Plov with pumpkin
I have a little secret to reveal. Up until recently I hated pumpkin. And I could never understand how my Mum can enjoy it so much. Until… one day I made this plov. It is very tasty. The idea of this plov was prompted by my childhood friend Nana.
Pumpkin – 2kg
Rice – 1.5 cups
Butter – 50-75g
Saffron
Sultanas, dried apricots, chestnuts
or cumin
If you pumpkin is bigger than 2kg, you will need to use more rice.
You can make this plov with sultanas, dried apricots, chestnuts or with cumin. If you feel lazy then you don’t even need to add anything. It all depends on what you feel like.
Cut the top part of the pumpkin in a way to create a lid. Remove all seeds etc. Then clean in such a way that there is nothing on the inside of pumpkin. Then, using a table spoon, scrape the internal walls of the pumpkin – it’s the easiest way to clean it.
Taste it. It tastes good when uncooked too. And as well as I know it is also beneficial for health. If you discover it is not sweet, sprinkle 1 tablespoonful of sugar on the walls of the pumpkin. Put a side. Cook rice as described here.
If you decide to make plov with dried fruits and chestnuts, cook and clean the chestnuts from skin in advance. If dried apricots are too big, cut in half. Wash and dry sultanas and dried apricots. Put in a pan together with chestnuts, add some butter and 1 tablespoonful of water. Warm the pan up to the max. Once the butter has melted, reduce the heat to the minimum, cover the pan and fry for 5 to 10 minutes or until the dried fruit become soft. Put aside.
Infuse saffron in hot water 30 minutes before cooking ritce as described here.
When rice is ready and is sieved, move into a bowl, add cubed butter. Add dried fruit and chestnuts (if used). If you are using cumin instead, then add it. Mix rice well. If you don’t use anything, then just stir rice with butter cubes.
Transfer rice inside the pumpkin, poor 1-2 tablespoon of water and saffron infusion. Put the pumpkin ‘lid’ on top.
Wrap the pumpkin into a foil and put into preheated oved (150 degrees). In an hour, increase the temperature to 180-200 degrees. The higher the temperature, the faster the pumpkin cooks. Usually it takes 3 hours. Before serving, open the foil and check the readiness by using fork.
Plov is ready once pumpkin softens. Remove the foil, careful put on a plate. Transfer onto a plate and serve.
Nush Olsun! Enjoy your meal!
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