Osh/Plov #2

Is it Plov or Palov? I've seen both online. Either way, tried it again, and it turned out much better:

1 c white long grain rice (Jasmine I think)
1/4 vegetable oil (or, if you've got it, I'm told animal fat works even better)
1 onion, sliced into thin semi-circles
~1/3 lb stewing beef, cut into ~1" chunks; lamb works too, as I think does goat
2 carrots, cut into match sticks
3 big cloves of garlic, still in the paper
salt
spices (black pepper, coriander, cumin, paprika)
small handful of raisins

Rinse the rice several times, until the water is clear (it took me 7 times, which I hear is what they say it should take). When clean, add 1 cup of warm water and let it soak.

Heat oil. Saute onions until they turn brown (my one big change would be here, I'd cook only until it turns translucent). Add beef and a good shake of salt, and cook until the meat begins to brown. Add carrots, garlic, and a good shake of each spice. Cook until the carrots start to become soft. Pour in 1 cup of water (should just cover everything), and more salt. Lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 15 minutes (it should be boiling by the end of this). At the end of the 15 minutes, fish the garlic out, and try to smooth out the meat/veggie mixture. Pour the rice and it's water on top of the mixture, and try to smooth out. Push garlic cloves into the rice, and top with a handful of raisins. There should be just a little more water than needed to cover. Cook for about 7-10 uncovered. Poke small holes in the top of the rice (to let the steam through), cover, and continue to cook for a total of about 20 minutes. All of the water should be cooked out. Remove from heat. If needed, and a little bit of water to scrape down the bottom of the pan. Mix everything, and serve. For a nicer presentation, you can pull the meat and garlic out of the rice/carrot mixture, and place them on top.

Overall, I think this turned out really good. I had two changes: first I think I'll need more salt next time, and second, I think it would be better to cook the onions a little less, so that you have time to brown the meat a little more. I didn't get the meat as brown as I would have wanted because I was afraid of burning the onions. Overall though I thought this was really good. I wish someone who knew what it was supposed to taste like could comment on it. Otherwise, that was easier than I expected.