
Overnight Bukharian Meat & Rice Dish

Overnight Bukharian Meat & Rice Dish (Leanne Shor/The Nosher)
6 servings
active: 30 min
total: Over Night
(The Nosher/JTA) – I’m Yemenite and my husband and his family are Bukharian Jews that hail from Uzbekistan. After we got married, my mother-in-law gave me full tutorials on several traditional Bukharian dishes that are special to her and the family, including this osavo, a slow-cooked brisket and rice dish that reminds me of a rich tomato-based risotto studded with meat.
As I was learning the dishes I would always ask for measurements, and she would say, “Oh, it’s all by eye.” So I would pull out my kitchen scale to portion the ingredients as best I could in order to recreate the dishes in my own home. I love making so many of her recipes, but the dish I come back to over and over for cooler weather is this osavo. Like an Eastern European cholent, the dish cooks all night in a crockpot so you wake up in the morning to a house filled with a delectable savory aroma.
One element of this recipe that might surprise is the addition of grated Granny Smith apple and fresh lemon juice. These flavors are so crucial to the complexity of this dish, and they add sweetness and acidity that balance out the richness of the brisket.
The original recipe from my mother-in-law calls for bone marrow bones and flanken, but I prefer brisket so that there is more meat and no bones to remove. I’ve made it dozens of times both ways, and there’s no major difference in flavor.
Note: I prefer to use a crockpot liner for easy clean-up with this dish. They are plastic, and disposable, and a huge time saver during clean up.
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