~870 cal · 36g protein · 94g carbs · 39g fat (estimated, per serving)
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Platter of plov with carrots, whole garlic, and tender lamb
🇺🇿 Tashkent
In Tashkent, plov is public theater: oshpaz masters stir cauldrons that feed a thousand at weddings, and UNESCO lists the dish as cultural heritage. The rule is layers — meat, onions, carrots, rice — never stirred, steamed under a lid until every grain gleams.
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Make it yours
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 6 —
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1.5 lbs lamb shoulder, large chunks
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2.5 cups medium-grain rice, rinsed until clear
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1.5 lbs — yes, that many carrots, thick matchsticks
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2 yellow onions, sliced
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2 whole garlic heads, unpeeled
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1 tbsp cumin seeds
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1/3 cup golden raisins (optional but loved)
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1/2 cup neutral oil
Instructions
1
Heat the oil in a heavy pot until shimmering. Brown the lamb (or mushrooms) hard; add onions and fry golden.
2
Add the carrots and half the cumin; cook 10 minutes until they slump. Nestle in the garlic heads and raisins.
3
Add hot water to just cover, salt well, and simmer 20 minutes (10 for the vegan version) — this broth is the zirvak, the soul of the plov.
4
Rain the rice evenly over the top — do not stir, now or ever. Add water to cover the rice by half an inch.
5
Boil until the water disappears from the surface, then poke steam holes, scatter the last cumin, cover tight, and steam on lowest heat 20 minutes.
6
Mound onto a platter in reverse — rice, carrots, meat, garlic on top — and squeeze the sweet garlic cloves over as you eat.
Tashkent wedding-plov tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Tashkent. Where plov masters cook rice for a thousand in one kazan.
🗺️
Uzbekistan. Silk Road crossroads where rice is cooked in cauldrons.
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Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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