Bakhsh Plov (Bukharan Jewish style pilaf)

Continuing my adventures with Uzbek food, I decided to try my hand at some traditional Bukharan Jewish dishes. Uzbekistan had at one time a sizeable Jewish population, occupying the region of the former Central Asian emirate of Bukhara (currently Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) with small numbers also living in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and parts of Russia. 
A Jewish presence in that region has been recorded since the tenth century BCE, and the population lived there with varying degrees of acceptance and/or discrimination for the next two and a half thousand years. Incidentally, the name 'Bukharan' was coined by European travellers to the region in the sixteenth century. With the establishment of Soviet rule in 1917, life for the Bukharan Jews deteriorated and in the 1920s and 30s thousands fled from religious oppression. During the 1970s and 80s emigration to Israel and the USA started, and by the early 1990s most of the population had left. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union there were estimated to be around 45,000 Bukharan Jews in Central Asia, now only a few thousand remain.

So... back to the food. What is Bukharan Jewish food like? Well, it's pretty similar to the cuisine of other Central Asian countries, with heavy emphasis on rice, noodles and either mutton or lamb as the principle source of meat-based protein. But there are some specific dishes, one of which is Bakhsh. I am not sure of the etymology of the name, but as bakhsh in Persian means gift (as in bakhsheesh), and because the traditional way of preparing this meal involved simmering a bag of chicken, liver, rice and herbs in a broth, I suppose the opening of the package to reveal the cooked delights within was akin to opening a gift. Though I may be totally barking up the wrong tree... 

For anyone wanting to try and cook the traditional meaty bakhsh there is a recipe in the uber-Uzbek/Central Asian cookbook 'Kazan, mangal and other manly pleasures' written by Stalik Khankishiev (who is a bit of a Russian celebrity chef) and you can also watch a clip of him making it here (in Russian)

In addition to the bag method, Bakhsh can also be cooked like a traditional plov (pilaf), which is how I have approached it. As with my recipe for carrot and cashew nut plov, I make no appologies for the total lack of authenticity; I am lacking in the essential kazan (cauldren) and my meatless version would make a Bukharan grandmother shudder. Unauthentic it may be, but I like to think that the recipe below is 100% authentic in spirit...

Ingredients
250g long grain rice
400g can of chickpeas (drained)
1 large onion
1 fennel bulb
2 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
8 garlic cloves (unpeeled and left whole)
1 large bunch of coriander
10 green olives (sliced)
1 handful of dill
1 handful of flat leaf parsley
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black cumin seeds (optional)
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sumac
Olive oil 

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed casserole dish and fry the sliced onion and crushed garlic until soft and lightly coloured. Add the sliced fennel and cook for 5 minutes until just starting to soften
2. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves and chopped olives in the pan then put the lid on the casserole dish and continue to cook on a low heat for 20 minutes
3. Meanwhile, wash the rice in cold water until the water runs clear, then leave to soak in warm water until the vegetables have finished sauteing
4. Once the vegetables are cooked add the spices and stir in gently
5. Now add the chickpeas in a layer on top of the vegetables. Don't mix

6. Finely chop the herbs and add these on top of the chickpeas
7. Drain the rice and layer it on top of the chopped herbs. The idea with the layers is that the onions and fennel being closest to the heat will continue to caramelise during the cooking, the chickpeas provide a protective layer so the herbs can steam and infuse everything with their flavour. The rice is the icing on the cake so to speak, holding everything in place
8. Add freshly boiled water to the pot, I haven't given amounts because it will vary depending on the size of your pot. You want the water to be around 1.5cm above the level of the rice
9. Boil until all the water evaporates, this should take around 5-10 minutes
10. Once the water has evaporated poke holes in the rice with the end of a wooden spoon to allow the steam to escape
11. At this point, turn off the heat, cover the pan with a kitchen towel or aluminium foil and put on the lid. Leave to steam for 20 minutes
10. Lift off the lid and now mix everything together and turn out onto a serving dish.Delicious as it is, or it can be served with a salad.