All you need is plov

If you want to taste the “king of Uzbek meals” you should try plov.
If you want to be as brave as Amir Timur’s army you should eat plov.

Text by Umida Qodirova

Photos by Andrey Arakelyan

A legend goes that the great leader Amir Timur (Tamerlane) sent his armies out on an expedition to gain new territory. On the long journey, unforeseen events and hardships caused the soldiers to lose their strength. Timur thought about how to feed them with few ingredients and decided on plov as the most delicious, nourishing and bulky dish to give them strength. Many have speculated that this dish gave special force to Timur’s military when they were in a tight spot or that it helped them win in battle. Even the 10th century polymath Ibn Sina (Avicenna) said that plov can unite people, give strength and fortify immunity.

In its simplest form, plov (or pilaf) is a rice-based dish that is cooked together with vegetables and/or meat and simmered in broth. Similar dishes have been exported all along the Silk Road, from China to Europe, even as far as Spain, where paella is a dish cooked with rice and ingredients not unlike plov. But arguably the best plov in the world comes from Uzbekistan.

In ancient times, plov was not eaten with cutlery but by hand. This was not due to a lack of spoons, but rather because cooking plov was considered an art, and it was a dish to be treated delicately. Eating by hand is also believed to be healthy. Some say that when food is consumed with the hands the flavours go directly from the fingertips to the nervous system, producing a large amount of gastric juice (digestive acid), aiding in digestion. Today, before a wedding, an Uzbek groom feeds his friends sweets by hand, too.

There are more than 100 different types and styles of plov (also sometimes called ‘osh’), corresponding to almost every region and local area of Uzbekistan.

In the Fergana Valley, there is kovatok palov cooked with grape leaves,

While Tashkent’s version – t’oy oshi – has raisins and chickpeas.

 In Khiva, suzma plov is differentiated ​​by the rice being cooked separately, rinsed with cold water and then combined with the rest of the ingredients.

Making plov is an integral part of tradition in Uzbekistan. At every special event, from weddings to baby celebrations, anniversaries and holidays, you can be sure that a giant, steaming kazan (cauldron) of plov will be prepared.

So, if you want to experience the history of Uzbekistan for yourself, just gobble down a spoonful (or handful!) of plov.