Palaw

Ingredients

Zirvak (base)

• 150 mlcottonseed oil or sunflower oil, plus 100 g lamb tail fat, diced (optional)
• 1 kgmutton or lamb shoulder, cut in 4 cm pieces on the bone
• 3onions, sliced in half-moons
• 800 gyellow and orange carrots, cut in thick matchsticks
• 1 tbspcumin seeds, rubbed between the palms
• 1 tspground coriander
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1whole head of garlic, unpeeled
• 1dried red chilli (optional)

Rice

• 700 gdevzira or other long-grain rice, rinsed until the water runs clear and soaked 40 min in warm salted water
• About 1.2 litres boiling water

To serve

• Sliced onion and tomato salad (achichuk)
• Green tea

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a kazan (a deep round-bottomed cast-iron pot) until it shimmers and a haze rises. If using tail fat, render it first and remove the crisped pieces.
2. Brown the meat hard in the hot oil, in batches, for 8–10 minutes until it is dark on all sides. Colour here is what gives palaw its brown depth.
3. Add the onions and fry 8 minutes until deep golden, then the carrots. Fry the carrots for 8–10 minutes without stirring too much, so they soften and caramelise at the edges but keep their shape.
4. Add the cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and pour in boiling water to cover by 2 cm. Bury the whole garlic head and the chilli in the middle, and simmer uncovered 40 minutes. This is the zirvak, and its seasoning must taste slightly too strong on its own.
5. Drain the soaked rice and spread it evenly over the zirvak without stirring – the layers must not mix.
6. Pour in enough boiling water to sit 1.5–2 cm above the rice, raise the heat and boil uncovered until the water has dropped level with the rice and small craters appear, about 15 minutes.
7. Gather the rice into a dome with a slotted spoon, poke several holes down to the base with a chopstick to let steam escape, cover with a cloth and a tight lid and steam on the lowest heat for 25 minutes.
8. Rest off the heat 10 minutes. Uncover, mix the rice with the carrots and onions from below, pile it onto a large platter with the meat and the softened garlic on top, and serve with achichuk salad.

Technique

• The rice is never stirred into the zirvak while liquid remains. Stirring releases starch, and the grains go sticky instead of staying separate and glossy.
• Carrots are used in far greater quantity than most Western cooks expect – by weight nearly as much as the rice. They sweeten the whole pot and colour the grains.
• Palaw is prestige food across Central Asia, cooked in enormous kazans for weddings by a specialist cook, and the man of the house often makes it rather than the women.

Substitutions

• No kazan? A heavy cast-iron casserole with a tight lid is the best home substitute; a thin pan will scorch the zirvak.
• Devzira rice is hard to find – use a good long-grain such as basmati, but soak it less and reduce the steaming time by 5 minutes as it cooks faster.

Variations

• Palaw with quince and dried apricots added to the zirvak, made in autumn.
• Toy palaw, the wedding version, cooked with whole chickpeas and raisins for large crowds.

History

Turkmen rice with mutton and carrot cooked in a kazan; the wedding version is made in cauldrons for hundreds.

Frequently asked questions

What is Palaw?

Palaw is a main from Turkmenistan: turkmen pilaf of rice, mutton and carrots cooked in kazan. Turkmen rice with mutton and carrot cooked in a kazan; the wedding version is made in cauldrons for hundreds.

How long does Palaw take to make?

Palaw takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Palaw?

Yes, within limits. No kazan? A heavy cast-iron casserole with a tight lid is the best home substitute; a thin pan will scorch the zirvak. Devzira rice is hard to find – use a good long-grain such as basmati, but soak it less and reduce the steaming time by 5 minutes as it cooks faster.

What is the most important thing to get right in Palaw?

Add the cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and pour in boiling water to cover by 2 cm. Bury the whole garlic head and the chilli in the middle, and simmer uncovered 40 minutes. This is the zirvak, and its seasoning must taste slightly too strong on its own.