Shakh plov
Shakh plov translates as crown pilaf. This rich and tangy rice dish is certainly fit for a king or queen.
Ingredients
- 400g/14oz pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1cm/¼in pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 200g/7oz chestnuts, peeled and halved
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 350g/12oz clarified butter or ghee
- 200g/7oz banana shallots, sliced
- pinch saffron
- 70²µ/2½´Ç³ú barberries
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú dried cherries
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú sultanas
- 70²µ/2½´Ç³ú flaked almonds, toasted
- 350g/12oz basmati rice
- 15 x 20cm/8in thin lavash (Persian flatbreads, available from Persian stores and online)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Place the pumpkin in a large roasting tin and drizzle over the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 30–40 minutes or until golden-brown and cooked through. 10 minutes before the end of cooking add the chestnuts, garlic and cumin. Alternatively, heat a medium sauté pan and add a little clarified butter. Add the pumpkin and cook until golden brown all over. Add the chestnuts, garlic and cumin and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the clarified butter in a medium sauté pan and fry the shallots until lightly caramelised.
Gently heat the rest of the clarified butter in a saucepan and add the saffron to infuse.
Add the roasted pumpkin and chestnuts to the shallots along with the dried fruit, and almonds and season with salt and pepper.
Rinse the rice and put in a saucepan with plenty of salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly and pour into a tray to cool slightly.
Brush the lavash, one-by-one with clarified butter and layer into the bottom and sides of a large ovenproof casserole, making sure that some hangs over the edges to fold over. There should be a couple of layers with no holes showing.
Reduce the oven temperature to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Add the pumpkin and chestnut mixture to the lavash lined saucepan, then scatter the rice over gently, do not pack in. Make 4–5 holes in the rice and pour over the saffron butter. Fold the sides of the lavash over the rice to close it.
Cover and cook in the oven for 50 minutes. If the top is not brown and crispy, lower the heat to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4, remove the lid and cook for another 10 minutes to crisp the top.
Carefully, tip the plov onto a plate. Allow to stand for 5 minutes and then cut into slices.
Place in the middle of the table and serve with the herbs and pickles in bowls on the side.