Instant Pot

Instant Pot Uzbek Plov

by:
January 18, 2018
4
5 Ratings
Instant Pot Uzbek Plov
Photo by Desert Cooking
  • Serves 4-6
Author Notes

The national dish of Uzbekistan made easy in the Instant Pot (or stovetop pressure cooker). It is a favorite dish for the fall or winter. I like to serve this with cacik (a turkish yogurt dip) and a simple salad. —Desert Cooking

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil or Neutral Cooking Oil
  • 1 pound Beef or Lamb Stew Meat
  • 2 Onions, chopped
  • 4-5 Carrots, julienned
  • 1 teaspoon Cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Paprika
  • 3 teaspoons Salt, Divided
  • 3 Bay Leaves
  • 2 tablespoons Dried Currents
  • 2 cups Rice, rinsed
  • 1 Head of Garlic
Directions
  1. Using the "Sauté" mode brown the meat in the Instant Pot with the olive oil.
  2. Once the meat is browned, add the chopped onions and cook until softened (3-5 min). Then add the carrots, cumin, paprika, 1-1.5 teaspoon of salt, dried currants, and the bay leaves. Cook for another 5 minutes, until carrots are softened.
  3. Add enough water to cover the meat and vegetables.
  4. Press the "Off" button, then press "Manual" and set the time for 45 minutes on high pressure.
  5. After 45 minutes, release the pressure.
  6. Add the 2 cups of rice evenly over the top of the dish, the rice should be covered by the cooking water and no extra water should be needed.
  7. Evenly distribute 1.5 teaspoons of salt across the rice
  8. Press the whole garlic head into the middle of the pot, so it is covered by the water/rice.
  9. Press the "Off" button, then press "Rice" and set the time to 12 minutes.
  10. After 12 minutes, release the pressure and take off the lid. Allow the setting to change to "Keep Warm".
  11. Using the handle of a spatula or stir spoon, poke multiple large holes all the way to the bottom of the pot. This will allow the extra water to evaporate.
  12. Allow pot to stay on "Keep warm" for 15-20 minutes, or until all the water is evaporated.
  13. Remove garlic head and bay leaves.
  14. Serve with salted plain yogurt or cacik (turkish yogurt dip).
Tags:
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Desert Cooking
    Desert Cooking
  • MadeleineBeans
    MadeleineBeans
  • Steph
    Steph

Popular on Food52

3 Reviews

MadeleineBeans
MadeleineBeans December 28, 2023
Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe!!!! I made it last night with some cacik and it was absolutely amazing. I have tried to make Uyghur polo (similar to this) in a wok before and it was so much easier to make this in the instant pot. The texture came out perfect with your instructions.

I used lamb stew meat and it absolutely melted and the rice was the perfect consistency.

My only recommendation would be to add more currants if you want to up the sweet factor!

At the stage where you add and cook the rice, when I hit "Rice", my Instant Pot kept saying "Auto", so I set it to "Pressure cook" on low pressure for 12 minutes instead and it came out perfect. I used brown basmati rice for this.

I also doubled the recipe so I would have leftovers and it worked great.

This will definitely be in my regular recipe rotation, and I can't wait to try your other recipes!!! Thank you again, this made my week because I have been wanting to make Uzbeki food!
 
Steph
Steph March 25, 2018
We used basmati rice and it came put mushy.
 
Desert C.
Desert C. March 31, 2018
Thanks for trying the recipe Steph. Most likely there was too much liquid, the rice should just barley be covered. Also I rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Hope that helps.