Uzbek plov: a symbol of Uzbek hospitality

Pilaf - Khan of Uzbek dastarkhan

Plov is the symbol of Uzbek food. It is prepared in every Uzbekistan family, whether Uzbek, Russian, Tatar of Korean. Uzbek plov is the part of mentality of Uzbekistan people. Traditionally plov is cooked by men.

There are over a thousand of recipes of cooking Uzbek plov with various ingredients and even there are some cook books dedicated only to this dish.

In various regions of Uzbekistan, people have their own recipes of Uzbek plov preparation. For instance, Bukharan people prepare plov with green gram. Samarkand plov is light, Fergana plov is brown on the contrary. In Samarkand people put meat, carrot, rice in layers and steam it. In Tashkent plov all ingredients are roasted at the beginning.

Commonly Uzbek plov is cooked with rice, fresh mutton or beef, yellow or red carrot, onions and vegetable oil. Traditionally, Uzbek plov is prepared in a deep cast-iron pot (kazan), which is uniformly warmed and a dish is not burnt.