Plov

You'll need a special pot for preparing this dish. It's called "kazanok" in Russian. But I think you can use a plain soup pot.
Heat up oil on high heat. Put the meat into the oil and fry it until it gets a little brown. Add onions and carrots. Sauté everything until the onions carmelize (get a golden color). Add garbanzo beans and spices. Add water, until it's about 1 inch above everything in the pot. Lower the heat and cook everything for about 1 hour.
Add raisins, rice, salt, and some garlic cloves and bring it to a boil until all the water disappears from the top of the rice. Sweep the rice from the sides of the pot to the center, so it looks like a little hill in the middle. Lower the heat again and cover the pot. Cook for another 25 min., until the rice gets soft. It's ready to eat! It goes very well with a simple tomato, cucumber, and onion salad. (Troy recommends Best Foods brand Thousand Island dressing with the plov).