Recipe/LambPlov

1 part cotton oil to 3 parts chopped carrots to 3 parts diced lamb to 3 parts rice by weight.

I (MoonShadow) use:
1kg carrots, chopped
1kg lamb, diced
300g cotton oil
~5 cups rice

(This makes a seriously large amount - SunKitten)

For that amount of ingredients, you also need 4-5 medium-sized, roughly chopped onions (keep half of one unchopped), 1tbsp cumin (or more; cumin's nice..), 1tbsp salt, some pepper and bayleaf. Lots of other things can be added to taste - olives, raisins, lime, saffron.. but purists will say it's best plain.

Heat a dry(!) cauldron for a few seconds on maximum heat. Pour in the oil. It will soon start giving off a slight steamy smoke; when it does, throw in the unchopped half-onion. When the half-onion turns completely black, the oil is ready; remove the half-onion and throw it away. Put the meat in the cauldron (it'll spit!) and fry, stirring continuously, until you can't see pink bits any more (7-8 minutes; it'll probably still be pink inside, which is OK.) Chuck in the chopped onions and reduce the heat slightly. Let the onions fry for a minute or two while stirring them, then add the carrots. Stir the mix every minute or two so it doesn't stick. When the carrots start going soft and slightly pale (~10-15 minutes), add the salt, pepper, cumin, bayleaf etc; also the hot water - the same amount by volume(!) as the rice. Let the whole lot simmer for another 10-15 minutes on a small flame.

Turn the flame to maximum and add the (washed) rice. The water should rise about half an inch above the top of the stew. Stir continuously, scraping along the bottom - you are trying to stop the mixture from sticking, and also trying to make the water boil out as quickly as possible. As soon as the water boils out, add a small amount of cold water (~half a cup to 5 cups of rice), turn the heat down as low as possible and cover with a tight lid. The plov will be ready 20 minutes after that.

The Russian shop behind the GraftonCentre sells cotton oil.
If you make this and like it, please [comment]!

SeeAlso: [Wikipedia article]