Tajikistan: Plov

The first thought that crossed my mind when I pulled Tajikistan out of the wine bag of fun isn't really appropriate for a family blog. (It definitely started with a "What the" ...)

This definitely ranks pretty high on the list of obscure countries I've tried to cook from, so I figured it was a long shot it would show up on the Wikipedia list of national dishes. But I was wrong. It never ceases to amaze me just how much information is out there on the Internet about cooking and food in other countries.

Turns out the national dish of Tajikistan is Plov, kind of the Tajik version of a paella or jambalaya. They make it for special occasions. I actually found several recipes out there that all had very similar ingredients, so I used that for the foundation for my recipe.

My research also showed that making Tajik Plov is considered more of a masculine endeavor in the central Asian country. Apparently they think women aren't capable of cooking the rice right.

You know what I have to say to that? Again, more inappropriate.

In perhaps a big "I'll show them" to the people of Tajik mindset, mine turned out pretty good. An added benefit: It was super easy. You could throw this together on any weeknight. De-boning the lamb is the biggest time commitment. Another bonus: I had all of the spices, garlic and carrots in my kitchen so my grocery bill for this dish cost less than $20 (for probably a week's worth of dinners). About half of it was a giant thing of arborio rice that I still have a lot of for future recipes.

Here's what I came up with.

What you need:

3 lbs. lamb cubed

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 yellow onions, sliced

3 cups carrots cut into chunks

5 gloves garlic, minced

3 tsp. coriander

2 tsp. cumin

3 tsp. crushed red pepper

3 cups dry arborio rice

1 bunch curly parsley, chopped

water

salt, fresh ground pepper to taste

What to do:

Heat the oil in a pot and when hot add the cubed lamb. Cook until browned. Add the sliced onions, carrots and garlic and let them cook in the juices of the lamb for about 5 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, crushed red pepper and some salt and pepper and combine. Let cook another 5 minutes.

Add the dry arborio rice to the mixture and cover with water. Cook for about 30 minutes until the rice is tender, gradually adding more water as the rice absorbs it. When the rice is almost done, add more salt and pepper to taste and the parsley.