Uyghur Qaysi Polu

Name: Uyghur Qaysi Polu
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1.2 kg bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into large pieces (ask your butcher to chop through the bone); 400 g basmati or long-grain white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, then drained; 150 g dried apricots (qaysi), preferably small tart variety; large Turkish apricots halved work well; 3 tbsp neutral oil or rendered lamb fat; 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced; 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks or coarse julienne; 1 head garlic, unpeeled, excess papery skin removed but cloves left intact; 0.5 tsp saffron threads, steeped in 3 tbsp warm water for 15 minutes; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp ground coriander; 0.5 tsp ground black pepper; 1 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste; 600 ml hot water or light lamb stock

lamb and dried apricot pilaf from the Tian Shan foothills: rice braised in saffron broth with whole bone-in lamb and dried apricots until the fruit dissolves into amber sweetness

Origin: Xinjiang, China

From the journey of Apricot.

The Uyghur polu (spelled variously as polo, plov, or osh across the Turkic and Persian-speaking world) is the most celebrated festive dish of Xinjiang, served at weddings, Nowruz celebrations, and gatherings of importance throughout the communities of the Tian Shan foothills. It belongs to the same great Central Asian pilaf family as the Uzbek osh, the Persian polo, and the Afghan qabuli palau, all of which descend from a single ancient tradition of rice cooked in rich broth with meat and dried fruit. The qaysi polu (the apricot version) is native to the apricot's own homeland: the dried apricots used here are the small, intensely flavoured variety of the Tian Shan piedmont, tart and aromatic in a way quite distinct from the flat Turkish or Californian commercial product. In Uyghur cooking the polu is built in the kazan, the heavy cast-iron cauldron that sits over an open or domestic fire and is the centrepiece of the Uyghur kitchen. The technique (layering fat, onion, carrot, meat, and then rice over the broth) is immutable; what varies is the dried fruit added for sweetness. In the apricot version, the dried qaysi are added with the carrot and allowed to simmer until they are very soft, so that they dissolve partially into the broth and tint the rice a deeper amber. A pinch of saffron bloomed in warm water deepens the colour further and adds the faint floral note characteristic of the most festive Uyghur pilafs. The resulting dish is fragrant, sweet-savoury, and deeply satisfying: a direct continuation of the oldest apricot culinary tradition in the world.

Ingredients

Meat

1.2 kg bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into large pieces (ask your butcher to chop through the bone)

Rice

400 g basmati or long-grain white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, then drained

Fruit

150 g dried apricots (qaysi), preferably small tart variety; large Turkish apricots halved work well

Fat

3 tbsp neutral oil or rendered lamb fat

Aromatics

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks or coarse julienne
1 head garlic, unpeeled, excess papery skin removed but cloves left intact

Spice

0.5 tsp saffron threads, steeped in 3 tbsp warm water for 15 minutes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
0.5 tsp ground black pepper

Seasoning

1 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste

Liquid

600 ml hot water or light lamb stock

Method

Heat the oil in a large, heavy kazan, casserole, or Dutch oven over high heat until smoking. Add the lamb pieces in batches and brown well on all sides, 4–5 minutes per batch. Do not crowd the pan. Remove and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium-high. Add the sliced onions to the same pot and fry, stirring occasionally, for 12–15 minutes until deeply golden and beginning to catch at the edges.
Add the cumin seeds, ground coriander, and black pepper and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Return the lamb to the pot. Add the carrot matchsticks and the dried apricots. Stir to combine.
Pour in the hot water or stock, add the salt and the saffron water (including the threads). Bring to a boil, skimming any foam. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes until the lamb is almost tender and the apricots have softened considerably.
Taste the broth and adjust for salt. Press the whole head of garlic into the centre of the pot. Spread the drained rice in an even layer over the meat and fruit without stirring. Pour enough hot water over the back of a spoon to come 2 cm above the surface of the rice.
Bring to a vigorous boil over high heat, then reduce to the lowest possible heat, cover tightly with a lid (or foil then lid), and cook for 20 minutes undisturbed. Do not lift the lid.
Remove from the heat and leave to rest, lid on, for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, gently fold the rice from the edges toward the centre once, and serve directly from the pot or turn out onto a large platter, mounding the rice over the lamb and fruit.

Notes

The dried apricots should be the small, tart, unsulphured variety if possible; the bright orange sulphured Turkish supermarket apricots are a reasonable substitute but are sweeter and milder. The whole garlic head nestled into the rice before the final steaming cooks to mellow creaminess and is eaten squeezed from its papery husks at the table. Leftovers can be gently reheated in a covered pan with a splash of water.

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