Uzbekistan — Samarkand and Fergana Valley plov traditions are distinct and each region considers their version superior; Fergana plov uses more meat and less carrot; Samarkand layers the rice differently
Uzbekistan's national dish and the apex of Central Asian rice cookery — a massive pot of rice cooked in rendered lamb fat with caramelised onion, julienned carrot, and whole garlic heads, simmered in a spiced lamb broth until every grain is individually coated with fat and flavoured through. Plov is cooked in a cast-iron kazan (wok-like pot) over an open flame by an oshpaz (plov master); the technique is ritual. The zirvak (the flavoured fat-and-vegetable base) is built first: lamb fat or cottonseed oil is smoked until it clarifies, the lamb is browned, onion is caramelised to dark amber, and the carrot julienne cooked down before water and spices are added. The rice is added to this zirvak and cooked by absorption. Plov feeds weddings, funerals, and Friday midday gatherings; in Tashkent it is prepared in enormous quantities.
Eaten communally from a large shared platter; the meat placed on top of the rice; non (Uzbek flatbread) alongside; achichuk (sliced tomato and onion with vinegar and dried chilli) served as salad; green tea throughout
{"Heat the fat or oil to smoking point before any ingredient is added — this kills the raw taste and produces the high-temperature initial Maillard reactions that give plov its depth","Caramelise the onion to dark amber before adding carrots — pale onion produces flat zirvak; the darker the onion, the richer the plov","Add the rice to the zirvak and level it — do not stir the rice once added; disturbing the rice interrupts the absorption and produces uneven cooking","The steaming phase (damlyama) — after the rice absorbs all visible liquid, make holes with a skewer, reduce heat to minimum, cover tightly and steam 20 minutes — produces the final even cooking of individual grains"}
The whole head of garlic placed in the zirvak before the rice cooks down to a soft, mild, almost sweet paste over the 1+ hour cook — remove at service and offer as a condiment; the garlic cloves squeeze out easily and are extraordinary spread on bread. For the most authentic Tashkent flavour, use cotton seed oil (and lamb tail fat) rather than vegetable oil — the high smoke point and neutral flavour of cottonseed oil is the traditional medium.
{"Stirring the rice during cooking — rice must cook undisturbed in its absorption layer; stirring breaks grains and produces gluey, starchy plov","Too much water — the zirvak provides significant liquid; plov made with too much water produces boiled rather than absorbed-fat rice","Under-caramelising the onion — pale onion is the number one cause of bland plov; invest the 15–20 minutes required for dark caramelisation","Using long-grain rice — Uzbek devzira or Egyptian medium-grain rice is correct; basmati is too aromatic and slender for plov"}