The short answer
If you are cooking plov for the first time, or on a weeknight, use laser. If you are cooking for guests or a celebration, or in the Fergana style, and you have time to rinse and soak properly, use devzira. Both are proper plov rices, but devzira needs more preparation and more care in the pot.
What is devzira rice?
Devzira is an heirloom rice from the Fergana Valley, the fertile basin shared by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is grown in several parts of the valley, including the area around Uzgen on the Kyrgyz side.
You can recognise devzira rice in the bag. The grains are heavy and fairly thick, pinkish to brownish in colour, with a stripe running lengthwise along each grain. They also carry a floury coating that has to be rinsed away before cooking.
In the pot, devzira absorbs fat and liquid generously without falling apart. Each grain stays whole, and the cooked rice takes on a warm amber tone and the deep flavour of the zirvak, the base of meat, onions and carrots that plov is built on. That is why it is the classic choice for festive and Fergana-style plov. It also suits Samarkand-style plov, where the rice is served as a separate layer and every grain is on show.
Age matters too: devzira from an earlier harvest, which has had time to rest, cooks better than the newest crop.
What is laser rice?
Laser, also spelt lazer, is a white rice grown in Uzbekistan and widely used for plov. The grains are long and glassy, and they stay separate through the long, slow cooking in a kazan.
Laser is easier to cook than devzira and more forgiving if you misjudge the water or the heat, so it is the rice most people learn plov with. It is also more affordable, which matters when you are cooking for a crowd. Our page on laser plov rice has storage and portion tips.
Devzira vs laser at a glance
- Grain: devzira is heavy and thick, pinkish to brown, with a lengthwise stripe. Laser is white, long and glassy.
- Preparation: devzira needs thorough rinsing to remove its floury coating, then a long soak in warm water. Laser rinses clean quickly and needs only a short soak.
- In the pot: devzira absorbs more fat and liquid and turns amber. Laser absorbs less and stays lighter in colour and taste.
- Forgiveness: laser tolerates small mistakes. Devzira needs the full rinse and soak, and skipping the rinse leaves a starchy film in the pot.
- Cost: laser is the more affordable of the two.
- Best for: laser for everyday family plov; devzira for festive tables, weddings and Fergana-style plov.
How cooking differs
Both rices are cooked the same way, but devzira needs longer and more care at most stages.
Rinsing
Rinse both in cool water, changing it several times. With devzira, rub the grains gently between your palms and keep going until the water runs almost clear; otherwise the floury coating turns into a starchy film in the pot. Laser usually clears after a few changes.
Soaking
Soak devzira in warm, lightly salted water for at least an hour or two, while you prepare the zirvak. Laser needs much less: a short soak in warm water while the zirvak cooks is enough to help it hydrate evenly.
Laying the rice over the zirvak
Drain the rice and spread it over the zirvak in an even layer. Do not stir it in. Whether the layers are mixed at the end depends on the regional style, but during cooking they stay separate.
Water level
Pour hot water gently over a slotted spoon, so the layer stays undisturbed, until the water stands about a finger's width above the rice. Devzira often needs a little more liquid and a little more time than laser, because it absorbs more.
Steaming
Cook uncovered until the water drops below the surface of the rice. Then gather the rice into a low mound, make a few holes down to the bottom with the handle of a spoon, cover tightly and leave it on very low heat until the grains are tender. Give devzira longer. For a step-by-step version, follow our Fergana plov recipe.
Can you use basmati or jasmine for plov?
You can, with compromises. Basmati is slender and grows mainly in length as it cooks. Under the long steaming of plov it tends to soften and break, and it takes up less of the fat and broth than plov rices do, so the dish can end up greasy underneath and dry on top.
Jasmine rice is softer and slightly sticky. It clumps where plov should be loose, with every grain distinct.
Basmati still works for a quick, small plov on a weeknight: rinse it well, skip the long soak, use a little less water and handle it gently. The rice to avoid altogether is round, short-grain rice of the kind used for risotto or rice pudding. It releases starch and turns plov into porridge.
Uzbekistan grows other plov rices as well. For the trade varieties and how they are classified for import, see our guide to plov rice categories for EU buyers.
Why plov turns into porridge
- The wrong rice: short or round grains release too much starch.
- Not enough rinsing: loose starch, and devzira's floury coating, stay in the pot.
- Stirring after the rice goes in: it breaks the grains and the even layer.
- Too much water: the rice boils instead of steaming.
- Too much heat at the end, or a loose lid: the bottom scorches while the steam escapes and the top stays wet.
- Laser soaked for too long: left for hours, it softens before it reaches the pot.
Buying devzira and laser in Europe
Outside Central Asia, both rices turn up in specialist Central Asian and Eastern European grocery shops, sold in packs or by weight. Quality varies, so look closely before you buy.
- Grain integrity: whole, even grains with few broken pieces and little dust.
- The devzira stripe: genuine devzira shows the lengthwise stripe, and its colour varies naturally from grain to grain, from pinkish to brown.
- Harvest year: ask when the rice was harvested. Rice from an earlier harvest, rested for a season or more, usually cooks better than the newest crop.
- Fakes: dyed rice is sometimes sold as devzira. Be wary of grains that are all the same bright colour, colour that rubs off on damp fingers, a missing stripe, or a price far below what devzira normally costs.
In Riga, Arkan Bazar, the Uzbek bazaar at Riga Central Market, keeps both rices on the counter, so you can compare the grains side by side before you choose.
How much to buy: as a guide, 600 to 800 g of raw rice makes plov for a family of three or four, and 1.2 to 1.5 kg feeds six to eight. At home, keep plov rice in an airtight container in a dry, dark cupboard.
Buying for a restaurant, a shop or a distributor? Send a wholesale enquiry for Uzbek plov rice with the volumes you need.
Laser is the rice to learn plov with. Devzira is worth the extra rinsing and soaking when you cook for guests.