Uzbek Plov

So, we've been making our way from Venice to China in a merchant caravan (child-led learning is so awesome!) Along the way, we're getting exposed to all kinds of cultures and cuisines.

As we travel through Central Asia, we meet Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Tajiks, Turkmen and Uzbeks. The Uzbeks introduce us to their fragrant, spicy rice dish called plov. (That's the Uzbek version of the Russian word pilaf.)

That's a whole lotta onions! (Four large ones, to be exact.)

Traditional plov calls for an entire head of garlic. You are supposed to trim the end off and steam the bulb in the middle of the rice as it cooks. I didn't have an entire head of garlic, and I wasn't brave enough to try the steaming method, so this is what we used.

By the way, if you don't have one of these nifty little garlic twisters, you should get one. I got mine from Lehman's but they are widely available.

Cook your onions, carrots, spices and garlic until the vegetables are just getting tender. The recipe we used called for cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper.

Measure and rinse your rice. Oops!

Put the vegetables in a tall pot and cover them with rice. Then pour in enough boiling water to just cover the rice.

Put the lid on and cook 15 minutes or so and you have delicious, hearty plov!

We learned about plov from this absolutely fantastic book by Kathy Ceceri. It's well-written, with lots of great information and fun projects. We got it at the library, but I like it so much, I'm thinking of buying a copy. (In fact, I almost had to buy this copy, after a near-miss with the olive oil today!)

We had lots of fun cooking together and learning about the Silk Road. Hope you had a great day, too! Enjoy your journey, wherever it takes you!