I found a recipe for a Fergana-style plov (English version), one of the main versions of Uzbek plov. The description asks for devsira, a type of Uzbek rice. Not having that I wonder which other types of rice I can use instead. Any hints?
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2I can't provide an answer, but Google turned up this great explanation from a user on TripAdvisor Looks like it may be hard to substitute, as it's fermented & aged. This says you can use baldo, but I know baldo well & it's more like regular risotto rice, arborio etc.– TetsujinOct 28, 2020 at 8:20
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BTW, I didn't realise the recipe was in Russian until just now - Google Translate to English link– TetsujinOct 28, 2020 at 14:44
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1@Tetsujin Uzbek food is very popular in Russia; rightly so, in my opinion.– Martin PetersOct 28, 2020 at 17:54
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...but this site works in English, so I assumed most people would prefer to be able to read it in English. Now they can ;)– TetsujinOct 28, 2020 at 18:50
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1I would not recommend risotto rice for a Fergana-style plov as it might turn out too sticky, while plov should be crumbly.– Alexander PozdneevMar 15, 2021 at 22:45
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4 Answers
Surely this will make your Plov unauthentic, but in practice any medium-grained rice will be an acceptable substitute. If you find the correct spices (or close enough; cumin gives most of the flavour anyway), and some nice fat lamb, you should be able to make a delicious dish.
Even if the article on TripAdvisor mentions fermented and aged rice, this is a rarity; in most cases ordinary non-aged rice is used.
You can't replace devzira—it's unique. That said, I've seen people use anything from Arborio to Kokuho and results were quite good.
Of course it tastes different, and it's much harder to cook it without getting rice sticky, but with some trial and error it's possible. The authentic plov taste is dpominated by the taste of lamb, carrots, and zeera (cumin). Rice contributes more to the texture than the taste. If you can't find Uzbek zeera, buy Iranian variety it's pretty close. Moroccan and Indian has very different taste.
The comments under the Yandex recipe reveal an interesting fact: devzira sold in Moscow is significantly cheaper than other varieties. Most likely what was used is not an authentic devzira, but just an unpolished rice.
So don't bother with it.
Trying the Baldo style (Bodrum) and the performance isn't good. Its sticky and make u the king chief of british lamb pudding.I used several times Stalik recipe with devzira style rice and also 'lazer' style rice if it available. https://stalic.livejournal.com/1457.html
