Osh recipe

Rice is layered on top of a long-simmered zirvak of lamb, onion and matchstick carrots and steamed without ever being stirred in.

14 hours and 40 minutesmedium10 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g devzira rice
• 600 g lamb
• 1000 g yellow carrots
• 2 onions
• 150 ml cottonseed oil
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 garlic
• 100 g chickpeas
• 1 tbsp barberries
• 1 tbsp salt

How to make Osh

1. Rinse 500 g of devzira rice until the water runs clear and soak it in warm salted water for 1 hour; soak 100 g of chickpeas overnight.
2. Heat 150 ml of cottonseed oil in a kazan or heavy pot until it shimmers, brown 600 g of bone-in lamb hard on all sides, then lift it out.
3. Fry 2 sliced onions in the same oil until deep gold, then return the lamb.
4. Add 1 kg of carrots cut into thick matchsticks, never grated; leave them 2 minutes untouched, then fold gently and let them soften 10 minutes.
5. Add the chickpeas, 1 tbsp of cumin seeds rubbed between your palms, 1 tbsp of barberries and 1 tbsp of salt, pour in boiling water to just cover and simmer uncovered 40 minutes: this zirvak carries all the flavour.
6. Drain the rice and spread it in an even layer over the zirvak, burying 2 whole heads of garlic in it. From here on, never stir the rice into the meat.
7. Pour boiling water down the side of the pot until it stands 1.5 cm above the rice and boil hard, uncovered, until the water drops to the level of the grains.
8. Gather the rice into a mound, poke several holes down to the bottom with a chopstick, cover tightly and steam on the lowest heat for 25 minutes.
9. Turn the pot out onto a platter so the rice sits underneath and the meat, carrots and garlic crown the top.

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