Shah Plov Azeri King Crown Rice Recipe, by Anna Ansari
by Anna Ansari
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Easy
Azerbaijan has over 200 different plovs. And, as in Uzbekistan and Iran, rice is respected and revered – no celebration is complete without plov. For some, no meal is complete without plov. Raftara, a woman I met in southern Azerbaijan, an entrepreneurial citrus farmer whose kumquat jam is the stuff of which dreams are made, told me how, as a child, her father became angry with her mother if he found that, upon returning home after working elsewhere for a few days, she and her siblings had had no plov while he was away.
Her mother fed them well, Raftara stressed, as she relayed this story to me under the midday Lankaran sun, pouring another cup of tea with a smile. “But my father, he thought if we were not eating plov, his kids must have been going hungry! He would yell at my mother,” she said, still all smiles. “‘You didn’t feed my kids when I was away! Why did you not give them any plov?!’ That is what he would say to her. That is how important plov is to Azeris.”
And this plov – shah plov – this is the king of Azeri plovs. The crown plov. Literally. There are countless gorgeous recipes in this book. Countless dishes you will proudly bring to the table not only because of their exceptional taste, but also because of their beauty. But they all pale in comparison to this one. There is simply nothing like it. This is a showstopper of a dish – certainly in terms of flavour, but also in terms of presentation. And, despite its opulent look, it is relatively simple to make. When you come at the king, you best not miss – and
you won’t with this recipe.
Ingredient for Shah Plov Azeri King Crown Rice Recipe
- 100g barberries or cranberries
- 1kg skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 1¾ tsp fine sea salt, plus extra to taste
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus extra to taste
- 4 tbsp ghee or olive oil
- 2 onions, thinly sliced into half-moons
- 180g cooked chestnuts
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¾ tsp ground coriander
- 0.5g saffron, ground with ¼ tsp granulated sugar using a mortar and pestle, and then brewed with 1 tbsp rose water and 3 tbsp hot water
- 2 tablespoons ghee, or 30g unsalted butter
- 150g dried apricots and/ or prunes, chopped into 2–3cm pieces, plus extra to serve
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon nuts, to garnish (optional; I like flaked almonds and pistachio nibs)
Ingredient for Rice
- 500g basmati rice
- 1 tbsp fine sea salt
- 250g unsalted butter, melted
- enough flatbread or tortilla rounds to cover the bottom and sides of your pot, all but two cut in half
How to make Shah Plov Azeri King Crown Rice Recipe
- Soak the barberries or cranberries in a bowl of warm water for 20 minutes, then drain and set aside. Season your chicken with ½ teaspoon of the fine sea salt and the black pepper, then set aside.
- In a large sauté pan for which you have a lid, heat 3 tablespoons of the ghee or oil over a medium heat. Add the sliced onions and ⅛ teaspoon of the salt. Cook your onions, stirring frequently, for 10–12 minutes, or until they are soft and golden.
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Add the chicken to the pan, along with the remaining 1 tablespoon ghee or oil. Cook for 2 minutes on each side to brown, then add the chestnuts, cumin, and coriander, along with an additional teaspoon of salt. Stir to mix well and cook
for 2 minutes more. -
Now, pour 250ml water into the pan. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the saffron and its brewing water over the top of the chicken. Cover the pan with its lid and increase the heat to bring the mixture to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and
cook for 25 minutes. -
While your braise is a-braising, melt the 2 tablespoons butter or ghee in a separate medium sauté pan over a medium heat. Once melted, reduce the heat to low and add the chopped apricots and/or prunes, along with the cinnamon and the final
⅛ teaspoon of fine sea salt. Stir to coat the fruit in the seasoning, and sauté for 2 minutes. -
Add the drained barberries or cranberries to the pan and sauté for 1 minute more,
stirring near constantly to make sure the berries don’t burn. Remove the fruit from
the heat, and set aside until your chicken is ready to welcome it. -
After the chicken has been cooking for 25 minutes, remove the lid and increase the
heat to medium high. Cook the chicken for a further 10 minutes to reduce and
thicken the sauce, then taste and season to your liking with additional fine sea salt
and/or black pepper. Add your cooked fruit to the pan, mix everything together
well, then take off the heat and set aside while you attend to your rice. - Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4).
- Parboil your rice.
- Pour 50ml melted butter into a large, ovenproof casserole pot, swirling to coat the bottom of the pot.
- Place one tortilla or flatbread round on top of the butter. Then, use a pastry brush to brush more melted butter over the top of the bread, and all the way up the sides of the pot.
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Layer your flatbread or tortilla halves vertically along the sides of the pot, overlapping them with each other, brushing them generously with melted butter as you go, and making sure there is a bit of overhang at the top – you will be folding
them down and in when you close up the plov. Brush the sides of the pot with more butter along the way as needed, as it will drizzle downwards. - Return to your colander of parboiled rice. Give it a good shake, then add a few spoonfuls of the rice to the bottom of the bread-lined pot.
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Use the back of a spoon to smooth it down evenly, then drizzle 1 tablespoon of the
brewed saffron and its water across the rice. - Spoon in half of your chicken-and-fruit filling on top, spreading it across the rice as evenly as you can. Layer in half of the remaining rice on top of the meat and fruit. Follow with another 1 tablespoon drizzle of saffron water and then the rest of the meat. Top with the remaining rice, ending with a final 1 tablespoon drizzle of saffron.
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Take the final tortilla/flatbread round and place it across the top of your saffron-laced rice. Brush the bread with more melted butter. Now, gently fold each of the
overhanging vertical pieces of bread in toward the middle. You are sealing up the
most incredible package; Santa’s got nothing on you! - Once all the bread has been folded in, brush everything down with the last of the melted butter. I bet you didn’t think you would use it all, did you? But you did. There are many reasons this is an occasional dish, and the amount of butter used in it is one of them.
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Place the lid on top of your pot and slide it into your preheated oven. Cook for 1–2
hours, or until the top is golden brown. Carefully remove the pot from the oven,
take off the lid and let the plov cool for 5 minutes. Then, find a platter that fits over
the top of your pot, place it on top and, using both hands, quickly flip the pot over
in one fluid motion. -
Take a deep breath, remove the pot from the platter and see if you’ve done it. I bet
you have; if you’ve used enough butter, I’m sure you have, and what an incredible sight it is. Congratulations. -
Decorate the top of your plov with more dried fruit and perhaps some dried nuts
too. To serve, carve into the plov like it’s a cake. Let its insides tumble out. Marvel at
its beauty. Then spoon some onto your plate, and marvel at its taste as well
About the author
Anna Ansari has a background in Asian studies, with a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University and an MA from Yale University. Her writing focuses on the intersection of food, family, and history, with special attention to the immigrant experience and foods of the Asian continent.
