We Present Another Favourite Dish Of Joseph Stalin: The Famous Uzbeki Plov

October 27, 2009

We continue publishing the recipes of some of the favourite dishes of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Today we present the famous Uzbeki rice and meat dish, plov. It is well documented that the Soviet dictator had a special liking for plov and ate it at least once a week.Ingredients: diced lamb (800 grams, not too lean), two cups of rice, 3 large carrots, 2 large onions, several cloves of garlic, dried herbs, salt and pepper.

The dish has to be prepared in a large heavy pot with a thick bottom. (The reason being that the meat would burn in a normal pot.)

Cut the onions and the carrots very finely in advance. Put the rice into warm water and leave to soak.

Pour the vegetable oil into the heavy pot, roughly 1 centimetre in depth. Heat the oil for a while. It must be very hot before you put the ingredients in.

Put the diced lamb into the pot and fry until it becomes lightly brown. Add the finely chopped onions and carrots. Continue frying for another few minutes, until the onions and carrots turn golden.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Add dried herbs you prefer to use in your cooking like parsley, dill, coriander.

Lower the heat at this stage. Drain the rice that has been soaking while you were frying the meat and the vegetables. Add the rice to the pot so that it stays on top of the meat and vegetables, flattening it carefully with a spoon. The most important thing is that the rice stays on top during the whole time of cooking.

Add water. Water should cover the rice completely, with the level staying about 2 centimetres above it. Wait till the water starts to boil, put the lid on the pot and lower the heat to the minimal level. In about 10 minutes open the lid and check whether the water on top has been absorbed by the rice. If so, stick five unpeeled cloves of garlic into the rice and put the lid back on the pot.

Simmer on very low heat for about 20 minutes, until all the water is completely absorbed. Lift the lid and check whether the rice has been cooked and if it is still rather hard, make several holes in the rice with a wooden spoon’s handle and pour some water in these holes. Close the lid and wait 5-8 minutes for the rice to cook.

Switch off the heat and keep the pot closed for another 30 minutes.

The plov is ready. Only then you can stir the rice and the meat, NOT BEFORE.

Serve plov with fresh herbs.

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Tags: Joseph Stalin, plov, rice and meat