[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":428},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:uzbek-plov":3,"recipe:country:uzbekistan":214},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":43,"serveWith":53,"storage":56,"faq":57,"equipment":76,"baseServings":81,"prepMinutes":82,"cookMinutes":83,"restMinutes":84,"difficulty":85,"course":86,"diet":88,"mainIngredients":92,"ingredients":98,"instructions":153,"nutrition":195,"images":201,"keywords":205,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"uzbek-plov","Osh Palov (Uzbek Lamb and Carrot Rice Pilaf)","Osh \u002F Palov","OSH pah-LOV","uzbekistan","Fergana Valley","🍚","The national rice dish of Uzbekistan: lamb and onion browned in rendered fat, buried under sweet yellow carrots and cumin, then topped with rice that steams to separate, glossy grains.","Osh — palov to most Uzbeks, plov to the rest of the region — is a one-cauldron rice dish in which nothing is stirred until the moment it is served. Lamb and onion are fried hard in rendered fat until deeply browned, a thick raft of yellow carrots goes on top, water and cumin turn that into a dark, salty broth called zirvak, and only then does rice go in as a final flat layer to absorb the liquid and steam through. The result tastes of sweet caramelised carrot and lamb fat carried on cumin, with grains that stay separate and glossy rather than creamy. It is celebration food and weekday lunch at once, cooked in quantities that assume company, and it is the dish Uzbeks use to judge a cook.","Palov belongs to the whole Persian-Turkic world — Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan all have their own claim on the pilaf family, and no honest account hands the invention to a single country. What Uzbekistan has is a specific, obsessively defended method: build a zirvak, layer rather than mix, never stir the rice, and finish with whole heads of garlic pushed into the surface. UNESCO listed the practice of cooking and sharing palov in both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as intangible cultural heritage, which is a diplomatic way of admitting that both are right.\n\nInside Uzbekistan the argument continues by region. Fergana palov is the dark one — the carrots fry longer, the rice is devzira, a plump reddish local grain that drinks a lot of broth, and the finished dish is turned over and mixed on the platter. Bukharan and Samarkand palov stay pale and are served in layers, rice below, carrots and meat spooned on top, so the diner sees the construction. Khorezm has its own drier version. Cooks will tell you which is correct with the confidence of people discussing football.\n\nThe social side matters as much as the recipe. Large weddings and funerals are marked by nahor oshi, the morning palov, where hundreds of portions come out of a cauldron the size of a bathtub, cooked by a specialist oshpaz who does this and nothing else. In ordinary weeks palov is Thursday food in many households, and chaikhanas across the country cook one enormous kazan-load in the morning and sell it until it runs out, usually before two in the afternoon. Nobody reheats a cauldron of palov for a latecomer; you arrive on time or you eat lagman.\n\nThe home version below is scaled to a heavy casserole rather than a kazan and uses ordinary lamb shoulder plus a little extra fat in place of dumba, the fat-tailed sheep fat that gives restaurant palov its particular perfume. The technique is unchanged, and it is the technique that makes the dish.",[15,16,17,18],"Builds a proper zirvak first, so the rice is seasoned by broth rather than by salt sprinkled on at the end.","Layered and never stirred — the honest Uzbek method, which is what keeps the grains separate.","Tells you what to do without devzira rice or fat-tailed sheep fat, instead of pretending you have them.","Feeds six generously from one pot, and the leftovers reheat better than almost any other rice dish.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear, then soak it in warm salted water for 30 minutes — this is the single biggest factor in separate grains.","Cut the carrots into batons by hand, roughly 5 mm thick. Grated or food-processed carrot collapses into orange mush and the dish loses its texture entirely.","Brown the onion further than feels comfortable — deep brown at the edges, not pale gold. That colour is where the dark tone of the finished rice comes from.","Once the rice goes in, do not stir. Move liquid around by poking holes down to the base with a chopstick if you need it to drain faster.","Salt the zirvak until it tastes distinctly too salty on its own. The unseasoned rice will absorb all of it and land correctly.","If the rice is still firm when the liquid is gone, sprinkle over 50 ml hot water, re-cover and steam another 10 minutes rather than adding a big splash.",[27,31,35,39],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Devzira rice","Any short or medium-grain rice that holds its shape — Spanish bomba or calasparra, Italian arborio at a push, or a good basmati","Devzira drinks far more liquid than most rice. With basmati use about 15 percent less water and check earlier; with bomba the timings here are close to right.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Fat-tailed sheep fat (dumba)","80 ml sunflower or cottonseed oil plus 100 g diced lamb fat trimmed from the shoulder","Rendering the trimmed fat first gets you part of the way. Cottonseed oil is what most Uzbek cooks actually use and its nutty smell is closer to the real thing than sunflower.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Lamb shoulder","Beef chuck or shin, cut the same size","Common in Tashkent and entirely acceptable. Beef needs about 20 extra minutes of simmering in the zirvak before the rice goes on.",{"original":40,"swap":41,"note":42},"Yellow carrots","Ordinary orange carrots","Yellow carrots are less sweet and hold their shape better, but orange ones are what most people have. Fry them a minute less so they do not go jammy.",[44,47,50],{"name":45,"description":46},"Fergana (dark) palov","Fry the carrots longer, until they are visibly browned, and use devzira rice. The finished dish is turned over on the platter and mixed so every grain takes on the colour of the zirvak.",{"name":48,"description":49},"Samarkand palov","Cooked the same way but never mixed: rice is spooned onto the platter first, then the carrots, then the meat sliced on top, so the layers stay visible and the rice stays pale.",{"name":51,"description":52},"Toy oshi (wedding palov)","The celebration version, enriched with chickpeas, raisins and sometimes whole quince, cooked in a cauldron for hundreds and served in the morning.",[54,55],"Achichuk — a raw salad of thinly sliced tomato and onion with no oil at all, whose entire job is to cut the fat of the rice.","Torn obi non and pots of green tea, poured and refilled throughout the meal.","Palov keeps 3 days refrigerated and genuinely improves overnight as the fat and broth settle into the grains. Reheat covered, either in a pan over low heat with a tablespoon of water, or in a steamer basket for 10 minutes, which is what Uzbek homes do. Avoid the microwave on high — it dries the top layer and turns the carrots rubbery. It freezes acceptably for a month in flat portions, though the carrots soften noticeably on thawing.",[58,61,64,67,70,73],{"question":59,"answer":60},"Why is my plov sticky instead of having separate grains?","Almost always one of three things: the rice was not rinsed and soaked long enough, so surface starch glued the grains together; the rice was stirred after it went into the pot, which breaks grains and releases more starch; or there was too much liquid at the rice stage. The broth should sit only about 1.5 cm above the flat rice layer before the lid goes on.",{"question":62,"answer":63},"What is zirvak and why does it matter?","Zirvak is the seasoned base of meat, onion, carrot, spices and broth that is built before any rice is added. It is where all the flavour and salt of the finished dish live, because the rice itself is never seasoned directly — it simply drinks the zirvak up. If the zirvak tastes flat or under-salted, the plov will too, and there is no fixing it later.",{"question":65,"answer":66},"Do I need a kazan to make Uzbek plov?","No. A kazan is a thick round-bottomed cauldron that spreads heat up its curved walls, but a heavy cast-iron Dutch oven or a deep, wide casserole with a tight lid does the same job at home. What matters is thick walls, enough width for the rice to sit in a flat layer, and a lid that traps steam. A thin pan will scorch the base before the rice steams.",{"question":68,"answer":69},"Can I make plov with chicken or beef instead of lamb?","Yes, and both are cooked in Uzbekistan. Beef chuck or shin behaves much like lamb but wants around 20 minutes longer in the zirvak to become tender. Chicken thighs work but need a shorter zirvak — about 15 minutes — or they shred away, and you will want extra oil since chicken renders far less fat than lamb.",{"question":71,"answer":72},"Why are whole heads of garlic buried in the rice?","The unpeeled heads steam rather than fry, turning soft, sweet and mild instead of pungent, and they perfume the rice around them from the inside. At the table they are pulled out whole and squeezed onto portions or shared out clove by clove. Peeling or chopping the garlic instead gives a sharper, more ordinary garlic flavour and loses the effect.",{"question":74,"answer":75},"Is plov the same as pilaf or pulao?","They belong to the same family, which stretches from Iran through Central Asia to South Asia, but the Uzbek method is specific: a fried meat-and-carrot zirvak built first, rice added in a flat unstirred layer on top, and heavy use of cumin, sweet carrot and lamb fat rather than saffron, garam masala or yogurt. Persian polow and Indian pulao are cooked and seasoned quite differently.",[77,78,79,80],"Heavy cast-iron Dutch oven or deep casserole with a tight lid","Large sieve for rinsing rice","Sharp knife for cutting carrot batons","Slotted spoon",6,40,90,15,"medium",[87],"main",[89,90,91],"dairy-free","gluten-free","halal-friendly",[93,94,95,96,97],"lamb","rice","carrot","onion","cumin",[99,104,108,113,117,120,124,126,130,133,136,139,142,144,146,149],{"ref":94,"qty":100,"unit":101,"name":102,"group":103},700,"g","devzira or other short-grain rice","The rice",{"qty":105,"unit":106,"name":107,"group":103},1,"tbsp","salt, for the soaking water",{"qty":109,"unit":110,"name":111,"group":112},80,"ml","sunflower or cottonseed oil","The zirvak",{"qty":114,"unit":101,"name":115,"note":116,"group":112},100,"lamb fat, diced small","trimmed from the shoulder, or fat-tailed sheep fat if you can get it",{"ref":93,"qty":118,"unit":101,"name":119,"group":112},800,"lamb shoulder, in 4 cm chunks, some on the bone",{"ref":96,"qty":121,"unit":122,"name":123,"group":112},3,"piece","onions, halved and thinly sliced",{"ref":95,"qty":118,"unit":101,"name":125,"group":112},"yellow carrots, in 5 mm batons",{"ref":97,"qty":127,"unit":128,"name":129,"group":112},2,"tsp","whole cumin seed, crushed between the palms",{"ref":131,"qty":105,"unit":128,"name":132,"group":112},"coriander-seed","coriander seed, lightly crushed",{"ref":134,"qty":105,"unit":128,"name":135,"group":112},"black-pepper","coarsely ground black pepper",{"qty":105,"unit":106,"name":137,"optional":138,"group":112},"dried barberries or 1 tbsp raisins",true,{"ref":140,"qty":109,"unit":101,"name":141,"optional":138,"group":112},"chickpeas","dried chickpeas, soaked overnight",{"qty":105,"unit":122,"name":143,"optional":138,"group":112},"whole dried red chilli",{"qty":127,"unit":128,"name":145,"group":112},"salt, or more to taste",{"qty":105,"unit":147,"name":148,"group":112},"l","hot water",{"ref":150,"qty":127,"unit":122,"name":151,"group":152},"garlic","whole heads of garlic, papery outer skin rubbed off","To finish",[154,159,163,167,171,176,180,183,187,192],{"title":155,"text":156,"timerSeconds":157,"tip":158},"Rinse and soak the rice","Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water, swirling with your hand, until the water runs only faintly cloudy. Cover with warm water, stir in the tablespoon of salt and leave it to soak for 30 minutes while you build the base.",1800,"Devzira looks dusty pink when dry and rinses off a lot of reddish bran — that is normal, keep rinsing until the water clears.",{"title":160,"text":161,"timerSeconds":162},"Render the fat","Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the diced lamb fat and fry for 8–10 minutes until the cubes have shrunk to crisp golden nuggets and the pan is full of clear, fragrant fat. Lift the nuggets out with a slotted spoon and set aside to snack on.",600,{"title":164,"text":165,"tip":166},"Brown the lamb","Raise the heat, add {qty:lamb} of lamb chunks in a single layer and leave them undisturbed for 3 minutes before turning. Keep going for about 8 minutes total, until every side has a hard brown crust and the pan smells roasted rather than raw.","Work in two batches if the meat is crowded — steaming instead of browning here costs you the colour of the whole dish.",{"title":168,"text":169,"timerSeconds":170},"Fry the onions dark","Tip in the sliced onions and fry, stirring often, for 10–12 minutes. Push past soft and past golden: you want the edges genuinely brown and the volume reduced by two-thirds, with the fat at the bottom turning amber.",720,{"title":172,"text":173,"timerSeconds":174,"tip":175},"Add the carrots","Add the carrot batons and fry for 6–8 minutes without breaking them up, turning gently with a slotted spoon, until they are limp, glossy and smell sweet. Stir in the cumin, coriander seed, black pepper, barberries and the whole chilli.",420,"Crush the cumin between your palms as you add it — the friction and warmth release far more aroma than dropping the seeds in whole.",{"title":177,"text":178,"timerSeconds":179},"Simmer the zirvak","Pour in the hot water until it just covers the meat and carrots, add the soaked chickpeas and 2 tsp salt, and simmer uncovered on low for 35–40 minutes until the lamb is tender and the broth is dark. Taste it: it should be noticeably saltier than you would drink, because the rice takes all of that salt.",2100,{"title":181,"text":182},"Layer on the rice","Drain the rice and spread it over the zirvak in an even flat layer without mixing. Pour hot water gently over the back of a spoon until it sits about 1.5 cm above the rice, then push the two garlic heads down into the surface. Raise the heat to a strong boil.",{"title":184,"text":185,"timerSeconds":186},"Boil off the liquid","Boil hard, uncovered, for 15–20 minutes until the visible liquid has gone and the rice surface looks dry and pitted with small craters. Poke a chopstick straight down in a few places to help the last broth drain through; do not stir.",1080,{"title":188,"text":189,"timerSeconds":190,"tip":191},"Steam under the lid","Gather the rice into a low mound with a slotted spoon, turn the heat to its lowest setting, cover the pot with a clean tea towel and then the lid, and steam for 20 minutes. Leave it sealed off the heat for a further 15 minutes to settle.",1200,"The towel catches condensation that would otherwise drip back and make the top layer wet.",{"title":193,"text":194},"Serve from the platter","Lift out the garlic heads. Spoon the rice onto a wide platter, fold the carrots and meat up through it, then set the lamb chunks and garlic on top and scatter over the reserved crisp fat nuggets. Serve at once with achichuk salad and torn bread.",{"calories":170,"protein":196,"carbs":197,"fat":196,"fiber":198,"sugar":199,"sodium":200,"estimated":138},32,78,5,8,980,[202],{"src":203,"alt":204},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-plov\u002Fhero.svg","Uzbek palov heaped on a wide platter, orange carrot batons folded through glossy rice with lamb chunks and a whole garlic head on top",[206,207,208,209,210,211,8],"uzbek plov","palov","osh","lamb pilaf","zirvak","central asian rice","2026-08-21","dishroute-kitchen",{"items":215,"total":223,"page":105,"limit":426,"hasMore":427},[216,244,271,292,312,337,344,365,388,407],{"slug":217,"title":218,"nativeName":219,"countrySlug":8,"region":220,"baseServings":221,"prepMinutes":84,"cookMinutes":222,"restMinutes":223,"difficulty":224,"course":225,"diet":227,"mainIngredients":231,"images":234,"keywords":238,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"achichuk","Achichuk (Uzbek Tomato and Onion Salad)","Achichuk","Fergana Valley and Samarkand",4,0,10,"easy",[226],"side",[228,229,90,89,230],"vegetarian","vegan","nut-free",[232,96,233],"tomato","basil",[235],{"src":236,"alt":237},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fachichuk\u002Fhero.svg","Shallow dish of sliced ripe tomatoes with paper-thin onion rings, green chilli and purple basil leaves",[217,239,240,241,242,243],"uzbek salad","tomato onion salad","shakarob","plov side dish","no-oil salad",{"slug":245,"title":246,"nativeName":247,"countrySlug":8,"region":248,"baseServings":221,"prepMinutes":249,"cookMinutes":250,"restMinutes":251,"difficulty":85,"course":252,"diet":254,"mainIngredients":255,"images":260,"keywords":264,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"chuchvara","Chuchvara (Tiny Uzbek Dumplings in Broth)","Chuchvara","Tashkent",60,25,30,[253,87],"soup",[91],[256,257,96,258,259],"flour","ground-beef","yogurt","stock",[261],{"src":262,"alt":263},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fchuchvara\u002Fhero.svg","Deep bowl of tiny Uzbek chuchvara dumplings in clear broth with a spoonful of thick yogurt, black pepper and chopped herbs",[245,265,266,267,268,269,270],"uzbek dumplings","dumpling soup","suzma","central asian","beef dumplings","tashkent",{"slug":272,"title":273,"nativeName":274,"countrySlug":8,"region":275,"baseServings":81,"prepMinutes":250,"cookMinutes":276,"restMinutes":223,"difficulty":224,"course":277,"diet":278,"mainIngredients":279,"images":282,"keywords":286,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"dimlama","Dimlama (Uzbek Layered Meat and Vegetable Braise)","Dimlama","Tashkent and the Fergana Valley",95,[87],[89,90,91],[93,280,95,281,232],"potato","cabbage",[283],{"src":284,"alt":285},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fdimlama\u002Fhero.svg","Uzbek dimlama tipped onto a platter: chunks of lamb over whole potatoes, carrots, peppers and collapsed cabbage in dark broth",[272,287,288,289,290,291,268],"damlama","uzbek stew","layered braise","kazan cooking","lamb and potato",{"slug":293,"title":294,"nativeName":295,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":221,"prepMinutes":82,"cookMinutes":251,"restMinutes":296,"difficulty":85,"course":297,"diet":298,"mainIngredients":299,"images":302,"keywords":306,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"uzbek-lagman","Lagman (Uzbek Hand-Pulled Noodles with Meat Sauce)","Lagʻmon",70,[87],[89,91],[93,256,300,232,301],"bell-pepper","daikon",[303],{"src":304,"alt":305},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-lagman\u002Fhero.svg","Deep bowl of Uzbek lagman, hand-pulled noodles under lamb and pepper sauce with coriander and a slick of chilli oil",[307,308,309,310,311,268,8],"lagman","hand-pulled noodles","uzbek noodles","lamb noodle sauce","dungan",{"slug":313,"title":314,"nativeName":315,"countrySlug":8,"region":316,"baseServings":199,"prepMinutes":251,"cookMinutes":317,"restMinutes":318,"difficulty":85,"course":319,"diet":321,"mainIngredients":322,"images":326,"keywords":330,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"obi-non","Obi Non (Uzbek Round Tandoor Bread)","Obi non","Samarkand and Tashkent",20,120,[320],"bread",[228,230],[256,323,324,325],"yeast","milk","sesame-seeds",[327],{"src":328,"alt":329},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fobi-non\u002Fhero.svg","Round Uzbek obi non bread with a stamped seed-covered flat centre and a high golden puffed rim",[331,332,333,334,335,336],"obi non","uzbek bread","tandir bread","chekich","central asian flatbread","samarkand bread",{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":81,"prepMinutes":82,"cookMinutes":83,"restMinutes":84,"difficulty":85,"course":338,"diet":339,"mainIngredients":340,"images":341,"keywords":343,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},[87],[89,90,91],[93,94,95,96,97],[342],{"src":203,"alt":204},[206,207,208,209,210,211,8],{"slug":345,"title":346,"nativeName":347,"countrySlug":8,"region":275,"baseServings":221,"prepMinutes":348,"cookMinutes":349,"restMinutes":249,"difficulty":85,"course":350,"diet":352,"mainIngredients":353,"images":354,"keywords":358,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"uzbek-samsa","Somsa (Uzbek Tandoor-Baked Meat Pastry)","Somsa",45,35,[351],"street-food",[91,230],[93,96,256,97],[355],{"src":356,"alt":357},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-samsa\u002Fhero.svg","Triangular Uzbek somsa pastries with flaky browned tops and sesame seeds, one broken open to show chopped lamb and onion",[359,360,361,362,363,364],"somsa","uzbek samsa","lamb pastry","tandir","central asian street food","baked pastry",{"slug":366,"title":367,"nativeName":368,"countrySlug":8,"region":369,"baseServings":223,"prepMinutes":83,"cookMinutes":162,"restMinutes":370,"difficulty":371,"course":372,"diet":374,"mainIngredients":375,"images":377,"keywords":381,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"sumalak","Sumalak (Uzbek Sprouted Wheat Navruz Pudding)","Sumalak","Nationwide, made for Navruz",4320,"hard",[373],"dessert",[228,229,89],[256,376],"walnuts",[378],{"src":379,"alt":380},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsumalak\u002Fhero.svg","Small bowls of dark glossy sumalak, a thick brown sprouted-wheat pudding, dusted with flour for Navruz",[366,382,383,384,385,386,387],"samanu","navruz","nowruz","sprouted wheat pudding","uzbek dessert","no sugar added",{"slug":389,"title":390,"nativeName":391,"countrySlug":8,"region":248,"baseServings":221,"prepMinutes":392,"cookMinutes":348,"restMinutes":82,"difficulty":85,"course":393,"diet":394,"mainIngredients":395,"images":397,"keywords":401,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"uzbek-manti","Uzbek Manti (Steamed Lamb and Pumpkin Dumplings)","Manti",50,[87],[91],[93,396,96,256],"pumpkin",[398],{"src":399,"alt":400},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-manti\u002Fhero.svg","Large Uzbek manti dumplings on a steamer tray, translucent wrappers over lamb and pumpkin filling with a bowl of soured cream",[402,403,404,405,406,268,8],"uzbek manti","steamed dumplings","lamb dumplings","pumpkin manti","kaskan",{"slug":408,"title":409,"nativeName":410,"countrySlug":8,"region":411,"baseServings":81,"prepMinutes":317,"cookMinutes":412,"difficulty":224,"course":413,"diet":414,"mainIngredients":415,"images":416,"keywords":420,"publishedAt":212,"updatedAt":212,"authorSlug":213},"uzbek-shurpa","Uzbek Shurpa (Clear Lamb and Vegetable Soup)","Shoʻrva","Samarkand and Bukhara",145,[253],[89,90,91],[93,95,280,140,96],[417],{"src":418,"alt":419},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-shurpa\u002Fhero.svg","Bowl of clear Uzbek lamb shurpa with a whole potato, thick carrot pieces, chickpeas and chopped dill on top",[421,422,423,424,425,268,140],"shurpa","shorva","uzbek soup","lamb broth","clear soup",24,false,1787360063530]