This Silk Road Lamb and Dried Fruit Plov is my rendition of a ubiquitous dish I encountered in various forms from the Orient to Europe. Similar rice preparations appear in countries along the Silk Road, that ancient route that brought together civilizations of the East and West for centuries, facilitating the migration of culinary traditions.
I always wanted to travel the length of the Silk Road, retracing the steps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo to experience the food and cultures along the way. Unfortunately, wars and insurrections in Central Asia made travel along the Silk Road impossible, but the Soviet Union’s legacy of mixing populations of the 15 republics of the USSR unwittingly resulted in scattering the cuisines of countries that I can’t travel to throughout the region. Thus, I encountered versions of plov prepared by ethnic cooks at restaurants in Kyiv, Chisinau and Moscow.
Food historians believe plov originated in Persia in ancient times and spread east and west through conquerors, missionaries, merchants and travelers. I am fascinated that although plain, unflavored rice is apparently the most consumed grain in the world, a flavored rice dish with similar ingredients (whether called plov, pilaf, pilav, pallao, pilau, pelau, pulao, pulaav, palaw, palavu, palov, polov, polo or polu) took hold in a large swath of the globe on horseback. Each region adapted the dish to local tastes and available ingredients and added its own conventions for preparation and use. It became a popular dish from Xinjiang (China) to Azerbaijan, from Kazakhstan to north India and proceeded west via Greece to Europe and beyond.
The first written reference to plov (polov or polow) is found in a 10th century work on medicine and nutrition of Persian polymath scholar Abu Ali Ibn Sina (also known by the anglicized name Avicenna), considered by many Central Asians as father of plov. But Uzbek legend claims that Alexander the Great tasted plov in Marakanda (now Samarkand in Uzbekistan) during his conquest of Persia in 329 B.C. and took the recipe home to Macedonia. Versions of plov, although by different names, are now integral parts of the cuisines of most countries throughout the Eurasian continent: Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Emirates, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, India, Greece and France.
The common element of each preparation is good quality rice, cooked or steamed in a seasoned broth with some of the following ingredients: onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, all-spice, coriander seeds nuts, dry fruit, saffron and salt. Meat, commonly lamb, chicken or beef, lentils and beans or vegetables, may be added to the broth for enhanced flavor. Additional spices, characteristic to a particular country’s cuisine, often embellish these rice dishes, and there are myriad versions of plov in each culture which distinguish one cook from another.
In Central Asia, plov is deemed a special occasion dish, served at every meaningful life-changing event, to celebrate the arrival of honored guests, at major public events and within families. No celebration is complete without a savory or sweet plov. Families closely guard recipes for plov and have been handed down from generation to generation for millennia.
In accordance with local custom, only simple plov is made by women for families. But special occasion plov, especially for weddings, is prepared by special male cooks hired for the occasion, outdoors in a special vessel called kazan. The process of cooking plov provides an opportunity for male-bonding and follows specific rituals regarding washing and soaking of rice, preparation of the components for the broth, frying of meat, seasoning and layering of ingredients for final cooking, serving and eating.
In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where plov is considered part of each nation’s cultural heritage, rice is prepared by absorption. Lamb is browned in lamb fat or oil, then layered with rice and a choice of fried onions, garlic and carrots, usually spiced with a combination of whole black cumin, coriander, barberries, red pepper, marigold, and pepper, and simmered over low heat. Heads of garlic and garbanzo beans are often buried into the rice during simmering until the rice absorbs all liquid. Sweet variations with dried apricots, dates, barberries and raisins are prepared for weddings and other special occasions. Tajiks occasionally also add pomegranate, quince and lemon.
Even though male cooks in Central Asia believe that women cannot prepare a suitable wedding plov, I simplified the preparation of this Silk Road Lamb and Dried Fruit Plov from that usually followed in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan without sacrificing flavor and maintaining its stunning appearance. The resulting dish has a complex salty and sweet flavor without the richness of traditional plov cooked in lots of lamb tail fat.
This Silk Road Lamb and Dry Fruit Plov is excellent party food. Its components – rice, broth, vegetables – can be prepared partially in advance, then assembled and cooked on the day of serving. A colorful fruit-studded platter of rice, lamb and vegetables is a splendid and eye-appealing main dish for a crowd. A side dish of yogurt, a fresh salad of radishes or tomatoes and plate of fresh herbs can round out the meal.
In this recipe, I followed the predominant Central Asian practice of cooking the meat, rice, dried fruit and vegetables in the same Dutch oven. But the lamb can be eliminated from this dish and prepared separately either as a roast leg of lamb or shishkebab, the most common form of meat preparation along the Silk Road. Preparing a vegetarian plov according to this recipe will produce a delicious baked on crust at the bottom of the pot.* This crust is considered a special treat by Uzbeks and is divided and served with portions of the plov. The vegetarian version is flavorsome by itself and a great accompaniment to roast or grilled chicken.
Silk Road Lamb and Dried Fruit Plov
2 cups of long-grain or basmati rice
½ tablespoon + 3 teaspoons salt (and more, to taste)
1 large onion
2 carrots
3 tablespoons (50g) unsalted butter
2 tablespoon canola oil
2-inch piece of ginger grated or 2 teaspoons dried ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seed
2 cardamom pods
½ teaspoon white pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ cup raisins
½ cup dried apricots
½ cup dates
¼ cup dried sour cherries
¼ cup chopped almonds or pistachios
2 pounds lamb shoulder or leg of lamb, cubed into 1½-2 inches (3.8 -5 cm) pieces
3 ½ cups water or chicken stock
½ tsp. powdered saffron, dissolved in ½ cup boiling water
Parsley or cilantro for garnish, optional
Whole apricots, dates and raisins for garnish
Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C).
Rinse rice several times until water runs clean. (Rinsing removes the starch so that the rice grains will remain separate after cooking.) Place rice in a bowl, add ½ tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt and cover with water by several inches and soak as you prepare vegetables.
Dice onion, then peel and cut carrots into matchsticks by hand or with mandoline.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add and sauté onion until golden, about three minutes. Reduce heat to low-medium. Add ginger, coriander, cumin seed, cardamom pods and 1 teaspoon of salt to onion. Mix and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add carrot, garlic and pepper to pot and let soften for another 5 minutes. Remove to side plate. Do not wash pot.
Cut dried apricots in quarters and dates in half and combine with raisins and cherries. Drain rice. Add onion-carrot mixture to rice and set aside.
In large saucepan, heat chicken stock or water until boiling. Reduce to simmer until ready to use.
Reheat Dutch oven on medium heat. Melt remaining butter and oil over high heat in pot, tilting pot to distribute butter evenly. Sprinkle meat with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and arrange meat in one layer at the bottom of the pot. Then distribute one-half of the fruit on top of the meat, but do not stir with the meat. Then add one-half of rice. Repeat layering fruit and rice, again do not mix the ingredients. Pour stock carefully into Dutch oven.
Place a round of parchment (cartouche) over rice and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook on medium heat until pot is beginning to steam, about 3 minutes, and then place pot into pre-heated oven and bake for 35 minutes until liquid is absorbed and rice is al dente. Then sprinkle the saffron water on top of the rice. Turn off heat and let plov rest for about 15 minutes without removing lid so any remaining liquid is absorbed.
Prior to serving, select a large platter that is bigger than the pot circumference. Using well-insulated oven mitts, cover the top of the rice pot with the platter, face-down, and carefully turn the pot over, gently shaking to allow the rice, vegetables and meat to mound on the platter.
Decorate with whole dates, apricots, chopped almonds or pistachios and chopped cilantro or parsley, if desired.
* Dip the bottom of the warm pot in cold water to remove the crust.
One year ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/asparagus-soup-la-cozinha-velha/
Two years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/memorial-day-picnic-a-la-reuben/
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