Plov with Devzira Rice and Lamb

Prepare all necessary ingredients.

Sort through the rice, removing small stones and debris. Put the rice in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of rock salt and pour in 2 liters of cold water. Leave it for at least 30 minutes. The rice will become almost transparent, and when it turns matte, you can rinse it.

Clean the lamb of sinews, membranes, and fat. Remove the meat from the bone and chop the bones into convenient pieces. Cut the meat into cubes with a side of approximately 3 centimeters.

Cut the carrots into thick matchsticks along the entire length of the root vegetable, 3–4 millimeters thick. Cut the onion into half rings or slightly smaller.

Cut the fat tail into cubes approximately the same size as the meat. Place it in a hot cauldron. The fat will start to bubble and melt. Without stirring, wait until the bubbles disappear, then flip the stuck lump. Render the fat over medium heat until it becomes transparent. When only rendered fat and cracklings remain, remove them.

Increase the heat and warm the fat until it starts to smoke slightly. Fry the bones until they have a brown crust, then the onions until golden. Lower the meat down the sides of the cauldron. After 5 minutes, stir the meat with the fat at the bottom, add cumin and fry, stirring, until golden brown. Add carrots and fry until soft. Pour cold water into the cauldron so it completely covers the contents. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium.

Place whole garlic heads, peeled of their outer husks, and chili peppers into the zirvak. Simmer everything together for 30 minutes.

Rinse the soaked rice carefully. Place a bowl under a stream of cold water and tilt it slightly so the water drains from one side. Do not rub the rice — it will break. Gently toss it in the bowl.

Remove the bones from the pot. If you leave them, they will slow down the cooking and a lump of undercooked rice will form next to each one.

Bring the zirvak to a rolling boil and spread the rice evenly over the meat. Pour boiling water so that it covers the rice by 1 centimeter. Make sure the boiling occurs not only in the center but also around the edges of the cauldron. Move the rice from areas of gentle boiling to where it's bubbling vigorously.

Cook the rice until almost completely done — approximately 90% done, when it seems on tasting: almost ready, just a little bit more. If the rice is still undercooked but the water has evaporated, add a little boiling water. At the very end, increase the heat, cover the cauldron with a lid and let the pilaf come to a vigorous boil so that the fat rises to the top and is absorbed into the rice. Then reduce the heat to minimum and let it steep for 20 minutes.