Plov: the main dish of the Uzbek table

Plov (in Uzbek, palov or osh) is the main dish of Uzbek cuisine. It is cooked in a kazan with a large amount of oil. First the meat and onions are fried, then carrots are added. This base is called zirvak. Rice is layered on top, water is poured in, and the plov is simmered under a lid over low heat. The best-known kinds: • Tashkent plov — with cumin, barberries and chickpeas, often with raisins; whole heads of garlic are pushed into the rice. • Samarkand plov — the rice and zirvak are cooked separately and combined when served; flaxseed oil is often used as the fat. • Fergana plov — with hot pepper and garlic, usually made with devzira rice. Proportions. In many recipes the meat, carrots and rice are taken in roughly equal weights. For 1 kg of rice you need about 1.5 L of water and 1.5–2 tsp of cumin. Tips: 1. Soak the chickpeas overnight; rinse the rice and soak it for 1 hour in warm salted water. 2. Fry the meat over high heat until it has a golden-brown crust — this gives the zirvak its flavor. 3. Simmer the zirvak for at least 40 minutes. 4. Do not stir after adding the rice. 5. Let the finished plov rest for 10 minutes. Sources: Gastronom.ru — «Ташкентский плов»: https://www.gastronom.ru/recipe/24436/tashkentskij-plov Лайфхакер — «Самаркандский плов»: https://lifehacker.ru/recipe/samarkandskij-plov/ Вокруг света — «Плов по-фергански»: https://www.vokrugsveta.ru/article/222452 Википедия (uz) — Palov: https://uz.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palov