University of Michigan International Center

There are no options around Ann Arbor (or, in fact, Michigan) to try any Central Asian cuisine. Thus, I had to learn on my own how to cook some dishes that are typical in my home country Kazakhstan. One of them is plov, which in the US might be more known as “pilaf” or “palaw” or something similar. There are different variations, some are more common to Central Asia, some – to Middle East Asia, some – to East Africa. The recipe here is the one I came up with based on what is cooked in my family, online recipes and what is available in the grocery stores. Ingredients (for 4-5 persons): 0.5-0.75 cup of oil (sunflower or olive, the former is preferred) 2 big or 5-6 small onions 1 lb of meet (in Kazakhstan we prefer to use sheep meet, but here I have to use either beef or chicken. In fact, I heard that also fish is used in Western Kazakhstan.) 3-4 long or 6-8 small carrots 1 or 1.5 cup of white rice (can be long- or medium-grain) 5-6 cups of boiled water (should be boiling when you add it)...