Yotam Ottolenghi recipes: pilav and klimmy mandoreh | Food (2024)

Bukharian Jews' food culture, shaped by the various culinary traditions of the Silk Route, featured in my book Jerusalem, because agroup settled in that city in the 19th century. Since writing it,I have met Lilian Cordell, a remarkable Londoner with a passion for the food of her Bukharian ancestors. After a trip to Uzbekistan, and with the help of her 87-year-old mother, Miriam Abramoff, she is now pullingtogether a book of classic Bukharian recipes that will be an invaluable record of dishes that until now relied on word of mouth.

This week's recipes are the resultsof my experiments with twoof the dishes to which Lilian hasintroduced me. The first is the quintessential Bukharian rice dish, pilav (or plov), normally reserved forweddings, festivals and the like. The secret to a proper pilav isnot to mix the ingredients but tocook them in layers.

Pilav

The rice needs soaking overnight, so start a day ahead. I have taken a few liberties with Lilian's traditional recipe, by swapping the vegetable oil for ghee (which also makes the dish non-kosher) and adding pine nuts and more aromatics, but the essential method is the same. You can serve this just as it is, but Ilike itwith a dollop of Greek yoghurt, which is definitely not part of Bukharian tradition. Serves six.

In a large, heavy-based saucepan for which you have a lid, melt 45g ofthe ghee over a medium heat. Add the onion and allspice, and fry for six to eight minutes, stirring often, until soft and lightly browned. With a slotted spoon, lift the onions out ofthe pan and set aside, leaving behind any ghee that'snot been absorbed (there should be about halfa tablespoon left in the pan).

Add the meat to the pot and fry, turning regularly, for around five minutes, until browned on all sides (you may have to do this in two batches, so the pan doesn't get overcrowded, otherwise the meat will stew rather than fry). Return the onions to the pan, add the bay leaves, peppercorns and 180ml of stock, bring to a simmer, cover andcook for about an hour, until themeat is very tender.

Drain and rinse the rice, place it on top of the carrot/currants in as flat a layer as possible and embed the lemon and cinnamon in it. Pour over the remaining stock and top up with enough water to come just above the level of the rice – 200ml-300ml should be plenty. Bring to a boil, turn down to a low simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook for 20 minutes, until the rice is cooked and the liquid absorbed.

On a low heat, melt the remaining ghee in a small frying pan, and gently fry the pine nuts, stirring, for a minute or two, until lightly browned – take care becausethey burn in a flash. Remove and set aside.

Have ready a suitable serving platter. Gently lift out the rice with aslotted spoon, arrange on the plate,and discard the lemon and cinnamon. Spoon the currants on to a small plate. Layer the carrots and meat on top of the rice, sprinkle with the currants and pine nuts, and serve.

Klimmy mandoreh

Cut all but 50g of the potatoes into 2cm pieces. Put these in an extra-large, heavy-based saucepan for which you have a lid, and put on a medium-high heat. Add the oil, courgettes and apples. Fry for six to eight minutes, turning occasionally. Stir in the tomato paste, prunes, apricots, tomatoes, a teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of pepper. Add the stock and 450ml of water, bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer very gently for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, coarsely grate the remaining potato and mix in a large bowl with the mince, a third of the breadcrumbs, one egg, the parsley, ateaspoon of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Mix well, then form into 22 ping-pong ball-sized rounds weighing around 30g each.

Add the balls to the simmering veg pan and place a plate on top to immerse them in the liquid. Simmergently for 40 minutes, removing the plate for the last 10 minutes so the sauce gets a chance to reduce. Serve hot or warm, sprinkled with pistachios.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London. The third show of Ottolenghi's Mediterranean Feasts is repeated on Channel 4 tomorrow at 7pm.