Kyrgyz Plov Recipe

This week I started taking cooking. Our first lesson was Kyrgyz Plov.

Ingredients:
1lbs. 2 ounces beef (мясо)- cut into quarter size pieces
3 cups of rice (рис)- rinsed and sitting in water as you prepare the other ingredients (at least half an hour)
2-3 onions (лук)- cut in half and then cut into slivers (half-moons)
4 carrots (морковь)- julienned, about an inch long
1 1/5 cups of vegetable oil (масло)
1 head of garlic (чеснок)- peeled
1 bullion cube
1/2 cup of parsley (петрушка), chopped
Plov spice mix, red pepper, black pepper, and salt about 2-3 tablespoons of each

Directions
1. Prepare ingredients as stated in the ingredients list.
2. Pour vegetable oil in a large pot ( cast iron pot does well for this) over medium-high heat. Let oil get hot (you should hear crackling) and then place the onions in the pot.
3. When onions turn golden, add carrots on top of them. The place the шапка, or lid, on the pot for five minutes.
4. Add meat, salt, red pepper, black pepper, and plov spice (this is a mixture of cumin, garlic powder, coriander, carraway seeds, chili, paprika you buy in the store or markets here). Stir until meat looks brown.
5. Add water, enough to barely cover you ingredients in the pot. Add bullion cube. Let the bullion cube dissolve and take time to taste your sauce. This is the time to add anymore salt.
6. When the water has come to a boil, add your rice (that has been soaking in a separate bowl of water). Cover, and lower the heat so that the water simmers.
7. Preparing the garlic: take off the outer layers of garlic, leaving a bit of the skin on (see picture in previous post). When the water is gone, dig a little hole and bury the head of garlic. Cover and leave for 10 minutes.
8. Serve with chopped parsley, green onions and dill as garnish.