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Uzbek pilaf with pork

Uzbek Pork Plov (Pilaf)

This wonderful Central Asian classic will fill you up and warm you right through! Plov is hearty, tasty, and fragrant — one of the all-time favorites in our family. We make it for holidays and on ordinary weeknights alike, and it's a hit with friends, relatives, and even first-time guests. Give it a try — we hope you'll love it as much as we do!

mom of sweet tooth

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Pork (boneless)

500

Rice

500

Onion (plus one small onion)

500

Carrots

500

Garlic (2-3 heads)

Vegetable oil

130

Salt (about 1 heaping tbsp)

Cumin seeds (zira)

Turmeric

Barberries (dried)

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 15 % 6 g

Fats 28 % 11 g

Carbohydrates 58 % 23 g

210 kcal

GI: 18 / 82 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

Here are everything you'll need to make the plov. Peel the onions and carrots, then wash the vegetables and the meat well. Peel away a few of the outer papery layers from the garlic heads, but leave them whole — don't break them into cloves — and rinse them under running water.
Step 2:

Rinse the rice before you start cutting the vegetables, rubbing it gently between your fingers in the water. Change the water at least 5 times, then leave the rice to soak.
Step 3:

Cut the meat into large cubes.
Step 4:

Cut the vegetables coarsely: the onion into rings about 1/4 inch (0.5–0.8 cm) thick, and the carrots into matchsticks about 1/4 inch (0.5–0.8 cm) thick and 2 inches (4–5 cm) long.
Step 5:

Pour the vegetable oil into a heavy pot or Dutch oven, set it over high heat, add 1/2 tablespoon of salt, and drop in the small peeled onion.
Step 6:

Stirring, fry the onion until golden — that's your sign the oil is hot enough. Use a slotted spoon for stirring. Take the onion out; you won't need it anymore.
Step 7:

Add the meat and stir vigorously for the first few seconds so it doesn't stick to the sides of the pot. Crush about 1/3 of the cumin seeds between your palms and add them to the meat. Fry over high heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the liquid cooks off and the meat browns.
Step 8:

Without lowering the heat, add the onion. Stirring occasionally, fry until soft, about 15 minutes.
Step 9:

Still over high heat, add the carrots to the meat and onions and fry, stirring, for 10 minutes until soft (when you press a piece with the edge of the slotted spoon, it should break apart easily).
Step 10:

Pour in enough hot water to just cover the meat-and-vegetable base (called the zirvak). Boiling water saves time. Add the remaining cumin, the salt, and the barberries. Once it comes to a boil, simmer over high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the turmeric at the end. Taste the broth where it's bubbling hardest — it should be slightly salty.
Step 11:

Turn the heat down to low. Drain the rice and spread it evenly over the base. Do not stir! Set the garlic heads on top of the rice and press them down into it with the slotted spoon. The water should cover the rice by about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm). If it's lower, add boiling water, pouring it over the back of the slotted spoon so you don't disturb the rice layer. Turn the heat back up to high and cook until the water has evaporated from the surface of the rice.
Step 12:

Now reduce the heat to low and mound the rice into a dome. Poke holes down to the bottom with a knife, in a circle and in the center, to let excess steam escape. Cover and let the rice steam for about 15 minutes.
Step 13:

Turn off the heat. If you have the time and the patience, let the plov rest under the lid for another 10 minutes. That's it — the plov is ready, dig in!

There are a couple of ways to serve plov. The first is to stir everything in the pot together, mound it on a platter, and garnish with the garlic and fresh herbs. The second is to separate the rice into one bowl and the pieces of meat into another, then toss the rice with the remaining vegetable base, mound it on a platter, and arrange the meat on top. Garnish with herbs and garlic.
Keep in mind that how you cut the carrots shapes the final dish: grated carrots cook down into a mush and blend evenly into everything else, while strips or sticks hold their shape.
Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying! Every oil is fine only up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and form harmful compounds, including carcinogens. Unrefined oils, with few exceptions, have a low smoke point: they're full of unfiltered particles that burn quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. If you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, make sure you're using a high-smoke-point oil. The most common ones are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed oil.