Plov (pilaf) is Uzbekistan's national dish and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage element (2016). The base is always rice + fat + meat + carrots cooked in a kazan (cast-iron cauldron), but regional styles differ enormously.
1. Tashkent plov — turmeric-golden rice, chickpeas on top, lamb or beef, garnished with quail eggs and horse-sausage (kazy). The commercial lunch default.
2. Samarkand plov — the rice and meat are served still layered (not mixed) — called "one-hump" plov. Yellow carrots preferred. Less oil than Tashkent.
3. Bukhara plov — the meat is NOT seared first. Instead, all ingredients are layered raw, then water is added and the pot is sealed and baked. Subtler, less caramelised flavour.
4. Fergana plov — sweeter: includes raisins, dried apricots, sometimes quince. Rice is whiter (no turmeric).
5. Khorezm (Khiva) plov — "green plov" — includes fresh herbs (dill, parsley) mixed into the rice after cooking.
6. Kashkadarya plov — pumpkin chunks replace part of the carrot. Earthy and sweet.
7. Wedding plov (to'y plov) — cooked for 200–500+ guests in 1-metre kazans over wood fires. Multiple cooks work simultaneously. The fat-to-rice ratio is higher; the result is richer and heavier than home cooking.
Other named variants: devzira plov (using a special hard rice), buxoro osh (Bukhara festive plov), tuxum plov (egg plov), sabzi plov (carrot plov for funerals).
Etiquette: plov is a lunch dish. Eaten by 14:00 at the latest. Traditionally the cook is always male.
Uzbekistan in photos
A short visual companion to this entry — photographs from our Uzbekistan travel archive.
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