Shah plov
The shahs’ plov: saffron rice, lamb, chestnuts and dried fruit, baked inside a lavash crust that’s broken open at the table like a crown.
Ingredients
- 500 g basmati rice
- A few saffron threads
- 600 g diced lamb
- 1 onion
- 100 g dried apricots and 100 g raisins
- 100 g cooked chestnuts
- 150 g butter
- 4 sheets of lavash or filo pastry
- Cinnamon, salt and pepper
How to make it at home
- Parboil the rice in salted water for 8 minutes and drain. Mix it with the saffron dissolved in hot water.
- Brown the lamb with the onion in butter, add the chestnuts, apricots, raisins, cinnamon, salt and pepper, and cook covered for 30 minutes.
- Line a round casserole or tin with the lavash sheets brushed with butter, letting them hang over the edges.
- Fill with layers of rice and of meat with fruit, close with the sheets and brush with butter.
- Bake at 180 °C for about 45 minutes, until the crust is golden. Turn out and open it at the table.
The trick: Breaking the crust open at the table is the show-stopping moment of the dish.