Stovetop Chicken Plov in a Cauldron

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make homemade stovetop chicken plov in a cauldron? Very simple! Start by gathering the ingredients from the list. Besides chicken breast, you can use any other boneless chicken — thigh or drumstick meat, for example. You can make plov without the turmeric and barberries, but we're cooking with them: they give the dish a rich yellow color, aroma, and a gentle tang.

2. Step 2:

   

   Rinse the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. Any rice works. Rice labeled for plov is great, but other varieties are fine too — the key is that it's parboiled, so it holds its shape and doesn't turn mushy. Mine is golden parboiled rice.

3. Step 3:

   

   Wash the chicken fillet, pat it dry, and cut it into small pieces.

4. Step 4:

   

   Peel the carrot and cut it into small batons. You can grate it on a coarse grater, but for plov it's usually cut into pieces so it holds its shape during cooking instead of turning to mush.

5. Step 5:

   

   Peel the onion. You can cut it into small or medium dice. If you'd rather not notice the onion in the finished plov, cut it larger like I do, or even leave the onion whole so you can easily pull it out later.

6. Step 6:

   

   In a 4.5–5 quart (4.5–5 L) cauldron, heat the vegetable oil over slightly above medium heat. Add the chicken, onion, and carrot and fry, stirring, for 7–10 minutes.

7. Step 7:

   

   Pour the rice into the cauldron and add all the spices, the bay leaves, the barberries, and whole unpeeled garlic cloves. If the cloves are small, you can double the amount, or even add a whole rinsed head of garlic in its skin. As they say, you can't overdo garlic in plov — it only makes it more fragrant.

8. Step 8:

   

   Pour warm or slightly hot water in around the edge until it fully covers everything in the cauldron by an inch or two. Don't stir the rice, meat, and spices — everything should stay in layers.

9. Step 9:

   

   Bring the water to a boil. Cover the cauldron and cook the plov over low heat for about 30 minutes, or a little longer, until the rice is done. Don't stir the plov during this time. Taste the rice for doneness — it should be soft but not mushy. Take the finished plov off the heat and let it rest, covered, for about 25 minutes so the rice absorbs the excess moisture.

10. Step 10:

    

    Before serving, stir the plov, spoon it onto a platter, and sprinkle with chopped herbs if you like — cilantro, parsley, or similar. Enjoy!