Samarkand Plov: No Kazan? No Problem!

A few months ago, I learned about a local grocery store chain called Tashkent Supermarket. Being a grocery store enthusiast, especially of those from cultures other than my own, I had to go ASAP.

I went to the location in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. This area, along with the neighboring Bensonhurst, has one of the largest concentrations of Central Asians in New York City. The store itself was so packed with people – and goods – that going down the narrow aisles felt like an Olympic full contact sport. Honestly, I love it. It’s a sign that the goods are good.

The best goods, I thought, were the ready to eat foods. I had never seen such a selection anywhere. But what really caught my eye were the plovs. How could they not? Presented in enormous wok-like vessels only hinting at what lay beneath the rice, they just screamed “eat me!”

Of course, I knew about Uzbek plov before. But it’s one thing to know about something and quite another to see it in the flesh, as it were, for the first time. That’s when I decided that, sure, I’d eat some of that one, but I’d also make my own. So, I bought meat there, and some carrots, and go to work at home on my very own Samarkand plov.