Plov - Main

Cooking Recipes Ingredients
At least 1 pound of carrots. The more carrots you use, the better
1 head of garlic
4 to 5 medium yellow or white onions
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of beef
Rice
Salt
Vegetable oil (preferably Canola oil)

Cooking Recipes Directions
Chop the onions, fairly small (but not minced). Cut the carrots into slivers. This can be time-consuming, because the slivers should be about 3 inches long and only 1/8 of an inch wide. The important thing is that there are no big chunks of carrot, just thin slices. Cut the meat into 1 to 2-inch cubes.
Find a big, heavy pan/pot (I use an 8-quart cast iron dutch oven). Turkmen use a heavy pot called a cazan.
Heat the oil in the pot. The amount of oil you use will depend upon the size of the pan you use. But I recommend that the oil be about 1 centimeter (almost 1/2
inch) deep. Drop one little piece of your chopped onion in the oil, and turn on the burner to medium. When the onion turns BLACK, remove it with a fork. Now, your oil is hot enough to cook with. Add the meat and the whole garlic cloves. Turkmen people often throw in the whole garlic head, skins and all. You can do that, or peel the cloves. Cook the meat & garlic until the meat starts to turn a nice
"roasted"-looking brown, stirring occasionally (this should take about 7-8 min)
Add the onions to the meat and oil. Cook 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots to the mixture and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add a couple teaspoons of salt (or you can add the salt later, to taste).
Cook as much rice as you think will fit in the rest of your pot, according
to the Cooking Recipes Directions on the bag of rice. For an 8-quart pot, I make about 7 cups
of rice (7 cooked cups--that's about 3 1/2 dry cups). Just use your best
judgement as to the amount. When the rice has finished cooking, add it to the meat/onions/carrots mixture in the big pot. Mix it well, and serve it hot. It can be reheated, if needed.