- [Beryl] Cooking can get messy.

- Okay, um.

- Were we supposed to remove the skin?

- [Beryl] So what's a workaround?

The one pot meal.

Ask any cook in the kitchen how they feel about this style of cooking and you will get a resounding nod of approval.

- Mm.

- It's hot, but it's really good.

- [Beryl] From woks to Dutch ovens, there is no one perfect pot, but rather culture to culture, there are many dishes that fit under one lid.

- That's what this pot is exactly for.

- I'm just gonna sneak a bite.

My name is Beryl and this show explores how our foods can bring our different cultures together.

And this is our one pot meal episode.

- It's not in the instructions so we'll create our own instructions.

- This will be interesting.

- [Beryl] Today I've paired up Maral and Hayat to swap iconic one pot meals from their cultures.

Hayat will make plov, a Turkmen classic, while Maral will cook Ethiopian fuul for the first time.

Pots at the ready everyone.

(bright music) - Hi Hayat, my name is Maral and today you'll be making one of my favorite one pot dishes, plov.

Plov is a traditional rice dish from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

I was born in Turkmenistan.

My mom is also from Turkmenistan, but my dad's side is from Uzbekistan, from the city of Bukhara.. - I am very intimidated by what I'm making today.

I'm scared that I'm gonna screw it up.

- Being from Turkmenistan is like representing a little piece of Central Asia.

A lot of people don't know where Turkmenistan is and they always confuse it with Turkey.

They're completely different nations and they have completely different histories.

Plov in Central Asian cuisine, specifically in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan is like the king of all their dishes.

The four main ingredients of this dish are lamb fat, carrots, onions, and rice.

- Now I'm cutting the lamb tail fat.

I've never really made anything with lamb fat before, so, okay.

- By combining these simple ingredients, we create like a full-on fusion of Central Asian flavors.

- I'm feeling more excited now that the prep is, like, almost done and we can, like, can start cooking.

(bright music) - [Maral] So traditionally, plov is made in a Turkmenistan cauldron that is called cazan.

- Oh, Beryl, I think this is in Russian.

Can you read it?

- It says cazan for plov, literally.

That's what this pot is exactly for.

- The whole point of cazan is that it transfers heat in an equal way so that the ingredients are cooked simultaneously.

- It smells like a really juicy lamb.

There's so much oil and I'm like, oh, I can fry the oxtail.

I was not sure that that was gonna happen.

- [Maral] When you fry the onions, keep it frying and frying to let the juices come out.

- It's looking good.

The meat is browning.

- So when we cook plov, we cook it in layers.

So it goes the meat, the carrots and rice on top.

- So then the chickpeas.

- But we serve it in reverse order.

So we'll put the rice on the plate first and then the carrots and meat on top.

And when we eat, we eat it with our hands.

It's a cultural way of eating food.

- [Hayat] I think it's ready.

- Growing up back home, this dish specifically was made by my great grandmother and then my mom.

And then when we moved to U.S, it was mostly my dad.

We would always eat this dish whenever we would have, like, a family gathering or whenever we celebrated something.

Since my mom is still back home in Turkmenistan, plov brings me back to my house, and my family, and it kind of brings warmth to my soul.

- It smells it so good.

- When you try this dish, I hope you feel the warmth and joy of my country and I hope you get to taste the flavors of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Love, Maral.

(upbeat music) - I'm so excited to try this dish.

I can't believe I made it.

Maral said to eat it with your hands.

So I'm gonna try that 'cause I love eating with my hands 'cause I grew up eating with my hands.

This is so good.

Thank you, Maral.

I feel so excited and, like, kind of proud of myself.

I didn't think I was gonna pull this off.

I was like the oxtail is not gonna be cooked, there's gonna be fat all over.

I just, I didn't know what it's gonna look like and, like, this is really, really yummy and I feel like I'm actually gonna go to the butcher and get lamb fat and make it again.

You know, if you're cooking meat and if there's like fat that can turn into oil, this could be a tastier alternative.

I don't think I've had a rice dish with chickpeas and carrots before and definitely not lamb fat.

I don't even know how to describe it, just tastes so nice and, like, warm.

I'm absolutely more curious now about, like, the different types of cuisines, and Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and you know, this was absolutely delicious, but I'm like oh okay, what else is there?

So I'm definitely curious to learn more.

So Maral said that this food would be good for a group and it so happens that I have a few friends here that are hungry and waiting to try it.

(group applauds) - Yay.

- Thanks.

- You're definitely making this for us again.

- It is so good.

- Oh, okay good.

- Oh, my God, it's so yummy, - I'm so shamelessly eating because it's so good.

- Yo.

Oh my God.

It's your success, but I'm gonna relish in it.

- No, no we did it together.

- Wow, wait, the rice is so yummy.

- The rice is so good.

- Good job.

(bright music) - Hi there, my name is Hayat and today, you're going to be making a classic Ethiopian one pot breakfast dish called fuul.

Fuul is a hearty, savory one-pot breakfast meal made of fava beans and different spices.

There's this one spice that's very popular, it's called berbere.

And it is primarily made of a red chili, but it's also has other spices that make it unique.

- I'm nervous, right 'cause it's my very first time cooking this dish, but all the instructions are pretty clear and I think I'll be fine.

- I am originally from Ethiopia.

It is located in the horn of Africa, right in the center, so it's landlocked.

I grew up in the capital, Addis Ababa and moved to the US in 2009 for college.

- Garlic cloves, chopped.

- [Hayat] There are so many different countries that do make fuul and have their own variation of it.

And what makes it Ethiopian, I guess, is the berbere spice.

- Oh, that's actually really nice.

It has like, a lot of like a paprika smell.

We just add from the package, right?

- [Hayat] This is something that most people don't really think to do, but I love to add the stems of the cilantro while the food is cooking 'cause it adds an extra flavor.

- So good.

- Right.

- Fuul is special because it's easy to make and it can be shared from the same plate.

I think it's very nostalgic for me because it is a breakfast dish that my family would have on the weekends and it's something that I still make.

It's like a little piece of home.

So when you try this dish, I hope you feel inspired to make it multiple times afterwards.

(bright music) I loved making your recipe and I can't wait for you to try mine.

Love, Hayat.

- I'm gonna be eating this.

Delicious.

I'm gonna add in a little bit cilantro because I like cilantro more.

(upbeat music) It's so good.

It's really good actually.

I really can like feel the cinnamon.

It's different, we don't add cinnamon in our food.

I like that we added raw vegetables on top at the end because it really does bring out, like, the crunch, even though the dish is soft, the crunchiness makes it, like, really nice.

I have never been exposed to Ethiopian culture or food ever.

Like, I've never cooked or tried the food.

It's kind of like reminding me of, like, an Indian dishes, like the dal or something that you'd like pick up with a roti.

But I will definitely be going exploring their food.

Definitely, yeah.

Between my dish and the dish from Hayat, she definitely had it harder I think.

I mean, I'm happy she got to try my food, you know?

And I'm happy I got to try her food and I think it was really nice that she got opened to a new culture, right?

Like, she's never heard of plov and I've never heard of fuul.

So, like, for me it was really cool too.

And it kind of, it broadens your perspective, it makes you more aware of other human beings and that's what makes us all, you know, unique, right?

And that's what unites us as well, learning about each other.

Especially watching the video, it was, like, the way that she said it brings back nostalgia, like of her family eating it every weekend for breakfast.

I think that's amazing.

Hayat, thank you so much for opening up my horizon to new foods.

I love it.

It's amazing and I hope you enjoyed my plov.

(soft music)