Shared by Elliot Fonarev
Lamb and Chestnut Plov (Pilaf)
Yield: 8 servingsTime: 4 hours
Lamb and Chestnut Plov (Pilaf)
Yield: 8 servingsTime: 4 hoursFamily Journey
Smila, UkraineSumqayit, AzerbaijanKazan, Russia
Jerusalem, IsraelToronto, Canada
“For as long as I can remember, papa’s plov was the star of the dinner table at every special occasion — birthdays, New Years’ Eve (novy god/Нoвый гoд), extended family visits, and other celebrations,” shares Elliot Fonarev of his father Oleg’s signature recipe.
While plov typically combines beef or lamb with rice in a single dish, Oleg Fonarev separates the two elements, stewing lamb with sweet chestnuts, prunes, and apricots until tender, and cooking parboiled grains of rice with heaps of butter, yielding fragrant and fluffy results. The rice is cooked in a special aluminum Kazan pot, although a Dutch oven makes a fine substitute. Don’t skimp on the butter or vegan butter.
Since the lamb takes a few hours to cook, it's best to start it first. Once the lamb has been simmering for around an hour, begin preparing the rice in Step 7 so everything finishes around the same time.
Read more of Elliot’s family story in “From a University Kitchen to a Shabbat Table, Azeri Plov Runs Through This Family” and get his recipes for green bean lobio and shuba (“herring under a fur coat.”)
Ingredients
For the lamb
- 2 ¼ lbs. lamb stew meat
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 4 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced into half moons
- 1 ⅓ cups dried prunes
- 1 ½ cups roasted chestnuts
- 10-12 Turkish dried apricots
For the rice
- 4 cups basmati rice
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 12 oz. mixed golden and brown raisins
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter or vegan butter
- Salt and pepper, for seasoning
- Chopped parsley, to garnish
- Pomegranate seeds, to garnish
Preparation
Step 1
To a large bowl, place about half an onion’s worth of strips on top of the lamb cubes, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let marinate for about 30 minutes. Reserve the rest of the onions for later.
Step 2
Heat a cast iron skillet on medium-high and add the oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the lamb and sear for 1-2 minutes, until lightly colored. If some of the marinating onions get into the pot, it’s fine.
Step 3
Add 4 cups of water to the pot on top of the lamb and cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook the lamb on medium-low heat, occasionally removing any scum from the top and stirring. Make sure the water does not boil away. If it does, add more water, 1 cup at a time, and reduce the temperature.
Step 4
After 1 ½ hours, add the remaining onions to the pot and season with more salt and pepper. Cook for another 45 minutes or until the meat is soft. Stir periodically.
Step 5
Rinse the prunes and soak them in water for at least 10 minutes, then drain in a strainer.
Step 6
Add the prunes to the pot when the meat is soft (about 2 hours and 15 minutes into cooking). After another 15 minutes, add the roasted chestnuts and apricots.
Step 7
Continue to cook the mixture on low for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, and making sure there is a bit of water left at the bottom of the pot until it’s done cooking. The completed stew should have a very soft consistency, look dark brown in color, and the lamb and chestnuts should be easy to pull apart.
Step 8
While the lamb mixture cooks, make the rice. Use a strainer to rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Add the rinsed rice to a large pot.
Step 9
In the bowl with rice, add cold water (twice as much water as rice) and 3 tablespoons kosher salt. Let it sit for about 30 minutes and then drain the water; do not rinse the rice again.
Step 10
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the egg with two tablespoons of water. Add the flour into the egg mixture and mix until it forms a dough. Roll the dough out to the size of the bottom of the aluminum pot, about 12” round. Set aside.
Step 11
Rinse the raisins and let them sit for 10 minutes. Then, fry the raisins in a pan over high heat with 4 tablespoons (½ stick) of butter or vegan butter, stirring, until the raisins look plump and shiny. Set aside.
Step 12
In a large pot, boil 8 cups of water with 3 tablespoons of salt. Prepare a strainer. Once the water is boiling, slowly transfer in the rice and stir, then close the lid and bring the water back up to boil. Cook for 4 minutes with the lid on, then strain the rice.
Step 13
Heat a large cast iron or kazan pot on low, and rub another ½ stick of butter or vegan butter on the bottom and sides of the pot.
Step 14
Place the rolled out dough on the bottom of the pot (it can go up the sides a bit). Add the strained rice to it in layers, dotting the rice with chunks of butter, in layers of rice/butter/rice/butter.
Step 15
The amount of butter/vegan butter should increase as the layering increases (less on the bottom layers, more on the top — it will drip down). As you layer, try to keep the rice away from the edges and add butter/vegan butter to the edges of the pot to avoid sticking.
Step 16
Put the buttered raisins on top of the rice, pouring in any butter/vegan butter left in the pan. Cover the pot with a towel under a lid, and let sit on low heat, barely simmering, for 1 hour.
Step 17
To serve: Serve rice on a large tray, mixing the rice, raisins, and bottom crust together on the serving platter. Serve stew in a covered bowl/pot with a lid, so it remains hot. Garnish the stew with pomegranate and chopped parsley.
