all about the people sitting around them.
When I make plov (I'm canadian, raised...plov to me is what my babushka used to make 20 years ago) I add 4tbsp cumin at the end, I use only Basmati rice, don't forget in Canada I don't have access to certain wonderful things you guys have access to...like lamb fat..butchers laugh at me here. But most important, I don't have a chugun (the proper cooking pot) and I use vegetable oil. Anyone have any ideas on how to make a good *canadian* plov?

• #24
• Comment by Nina

I am originally from Ukraine and grew up on "sweet" version of plov, which I loved & often preferred to the regular one. When plov is almost ready, you throw dried fruit into the pot: raisins, apricots & prunes. They add divine countertaste to the original ingredients and make the whole dish more delicious and exotic.
Besides, we often replaced lamb for chicken (w/dried fruit as well) and it worked like a charm.
I agree, that rice should only be a long-grain one (Basmati) to avoid a mushy end result.

• #26
• Comment by Owlwings

I have eaten authentic Plov only once, cooked in [one of the] styles of Kazakhstan. My friend who served it to us (his work colleagues) on his birthday had cooked the whole (well, half) leg of lamb in the rice. Naturally, he averred that HIS Plov was the original, only, and most authentic ... I have learned that all Plov makers do (and they all have different recipes, some of the details of which they inevitably gloss over, forget to mention or "translate" ... 'for the benefit of those who do not understand Kazakh/Uzbek/Georgian (or whatever)'.

He said that there was a spice mix, generally bought as a paste in oil, for which he had no English translation (and whose name I have unfortunately lost) which was essential to his version of Plov. I thought I could detect cumin, coriander and caraway (or fennel) at least. The main thing that gave his Plov its fragrance and distinctiveness was saffron, which your recipe doesn't include.

He served it by lifting the lamb out of the rice and carving it to the bone in slices which were placed on top of the fragrant and moist rice on a serving dish. This was not done in the kitchen but at the table and people were expected to serve themselves from the dish.

It seemed to me that his Plov benefited from the delicious lamb marrow as well as absorbing all the fat (which, as I'm sure you know) is real food and good for us, keeping us warm against the Easter weather.

What made my first (and not last) taste of Plov special was, of course, not merely the insidious and delicious fragrance imparted by a few strands of crocus stamens (which used to be grown commercially in my village near Cambridge) but also the warmth and hospitality and sheer pride with which it was served.

I cannot doubt that your recipe (so convincingly put together in your photos) was not delicious - but 'authentic' ... by which one of the many thousands of standards of 'authenticity' in Uzbekistan alone? Even so, I am using your desription and recipe as a basis for MY (Cherry Hinton, if you will!) version of Plov.

I wonder how the English would have mangled the word 'plov', 'pilau', 'pilaff', 'risotto' (the Italians didn't really try!), 'paella' (the Spanish got the first consonant right but mixed up the rest) ... perhaps we would call it a 'palaver' ... which it is, because it is a special meal!

• #28
• Comment by Ivan

Hi! Little bit late comment but anyway, I have to say a word about this. I do respect your efforts of doing this wonderful blog but there's something wrong with Plov. Somebody said once "Let's discuss the taste of oysters with those who ate them". I live in Moscow but last year I spent a month in Uzbekistan learning how to cook plov. And I can say it's completely different thing. No need to explain here in comments but I'm at least twice a year in Geneva so I could come over and cook for you couple of the most remarkable examples of Uzbek plovs and (why not?) set of Russian dishes.

• #29
• Comment by Ani

Hello,

I'm just wondering what's happening to fx as this blog has not been updated for quite a while.
Anyway Ivan, could you update on us on the Plov recipes that you want to teach fx.

thank you
Ani

• #30
• Comment by Alison

I just returned from Uzbekistan with all of the necessary ingredients (except meat and lamb fat!), and can barely wait to try your recipe!  When buying the rice and spices at the market, the vendors (men) all got into arguments about which rice to use and had different advice about whether to add the spices at the beginning (sauteed in oil), halfway through cooking the rice, or near the end.  They made up spice packets for me for the two different kinds of rice I purchased - one with turmeric for white rice and without for the pink rice.  Thanks for the step-by-step instructions - will let you know how it turns out!

• #31
• Comment by NinaLash

Hello, FX! I must confess, I fell in love with you and your blog today...can't stop reading and reading all the articles since this morning, my boyfriend must think I am crazy!
I was looking for some "foreigner's" impression about an uzbek plov and suddenly found your recipe! I was born in Uzbekistan myself and in my family we always have had this huge cult to the food! And my father would always say that the uzbec food is one of the tastiest in the world because of their delicious lamb and precious vegetables and fruits!
It's right that in different regions, plov is made with slight differences, but they are not very consistant, just depends what else apart from lamb, rice, onions and carrots you want to add, because these are the basic ingredients! and of course!! KURDYUK! I live in Spain now and for me it's impossible to find any in here, it has such more pronounced taste than a regular lamb fat and that enriches almost every uzbec meal! If you don't have any Kurdyuk and as far as European lambs are far more skinny than the uzbecs (the main reason is the age, here in Europe we only eat baby lambs)
anyway, I'm going to tell you the main secret of plov, which consists in passing the dish through 4 cooking processes!!!!
first you fry the meat and the veggies, after that you stir everything with some water and spices (very important step, because that's when the meat becomes realy tender), after that you add the rice and boil it, and after the water dissapears from the top of the rice, you make a mountain of rice with a spoon, make some holes with a chopstick and cover it as well as you can, with some towels, so any single drop of vapour is let out! So yeah, the last step is leaving plov to get ready thanks to the vapour!
Hope that wasn't too boring, anyway, the next time I make one, I will send you pictures and a good recipe with times,amounts etc etc
Thank you again for your wonderful work and taste!!!

• #33
• Comment by Lida

Dear Fx, thank you for trying to spread the word about the Uzbek Plov, but, frankly, this ain't "real" plov. As a fine cook, who in other life should've been a professional chef & as one who had prepared & consumed many a plov in my native USSR, I must say, quite a few steps are wrong or amiss. So, I will just join the voices of Andrey & Dmitry, who made some fine points. Thank you very much & please, take my criticism in stride. I even criticise my own plov, manti, borsch, blini, you name it, every time I cook. Peace!

• #34
• Comment by Raanan Yonaton Ikarzev

FX, it was a real pleasure finding this recipe. I am from Azerbajun so we also like fine plov. It seems there are similarity. One of my favorite is using a broth from chicken, chicken fat, green pepper, red pepper, cilantro, garlic, onion, carrot, pepper, a mixture of hot fresh red pepper crushed with olive oil, salt, pepper, carrot paste, tomato paste, and pomegrante, and cabbage.We then follow many of same steps with same main ingredient, except instead of carrot we cut semi-large pieces of pumpkin. It is soul food.

Have you by any chance found , tried, or made Green Plov?  This special Uzbek plov made with herbs. I like the way it tastes. We make similar one, but ours is more similar to Subzi polo , Persian one with herbs.

• #35
• Comment by charu

FX i love your blog.Wow,that was quite a storm over innocent Plov.Sometimes i wonder what is authentic,as i am sure recipes change from house to house,town to town & many factors are involved(mother's family recipes,inlaw's family recipes)The plov looks very delicious & the comments very interesting.Together it is a great combination.

• #36
• Comment by Dono Dimanchuck

Nice Recipe.  Men cooks sacredly PLOV in Usbekistan, Kyrguiz and all the Tien Shan Mountains area, as a special ceremony. Please, try to use another POT for your pics!  It was an offense.  Thanks

• #38
• Comment by Ashley

Thank you for this wonderful recipe.  I am American and my husband is from southern Russia. He has wanted me to cook more of his favorite foods for years, but for the most part my attempts have not been what he had hoped they would be. It's just never "like his mom's".  I know most men are like that, but I also know it is hard to be away from family AND everything you really love in your culture. I have asked his local relatives to show me how to make plov many times. They all say "so and so makes it better, you should ask them". I know they would be happy to show me, but none of them love their own plov. My husband and I both like it and I have gotten some from our local Russian deli's, but it's not up to the caliber we would like. I decided on New Year's to just try and make my own. None of the recipes I found were as helpful as yours. I love this recipe, it shows exactly what to do, and more importantly my husband loves it. The only change I made was not stirring it because that is the one thing all our friends say to do. Not to stir it while it cooks. My husband gave it two thumbs up and I am happy to have a new recipe in my Russian recipe box.

• #39
• Comment by Natalie

Thank you soooo much for putting this recipe on your blog. I love all of your recipes  and over last 3-4years made a fair number of them (one very memorable, since we are lovers of buckweed - The cake with blueberry jam. I even researched the best brand on our market, trying about 5 different types).
Anyway, I love this dish and my mom made it for us when we were little, so it brings my memories back to my childhood and now I will start making it for my kids.
Just one question. At the beginning of the recipe you state 1 tsp of black pepper corns, but under one of pictures with spices you say 1tbsp of black pepper. While adding full amount of 2tbsp of coriander and 2tbsp of cumin, I went for 1tsp of black pepper. Could you please just clarify for me for the next time of cooking. Thank you, and
best regards from your long time fan, Natalie from Prague.

• #40
• Comment by Irene

My Mom grew u in Tashkent, and her plov was a key dish at all friends and family gatherings, so for good 30 years I watched her making it and learned from her. She NEVER (and it was like a Bible) opened the lid after adding rice and boiling water, which means -- NEVER turning the rice. If done properly, it never stocks to the bottom, but if your Dutch oven is faulty (i.e. something once got stuck there), it will almost always give you the same problems.


One tip: in the end of cooking the rice (now sure about the exact timing), the lid of the cooking "cauldron" is wrapped in 2-3 layers of a kitchen towel -- this allows the steam to escape slowly with the lid still tight -- if not done, it can from precipitate and drip down into the pot which will affect the taste and texture of the rice.

This recipe is also missing an important point -- washing the rice prior to adding it. Depends on the rice brand, how long you need to wash it (gently rubbing between the palms), but the water should be clear int the end. With "generic" rice from the soviet union grocery stores, we used to wash it in u to 20 changes or cold water!

Using mutton fat and even lamb is optional, for a lighter taste vegetable oil will do, and there are many plov recipes that use chicken or even no meat instead. Adding dried apricots ("kuraga") also works very well, they need to get mushy and blend into the rice in the end.

BTW, I head that it is not Uzbek Mamas but men who were the traditional plov makers :)

And -- sorry! -- cannot resist leaving one more comment: there is no way to protect anything from bacteria by covering -- bacteria are so small and everywhere, including what you use for covering and the air underneath... as well as your spoon, pot, mouth, fingers (used to eat plov in Uzbekistan instead of silverware)... Unless your kitchen is heavily contaminated with disease-casing bacteria (like salmonella, thyphus, and so on), there is nothing wrong with them being consumed, as we all do it all our lives, as well as breathing them in...:)

• #41
• Comment by rick

Really the treaditional food is quite nice but require a very nice and very exprience hand to prepare it.

• #43
• Comment by Dianne Poland

I just returned from a trip to Russia where we had dinner with an Uzbec family. The plov was delicious and I couldn't wait to make it. Your recipe made it come alive and answered any questions that might have come up while I was making it.
Thanks

• #45
• Comment by Art

I actually lived in Uzbekistan for 6 years, in Navoyi (between Bukhara and Samarkand. I have tried traditional plov all around in the region and have been taught to cook it by the locals. The plov recipe in this article is something that Russians thought to be plov, not what plov is. I agree with Dnitrij and Andrey. Should do real research dear; spending some time in Uzbekistan would help, at the very worst would try the real dish...

• #47
• Comment by Julia

I am watching the eurovision song contest at present. This dish has been shown in the show. I was curios and decided to look it up. Thank you for such a detailed lay out of the recipe. I am going to cook it at the weekend. Wish me luck!
Regards, Julia

• #49
• Comment by Tomás

 Muchas gracias por publicar  tan acertadamente esta receta de “Plov”, un plato muy querido por mí y degustado de mucho agrado por mi familia y amigos. Con la práctica se reduce el grado de complejidad de la elaboración, y se puede servir como plato único acompañado de cebolla entera, cortada cruda, o cortada en vinagreta según el tipo de cebolla
Agregar que el “Plov” original se hace en un recipiente especial (media esfera), la tapa del recipiente es la otra media esfera. Se cocina colgado de unos cordeles metálicos sobre brasa. La forma del recipiente impide que se queme abajo, y no hay que remover el “Plov”  . Durante la cocción el arroz va creciendo y con una pala de madera se va moldeando hacia arriba, hasta completar la esfera. Esto le da un toque de distinción.
El color del “Plov” lo determina la cantidad de cebolla y zanahoria que se utilice, así como el nivel de cocción que se les dé. A más cocción, queda más oscuro y más gustoso. También suele prepararse con diferentes tipos de arroz.
Antaño se comía con la mano, o sea se llevaba directamente a la boca, los hombres usando toda la mano en forma de pala, y las mujeres con la punta de los dedos.
Sean constructivos mis comentarios, un saludo.

• #50
• Comment by Tomás

Muchas gracias por publicar  tan acertadamente esta receta de “Plov”, un plato muy querido por mí y degustado de mucho agrado por mi familia y amigos. Con la práctica se reduce el grado de complejidad de la elaboración, y se puede servir como plato único acompañado de cebolla entera, cortada cruda, o cortada en vinagreta según el tipo de cebolla
Agregar que el “Plov” original se hace en un recipiente especial (media esfera), la tapa del recipiente es la otra media esfera. Se cocina colgado de unos cordeles metálicos sobre brasa. La forma del recipiente impide que se queme abajo, y no hay que remover el “Plov”  . Durante la cocción el arroz va creciendo y con una pala de madera se va moldeando hacia arriba, hasta completar la esfera. Esto le da un toque de distinción.
El color del “Plov” lo determina la cantidad de cebolla y zanahoria que se utilice, así como el nivel de cocción que se les dé. A más cocción, queda más oscuro y más gustoso. También suele prepararse con diferentes tipos de arroz.
Antaño se comía con la mano, o sea se llevaba directamente a la boca, los hombres usando toda la mano en forma de pala, y las mujeres con la punta de los dedos.
Sean constructivos mis comentarios, un saludo.