Xinjiang Pilaf (Po Lo Fan / Polo)

Ingredients

• 600 g bone-in lamb shoulder or leg, cut into large chunks
• 150 g lamb tail fat (kurda mai), cut into small pieces
• 400 g long-grain rice, rinsed until water runs clear
• 300 g carrots, cut into thick matchsticks
• 200 g onions, sliced into half-moons
• 1 tsp salt
• Optional (placed on top of rice before steaming)
• 50 g raisins
• 50 g dried apricots, halved

Method

1. 1
   Set a large cast-iron kazan or heavy casserole over high heat. Add the lamb tail fat pieces and render slowly, pressing occasionally, so the fat runs out gradually and the solids colour to an even gold without scorching and tainting the oil. Remove the spent solids; the rendered fat should coat the base generously and carry a clean, distinctly animal richness.
2. 2
   Raise the heat, add the lamb chunks, and brown them deeply on all sides in the rendered fat, then add the sliced onions and continue cooking until both lamb and onions reach a dark, caramelised mahogany, because it is this colour — not the seasoning — that builds the deep, sweet-savoury foundation the finished polo is built on. This is where the dish lives or dies: no pale surface should remain on either the meat or the onions before you move on.
3. 3
   Add the carrot matchsticks and stir them through the fat and meat, so they absorb the dark cooking juices and surrender their own sweetness into the base rather than steaming apart from it. Cook until they soften and begin to colour at the edges; the contents of the kazan should smell of caramelised onion, sweet carrot, and rendered lamb.
4. 4
   Season with salt, then level the meat and vegetable mixture and spread the rinsed rice evenly across the top in a flat, undisturbed layer — keeping the rice separate from the meat below so that steam, not boiling water, cooks the grains and keeps them distinct. Pour water carefully over the back of a spoon to avoid disturbing the rice, adding enough to sit approximately 1–2 cm above the rice surface, then press several holes through the rice mound down to the meat layer with the handle of the spoon so that steam can travel evenly to the centre without leaving a raw, doughy core.
5. 5
   If using raisins and dried apricots, scatter them across the top of the rice now so they plump in the steam and their sweetness drips down through the grains rather than stewing into the meat below. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce to the lowest possible heat, cover the kazan tightly, and leave it completely undisturbed; the polo is ready when all visible surface liquid has been absorbed and the rice grains are dry, separate, and cooked through — with no pooled water remaining and no mushiness when pressed lightly.
6. 6
   Remove the lid. Invert the polo onto a large communal plate so the lamb and vegetables form the base with the rice mounded above, or serve directly from the kazan, lifting the rice aside to expose the meat beneath.