This plov recipe was picked up by Simoon Travel's Amelia in Uzbekistan. Plov is the country's national dish, a hearty mix of rice, lamb and vegetables.
Plov Recipe
On return from her recent trip to Uzbekistan, Simoon Travels' Amelia shares a recipe for the national dish, plov, a hearty rice dish cooked in lamb fat with vegetables.
Ingredients:
(For 4 people) 2 cups long grain parboiled rice 5 large carrots 2 large onions 400 grams cubed leg of lamb 100 grams lamb fat Vegetable or lamb broth 1 tsp peppercorns 2 tbsp coriander seeds 2 tbsp cumin seeds 1/2 cup barberries 4 heads of garlic
Method:
Chop off the top of each garlic head and throw away, then sprinkle a teaspoon of olive oil on top of the remaining bulbs and wrap in foil. Roast in a medium-hot oven (180°C) for about an hour. The garlic should be soft and brownish when done. Create a vegetable broth by chopping a leek, an onion, a potato, a couple of garlic cloves and adding salt, then cover with water and simmer for about 45 minutes. In the meantime, peel and cut two large onions in half, then thinly slice. Peel and roughly grate 6 large carrots. Soak the barberries in a little water. Grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a mortar to a fine powder. Melt the lamb fat in an oven over high temperature and remove as much of the liquid fat out as you can. Then heat the fat in the oven until it smokes, but do not let it burn. Quickly fry the lamb cubes on all sides until nicely browned, remove from the heat and cover. Heat the lamb fat remaining in the oven and add the sliced onions, turning regularly until soft and light brown. Add the powered spices and mix well for 1 minute. Then add the carrots and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the cubed lamb with all its juices and mix well whilst reducing the heat to medium hot. Add 2 cups rice and 4 cups of the hot vegetable broth prepared earlier. Cover and simmer over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. When the rice is cooked, add the drained barberries and remove the lid Continue to stir until all liquid has fully evaporated, and then serve piping hot with a garlic head prepared earlier for each guest. Enjoy!
And if you still have room leftover - Try some delicious traditional Uzbekistan biscuits...
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