Lamb Plov with Apples and Chickpeas
Excerpted from Ukraïne: Recipes and Stories from Kyiv to the Black Sea
WRITER/RECIPE Anna Voloshyna
PHOTOGRAPHER Jason Perry
Read the accompanying story here: The Long Way Home
This is Lerane Haibylaeva's plov, which she taught in her Lviv kitchen, and it made it into my new cookbook UKRAÏNE, with only small adjustments. The dried barberries are the detail I would not skip: tiny, jewel-red, and pleasantly tart, they cut through all that rice and meat the way a squeeze of lemon does, and you can find them at most Middle Eastern grocers. The quail eggs and seared apple wedges on top are what turn a pot of rice into a festive-looking dish, which is exactly what plov is meant to be.
Lamb Plov with Apples and Chickpeas
Serves 8
Ingredients:
½ cup [90 g] dried chickpeas
2 lb [910 g] boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 3 in [7.5 cm] cubes
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2¼ cups [450 g] basmati rice
8 quail eggs
½ cup [120 ml] sunflower or other neutral oil
2 small Golden Delicious apples (about 4½ oz [130 g] each), halved, cored, and each half cut into 6 wedges
2 large carrots (about 10½ oz [300 g]), peeled and cut into batons 2 in [5 cm] long and ⅓ in [8.5 mm] thick
1½ tsp dried barberries
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp cumin seeds
¾ tsp ground turmeric
5 to 7 saffron threads
3 garlic heads, loose, papery outer layers removed
Instructions:
Pick over the chickpeas, discarding any grit or other debris. Rinse under cold running water, transfer to a medium bowl, and add water to cover generously. Let soak for at least 10 hours, or overnight. Drain just before cooking.
Pat the lamb dry with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper, then let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to allow the seasonings to absorb. Put the rice into a large fine-mesh sieve, rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear, and set aside.
Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully lower the eggs into the water and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Using a large slotted spoon, fish the eggs out of the boiling water and lower them into the ice water. Let the eggs cool completely, about 10 minutes, then peel and halve lengthwise.
In a large cast-iron wok or Dutch oven, heat the oil over high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the apples and fry, turning as needed to color evenly, until golden and caramelized but still retaining their texture, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the apples to a bowl and set aside.
Add the meat to the hot oil and fry, turning as needed to color evenly, until golden on all sides and fragrant, about 2 minutes on each side. Then add the carrots and drained chickpeas, lower the heat to medium-high, and simmer, stirring once or twice, until the carrots have softened and taken on some color and the room is filled with a sweet-savory aroma, 10 to 15 minutes. Season liberally with salt, then add the barberries, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and saffron and mix well. Nestle the garlic heads among the lamb chunks. Evenly distribute the rice over the meat and garlic. Do not stir at this point. Carefully pour in water in a thin stream to cover the rice by about ¼ in [6 mm].
Turn down the heat to low, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid (if you do not have a lid, a large sheet pan works well), and cook until the meat is tender and the rice and beans are cooked, 45 to 60 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and let the plov rest, covered, for 15 minutes before serving. Then gently transfer to a large serving platter, top with the seared apple wedges and halved quail eggs, and serve.
