A country ideal for gastronomic tourism. It is no coincidence that I started losing weight ahead of time, so that the trip to the world of meat and dough would not cause irreversible changes to my figure.
Main dishes of Uzbek cuisine
Hot dishes
The most famous dish of Uzbek cuisine is pilaf.
Pilaf
Pilaf is not just rice and meat, pilaf is a symbol, this is what first comes to mind when you hear the phrase “Uzbek cuisine”.
Today there are more than a thousand recipes for pilaf with various ingredients. For example, in the capital of Uzbekistan, before preparing pilaf, all ingredients are fried, and in Samarkand, vegetables are laid in layers and steamed. Pilaf also differs in color: in Samarkand it is light, and in the Fergana Valley it is dark.
The story of the appearance of pilaf, which local residents told me about, is interesting. In ancient times, at the end of the 14th century, the great Timur turned to the mullah, concerned that the soldiers were often hungry and did not have enough strength for a full-fledged battle.
The Muslim priest advised: “We need to take a large cast-iron boiler. Place in it the meat of not old, but not very young lambs, selected rice, swelling with pride that it will be eaten by brave warriors, young carrots, blushing with joy, and sharp onions, stinging like the sword of a highly respected emir. All this must be cooked over a fire until the smell of the cooked dish reaches Allah, and the cook collapses in exhaustion because he has tasted the divine food.” Plov showed himself excellently in action and more than once rescued Tamerlane’s army.
This dish is not prepared in portions. If you want to try real pilaf, then ask the locals, and they will definitely send you to some nondescript establishment where the aromatic dish is languishing in a large cauldron. Usually by one o'clock in the afternoon the pilaf is already over. I remember my despair when, leaving Samarkand, my evening plan to get acquainted with pilaf could not come true. Thanks to the kind people who gave the tip, and the next day at 11:00 I was already there, eating a delicious dish with spices and tender meat.
There is another interesting story associated with pilaf, which explains its name. Once upon a time, a prince fell in love with a girl from a poor family, and they, of course, could not be together. The prince suffered so much that he eventually gave up food and food. The prince's father did not want to watch his son wither away, and called the famous healer Abu Ali ibn Sina with a request to find out the cause of the illness. Ibn Sina examined the prince and realized that the cause of the illness was love. There were only two ways to save the unfortunate prince: allow him to get married or feed the prince’s body, exhausted by suffering, nourishing palov-osh- the dish from which the name of modern pilaf comes.
Shashlik
Another dish without which it is impossible to imagine Uzbek cuisine is shashlik. Who among us doesn’t like to indulge in juicy kebab with pieces of fried lard and the indescribable aroma of a fire? However, few people know that there are a great variety of kebab recipes in Uzbekistan.
The most traditional kebab is made from young lamb meat, previously marinated in spices and herbs. The meat is threaded onto a skewer mixed with lard.
If you ask an Uzbek what is the best marinade for meat, we will be surprised. This is not kefir, not vinegar, or even wine. The most correct marinade is water. This is exactly how Uzbek men (namely, they are responsible for the shish kebab) prepare meat. Chopped onions, spices, dry apricot branches, cherry leaves and grapevine are added to the water.
In good restaurants, in addition to traditional kebab, you can find other delicious curiosities:
- shish kebab from ground meat - qimah kabob,
- liver kebab - jigar kabob,
- kebab of meat wrapped in lard film - charvi kabob.
Soups
In Uzbekistan, they love rich soups and cook them over low heat. And although the soups here are so satisfying that they could easily be a separate dish, here they are more often treated as an addition to the “main” delicacy.
Shurpa
This is the most popular soup in Uzbekistan. It came into world cuisine from the Ottoman Empire and acquired different names in different countries: sorpa in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz shorpo and even Romanian chorbe. An important component of this appetizing and satisfying dish is the broth, to which, in addition to traditional fatty lamb, chicken or beef is added. Be prepared for the rich soup of meat and vegetables to hit all your taste buds at once.
Lagman
Another delicious soup, typical of Uzbek cuisine. It is incredibly satisfying thanks to its excellent composition. Meat, homemade noodles, vegetables - this is the ideal combination, which, with the right choice of all ingredients, leads to an excellent result.
To make the lagman “correct”, it is best to use lamb meat with a layer of lard. Of course, there are many recipes for lagman, including adapted ones, but real soup is obtained when, in addition to the right ingredients, aromatic gravy made from lamb fat and vegetables is added to it vaja.
I was amazed at the skill of the chefs when I saw how deftly they kneaded the noodle dough and how beautifully such ideal and tasty noodles appeared from a simple set of flour + water.
Other delicious soups of Uzbekistan that are worth trying include:
- mastava made from meat (served with sour milk),
- mashkhurda from beans,
- waved from fried lard,
- moshubirinch from lamb and rice.
Uzbek food is always accompanied by bread, for which the locals have special respect. Hot non flatbreads from the local tandoor oven are served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Let's take a closer look at baking.
Dough products
Non cakes
Despite the fact that the flatbreads are many hundreds of years old, they are absolutely not beaten and can easily satisfy even the taste of gourmets: crispy crust, soft dough and piquancy that is added to the flatbreads by sesame, nigella, cumin or poppy seeds.
Surprisingly, the recipe for flatbreads has undergone virtually no changes over time. Since ancient times, cakes were made round, since without the sun and without bread there is no life on earth.
Another interesting tradition is that bread baking is predominantly done by men. There is no goal here to humiliate the weaker sex; on the contrary, working in a tandoor is very difficult, because every day you need to knead many kilograms of dough by hand, and working at a hot stove is more suitable for men.
There are different types of flatbread, very tasty flatbread patir with the addition of lamb tail. In addition, different parts of Uzbekistan have their own bread traditions:
- in the Fergana Valley, puff pastry with cracklings is considered typical jizzali-non And zogora-non from corn flour;
- and the greatest fame in the world deservedly went to flatbreads gala-osiegi non from Samarkand. They are baked from fermented whey or cream, adding chopped onions and sesame oil to the recipe. The popularity of this flatbread is largely due to the amazing fact that, even knowing the exact recipe, it is impossible to repeat it.
There is a legend in Uzbekistan according to which the emir (ruler) of Bukhara once tasted the most delicious Samarkand flatbread and ordered the best baker from Samarkand to be brought to him to bake him exactly the same flatbread. The baker followed the emir's order, but, alas, he was unable to achieve the exact result; the taste was slightly different from Samarkand. The enraged emir called the baker to account, but he justified himself in the style of Central Asian wisdom by saying that the ingredients lacked Samarkand air.
For me, this feature of the East is very attractive, because it is so fabulous when every little thing is surrounded by legends and legends.
Manti
Uzbek manti is another dish that we can’t help but talk about. I love Georgian khinkali, so when I saw manti, I wanted to try and compare the two dishes. Well, I couldn’t make a comparison: both dishes turned out to be so perfect that I decided not to choose a winner.
Uzbek manti made from delicate dough with a juicy filling is eaten with your hands, carefully sipping the rich broth. The most popular filling is meat, but there are other options that are no less interesting and definitely no less tasty: meat with radish, lamb lard with sugar, pumpkin and potatoes.
Vegetable and fruit dishes
Vegetables and fruits of Uzbekistan are one of the symbols of the country. In the summer-autumn period, you can buy them in Russian markets, but it is much nicer and cheaper to try local juicy natural products at the place of their collection, in sunny Uzbekistan. The most delicious and healthy Uzbek vegetables and fruits are pot-bellied eggplants, colorful peppers, richly flavored tomatoes, sweet pears, colorful grapes, savory figs, plums, sugar melons and scarlet watermelons. In autumn, ripe persimmons, fragrant quinces, juicy pomegranates and sunny lemons appear in the markets.
During the autumn harvest season, bazaar stalls can easily replace museums. Bright colors, aromas of juicy vegetables and fruits, abundance and variety of varieties, naturalness of the product - all this made me a regular at Uzbek markets. Moreover, while you walk around and choose one of 10 varieties of tomatoes, you can have a lot of tasting: the sellers are very good-natured and easily let you try their product.
In Uzbek cuisine there are few vegetable dishes as such; a special role here belongs to pumpkin. It can be found as a separate dish from meat. The most delicious option is fried pieces, which are then stewed in sour cream.
Uzbeks also love corn on the cob, but do not fry it in ashes, as in neighboring countries, preferring to cook it over coals.
If you're in Uzbekistan, don't miss it cook biirona, a dish that serves as a side dish, as a filling for baked goods, and even as an independent dish. Cook biyron is a combination of greens and lamb fat stewed in butter.
Spices
Spices, like flatbread, are another important attribute of Uzbek cuisine. After all, such a “banal” set as meat, flour and vegetables can sparkle with completely unusual notes when adding different spices.
The most popular additives are coriander, cumin, barberry, cumin, sesame, basil, thyme. Spices not only add flavor, but also create an inviting aroma that makes you throw away all plans for later and urgently try the tempting dish!
At any Uzbek bazaar, the spice seller is one of the first to catch your eye. Bright aromatic mountains of spices will not leave anyone indifferent. Here, unlike supermarkets, you can smell and choose both individual spices and themed sets: for fish, shashlik, pilaf.
I especially want to praise saffron, considered the king of spices. It gives dishes a yellowish tint and an incredible aroma. Even in ancient times, saffron was 10 times more expensive than the most expensive spices.
As a true king of taste, saffron is a loner and cannot be combined with other spices in dishes. In Uzbekistan, saffron is added to pilaf, baked goods, butter and even tea. But still, saffron is an expensive spice, so not any pilaf or any tea is seasoned with it, but rather only festive dishes or treats for dear guests.
Sweets
No treat is complete without sweets. They are placed on the table before the main course is served with green tea, the main drink in Uzbekistan, served in painted, atmospheric bowls.
Among the sweets that are held in high esteem:
National drinks
Kumis
This drink is probably the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning fermented milk products from Asian cuisine. You have to try kumiss, because if you say “a drink with the simultaneous taste of wine, kvass and kefir,” then you may not have the desire to try it. Although in practice, not everyone likes kumiss the first time. I must admit, the first time I was also not very inspired by the strange viscous drink, but after 3 days of traveling around the country I realized that in the heat there is no better thirst quencher than kumiss.
Kumis is traditionally prepared from mare's milk, but there are also modifications from the milk of camel, goat and even cow.
Kumis perfectly refreshes and restores strength. It is even considered a little alcoholic (1-3°), but I did not feel such an effect, except for the emotional intoxication from the unexpected and so generous hospitality of the locals.
Tea
Not a single feast would be complete without tea. And this is great, because in countries where coffee is more common, I feel uncomfortable. And here there is freedom: green tea, black tea, tea before meals, tea during meals, tea after meals. So I found my little paradise!
Tea has not only gastronomic significance; it is believed that if the host offers you this drink, then he is sincerely glad to see the guest. I have never encountered a situation where tea was not offered to me, which means that the hospitality of the Uzbeks is truly at its best.
By the way, interesting local traditions are associated with tea:
- Before treating guests to a drink, the hosts pour it into a bowl three times and pour it into a teapot three times so that the tea is well mixed and brewed better.
- In addition, you should not be offended if the bowl is incomplete: the less tea is poured into the bowl, the more important the guest.
- According to the laws of hospitality, the more often the host refills you with fresh tea, the stronger his respect. At the same time, respect is mutual, because, after drinking tea from a half-empty bowl, the guest again and again turns to the owners of the house for more, and these requests are interpreted as a tribute to the hospitable family.
Other soft drinks
Popular non-alcoholic drinks here various compotes, including dried fruits.
A particularly tasty drink is made from apricot - a small apricot - with a sweet and refreshing taste.
Alcoholic drinks
Alcoholic drinks are not prohibited in Uzbekistan, but they are not as popular as in Russia or Europe, so you should not expect 15 types of whiskey, 20 brands of wine and 50 types of draft beer on the shelves. Throughout the country there are only a few wineries producing heady drinks from local grape varieties. When buying alcohol in stores, be prepared for the fact that semi-sweet wine is more popular here than dry wine.
The most famous winery in Uzbekistan - OJSC Samarkand Wine Factory named after. Khovrenko". Its products regularly win awards and are much loved by both locals and tourists.
An exquisite bouquet of the world's only wine from the raisin variety Gulyakandoz, wine with chocolate hints of cabernet, ruby Uzbekiston, wines with quince aromas, with notes of roses, dessert wines - all these are products of the plant, which, by the way, can be visited as part of a tasting excursion.
In Samarkand I was pleasantly pleased with the same name local cognac "Samarkand".
Gastronomic traditions
How do you eat food in Uzbekistan? Usually guests sit on the floor or on low mattresses at a low dastarkhan table. Then the main thing begins - changing dishes. Sitting down, eating and leaving is not about . As in other eastern countries, meals here last for hours, so make sure you have plenty of time.
Nevertheless, there are traditionally three meals in Uzbekistan, just like here, Uzbeks are simply in no hurry and enjoy the dishes rather than absorbing what they managed to get on the run.
A real traditional feast is no less interesting than visiting historical museums, which means that if you are in Uzbekistan and you are invited to visit, be sure to agree!
Usually, comfortable pillows are invitingly laid out on the couches at the table, as if hinting that after eating there is no need to rush, but rather lie down for a while, leaning on soft pillows, without getting up from the table.
Food is prepared in special dishes. For example, for pilaf it is only a cast-iron cauldron with a thick bottom, for tea - a painted bowl, and for main courses a wide lyagan dish.
The most traditional place for tea - teahouse. Usually they choose a place near the water, under the shade of trees. The teahouse is not only a place where people come to drink tea, it also plays an important social role: here they share the latest news, communicate and talk about the eternal.
In restaurants and cafes there is no menu in the usual sense; it usually consists of two or three main courses, but they are tasty and satisfying. The portions here are quite large; if there are several people, it is better to order more dishes to try different dishes.
You shouldn't expect any special decorations, but the service even in the smallest eateries is always excellent. In cafes and teahouses with trestle beds, it is customary to take off your shoes. An interesting fact: in mountain teahouses in winter, small stoves are placed under the trestle beds to make guests warm and comfortable.
When choosing a place, you should pay attention not to the design of the restaurant, but to the number of people inside. After all, even the simplest-looking eatery can turn out to be the very place thanks to which the phrase “Uzbek cuisine” will cause attacks of virtual gastronomic ecstasy for a long time to come.
To summarize
I have listed only some dishes from the rich traditions of Uzbek cuisine. Reading about food and trying it in person are two very different things, so my main recommendation is to go there and personally taste the whole variety of meat, vegetable, dairy and flour dishes.
And remember, before eating you need to work up a good appetite so as not to “break down” during the first course and be able to try a little of everything!
Anything to add?
Uzbek national dishes are bright colors, oriental flavor and centuries-old traditions carried from the past to the present. The first thing that is associated with the cuisine of Uzbekistan is, naturally, aromatic pilaf, delicious shish kebab, lush golden flatbreads from the heat of the heat and amazing sweets. It’s impossible to resist the abundance of local dishes! We can say with confidence that there are no fewer goodies in sunny Tashkent, Samarkand or Bukhara than there are stars in the sky! Culinary traditions inherent in Uzbek cuisine have developed over many centuries. It could not have happened here without the influence of other peoples who at times conquered the lands of Central Asia. The nomadic lifestyle and assimilation of cultures, in particular the proximity to the Persians and Tajiks, helped to diversify the range of traditional dishes.
DISHES OF UZBEK CUISINE
The local cuisine, although formed under the influence of Asian traditions, still has its own characteristics and specific features. It is characterized by the use of meat. Lamb, horse meat, beef, poultry - it’s hard to imagine a table in Uzbekistan without it. The food here is very filling and high in calories. Cooking is also unthinkable without spices - coriander, saffron, hot pepper, agar-agar, caraway, rosemary, etc. Such an abundance of fragrant herbs and seasonings imbues dishes with a unique, exquisite aroma. Spices immediately awaken a ferocious appetite, therefore, smelling these delicacies makes you want to try them. And there are so many delicacies here that it makes your eyes wide open: appetizers, hot first courses, meat products, aromatic pastries, desserts. You definitely won't have to go hungry! In Uzbek cuisine there are hundreds of recipes and names of various dishes. Naturally, it is impossible to list everything, so it is worth highlighting the most popular ones.
Uzbek snacks
The local cuisine also has specific snacks. Juicy homemade sausages and dishes made from fat tail fat can hardly be classified as light dishes. Khasyp is considered one of the most original snacks. Fragrant, enchanting with the pleasant smells of oriental spices, homemade boiled sausage made from lamb meat, liver and rice porridge - this is a heavenly delight for true gourmets. It seems that khasyp does not look very attractive, but in fact it is a real delicacy. Perhaps the presence of lamb offal and intestines will not please everyone, but after trying a piece of sausage, you forget about everything, even about this small nuance.
In the list of delicious Uzbek sausages, an honorable second place belongs to a dish with a simple name - kazy. You can eat this amazing meat delicacy every day - it’s unlikely that anyone will get tired of it. By the way, it is prepared, oddly enough, not from lamb, but from horse meat, using meat from the rib part of the carcass. The sausage is served cold, cut into thin slices, seasoned with spices, garnished with herbs and onion rings. Kazy may not look particularly impressive, but the taste is incredible. In addition, horse meat is very healthy and easily absorbed by the body. In general, there are more pros than cons, and that’s already good!
For lovers of salty foods, there is probably nothing tastier than Uzbek kurt. Truly this is a universal dish: it goes well with beer and soup, and on a long journey it will help quench your thirst and hunger. On hot summer days, it retains water in the body longer. What is it? In general, kurt has been known to Asians since ancient times. Its recipe was invented for the purpose of preserving fermented milk products, which savvy wives supplied their husbands with when they traveled with trading caravans far beyond their native lands. Kurt is dried salted curd made into small balls. It is prepared from suzma (a product left over from making cottage cheese) and salt. To improve its taste, various seasonings are added to it, mainly basil and red pepper. Kurt is a magical snack. It is easily digestible, its calorie content is equivalent to meat dishes, although it is stored much longer - from 7 to 8 years, it is light and takes up little space.
First meal
Hot dishes in any kitchen are represented primarily by soups. In Uzbekistan, they are quite filling, high in calories, and have a thick consistency. They are prepared on the basis of meat or fish broth with the addition of meat, cereals, beans, peas, different varieties of pumpkin and a huge amount of herbs and spices.
Depending on the method of preparing meat, there are two types of soups. The first is fried; pre-fried lamb is used for it. Vegetables and other ingredients are usually cut into small pieces. For a richer taste, add bell peppers, tomatoes and a lot of seasonings. The second option (shurpa, naryn) is prepared from raw meat, which is cut into large pieces and seasoned with fresh or sour milk.
One of the main national dishes of Uzbek cuisine is mastava, or matoba. In terms of the composition of the main ingredients and cooking technology, it resembles pilaf, which is why in everyday life it is often called “liquid pilaf.” Essentially, mastava is a filling soup made from rice and fresh lamb with the addition of carrots, onions, turnips and tomatoes. Its integral components are many spices, in particular cilantro, basil, black and red capsicum, parsley and barberry berries. Before serving, the mastava is seasoned with a small amount of sour milk and garlic, and additionally decorated with herbs.
Uzbeks consider katykli khurda an easily digestible and satisfying dish - this is a soup cooked in meat or vegetable broth. The main components here are rice and wheat; in some regions of the country it is customary to add beans and mung beans. Katykli Khurda belongs to the category of dietary dishes. Unlike other soups, a little sour milk is always added here, which gives it a light, delicate taste and pleasant aroma.
One of the variants of katykli is chalop - a cold fermented milk soup, popular among many Turkic peoples. In Uzbek cuisine, it is a mixture of katyk (sour milk), finely chopped herbs and vegetables. It is prepared mainly on hot summer days.
Karakum also belongs to fermented milk soups. The set of ingredients in this dish is really minimal. It is prepared using katyk and finely chopped onions. Season everything with red pepper and add a little boiled water. Karakum is served in bowls along with small flatbreads.
Shurpa, a seasoning soup made from pre-fried meat and vegetables, is very popular in the East. As a rule, it is prepared from lamb, sometimes poultry is used. In some regions you can find another option - “asy shurpa”, which is based on fish broth. It is characterized by the use of a large amount of herbs and spices. A distinctive feature is that, along with the traditional set of vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onions), unlimited quantities of apples, plums, dried apricots and dried fruits are used for cooking, which gives the soup a sweetish taste and a fresh fruity aroma.
There are several varieties of traditional soup in the cuisine of Uzbekistan. Fried lamb shurpa, or kaurma-shurpa, is widely known. It is prepared from the rib portion of a lamb carcass. A lot of vegetables are added to the dish: carrots and potatoes, chopped onions and tomatoes. It is served in special cups, garnished with cilantro and black pepper when serving. Corn shurpa is no less famous.
Among the first courses, it is worth highlighting pieva - onion soup with lamb and tomatoes. Erma, a broth made from crushed wheat, meat and tomatoes, is also considered a popular and satisfying dish. Due to the addition of red capsicum, it turns out to be quite spicy, so it is often washed down with sour milk.
A frequently encountered dish is shurpa-chaban - a soup based on a broth of lamb ribs with chopped onions, tomatoes and potatoes. It is served in an unusual way: the rest of the fresh onion, grated together with black pepper, is placed at the bottom of the plate, and then the soup is poured. Onions with spices perfectly complement the taste of lamb and vegetables and give the dish a richer aroma.
Among the first courses made from beef, kiima-shurpa is popular - this is a seasoning soup made from bone broth with meatballs, sautéed onions, finely chopped carrots and potatoes. When serving, add separately boiled rice, sour milk or a little sour cream, sprinkle with chopped herbs.
Uzbek cuisine is also known for its hearty and unusually fatty dishes. These include suyuk-osh - a regular soup made from beef meat with onions, carrots and potatoes. It is also customary to add some noodles to it. When serving suyuk-osh, be sure to season it with sour milk.
Naryn can be considered a universal dish. Due to its thick consistency and high calorie content, it is often served as a main course. The soup is prepared from finely chopped lamb and lard. Separately, boil the noodles in salted water. Mix it with pre-fried meat, pour broth over everything and decorate with herbs.
Uzbek pilaf
The pearl of the local cuisine is considered to be pilaf, which appeared quite a long time ago. The technology for its preparation was first developed in the East, and since then it has occupied a special, honorable place in Asian cuisine. In the East, it is used daily: not a single event in the family is complete without it! Uzbekistan was no exception to the rule.
There are many recipes for cooking pilaf, but its main feature is the harmonious combination of two components - the grain part and the filling (zirvak). Unlike other dishes, several nuances are taken into account when preparing it. The first is the proportions of meat and cereal, which determine the taste. In each region, this combination is different, which is reflected in the taste characteristics. When preparing pilaf, much attention is paid to the grain, so the cereal is also prepared using a special technology - it must be hard and crumbly. To achieve this effect, it is not boiled, but simmered over low heat.
In the East, there are two key options for preparing pilaf - Iranian and Central Asian. In the first, rice and the filling are prepared separately and these components are combined only at the time of serving - this is how the food is prepared in Turkey and Azerbaijan. In Uzbekistan, the Central Asian version is more popular - when zirvak and grain are cooked together and served as a whole dish.
In Uzbek cuisine, there are many regional variations in the preparation of pilaf, differing in the set of main ingredients and the ratio between the amount of meat and cereal. Here you can find an option with wheat, fresh and dried apricots, garlic and beans. Also, fruits are often added to zirvak, in particular quince, barberry, raisins and dried apricots.
Among the many varieties of pilaf in the cuisine of Uzbekistan, tograma palov is very popular. It is prepared in two stages: 1/4 of the meat, carrots and onions are simmered along with rice, the rest of the filling is cooked in another pot. They are joined together at the time of serving. It is served separately with pickled wild onions.
Tontarm pilaf is no less famous; it differs from the traditional one only in that the rice is fried in melted butter before cooking until a red crust forms. Then the grain part is placed in cast iron cauldrons and prepared according to the usual recipe, mixing it with sautéed onions and carrots.
In some regions, safaki-palov, or separate pilaf in Samarkand, is popular. In this case, zirvak, which includes lamb, thinly sliced carrots and onions, is stewed separately from the grain. The rice is boiled in another pot. When serving, first lay out the cereal on a plate, pour hot oil on top, and only then add the delicious filling.
There is also a vegetarian option in Uzbek cuisine - Bukhara pilaf without meat. To prepare it, only rice, a set of vegetables and fruits, a lot of herbs, herbs and spices are used. The cereal is mixed with carrots and onions previously sautéed in vegetable oil. Then add some washed raisins, as well as chopped root and parsley. A rich combination of spices, herbs and dried fruits gives the food an extraordinary aroma.
It is also worth mentioning bakhsh, or green pilaf. The specificity of this dish lies not only in the unusual color palette, but also in the fact that all the components for it are cut very finely. The dish looks extremely exotic and quite unusual, and its taste will be remembered for a long time.
Another traditional dish of Uzbekistan is shavli. People call it nothing more than “improperly prepared pilaf.” Essentially, it consists of the same ingredients as pilaf, just the ratio of these products is slightly different. In this case, be sure to add a lot of fat (1/2 of the entire portion), onions and vegetables, and, on the contrary, add less meat. There are also tomatoes here. All this affects the consistency and taste characteristics, making the dish different from traditional pilaf.
Second courses
In Uzbek cuisine, preference is given to lamb dishes. Beef, horse meat and chicken are used much less frequently. The main feature in the preparation of meat dishes is that the meat for both the first and second ones is boiled or fried along with the bone. Asian cooking is not distinguished by a wide range of side dishes: meat is served mainly with vegetables, onions and herbs.
Basma is a bright, satisfying and aromatic dish. It consists of meat and vegetables stewed in their own juice. For cooking, a large cast-iron cauldron is used here, with a little fat tail fat placed on the bottom. Next, coarsely chopped lamb and a whole mountain of vegetables are laid out in layers - onions, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, eggplants and cabbage. Everything must be seasoned with salt, spices, herbs and a lot of fresh herbs are added. The ingredients are poured with water and simmered over low heat until fully cooked.
Dimlama, common in the agricultural regions of Central Asia, is also popular among the Turkic peoples. It is an assortment of stewed vegetables (cabbage, bell peppers, onions, eggplant, carrots and potatoes) with the addition of lamb and fat tail fat. It is cooked in large cauldrons. All components are laid out in order, poured with water and simmered over low heat. After cooking, the dish is thoroughly mixed and served on large plates.
The national cuisines of all countries and peoples that have ever experienced Turkic influence are also characterized by dolma; in the Uzbek version it is called tokosh. To some extent, this is an “eastern” relative of Russian cabbage rolls. Dolma is minced minced meat wrapped in young grape leaves. Usually lamb and rice are used for it. For a richer flavor, lemon juice, nuts, olive oil and onions are often added. Dolma in Uzbekistan is prepared from beef meat and round rice. Be sure to add greens to the filling, mainly cilantro, a couple of sprigs of mint and onions. It is served hot with sour cream and finely chopped herbs.
The second course includes kovurdak - a regular roast of meat and offal with the addition of vegetables and herbs. For greater richness, potatoes, chicken and a little pumpkin are added to it. To create a richer flavor, kovurdak is seasoned with a variety of spices and herbs, which go well with the main ingredients.
An analogue of kovurdak is behili zharop, or roast with quince. It is quite simple; for cooking you take young lamb meat, onions and a little quince. The crushed ingredients are simmered over low heat. Serve it with finely chopped herbs or several sprigs of cilantro.
It is difficult to imagine Uzbek cuisine, like any other Asian cuisine, without barbecue (kabob). No gourmet can resist the tender, aromatic meat roasted over charcoal. There are many options for preparing it in Uzbekistan. Here you can find kabob made from fresh lamb, beef, chicken and even liver (jigar kabob).
In the classic version, the food is prepared on the coals of saxaul - the so-called “desert tree”. The meat is pre-marinated. For the marinade, use vinegar, lemon juice, spices and onions. If the meat is too tough, then it is initially rubbed with mustard, and after half an hour it is dipped in the marinade. To make the kebab juicy when frying the meat, fat tail lard is added to it. The dish is served along with aromatic hot flatbreads and pickled onions. And after a hearty lunch, guests are offered a cup of strong green tea.
Among the meat dishes, one can also highlight thum-dulma, or zrazy in Uzbek - a very fatty, but at the same time quite filling dish. It is made from ground beef and looks like simple meat cakes with hard-boiled eggs wrapped inside. Thum-dulma is breaded in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. It is served at the table with a side dish of fried potatoes and fresh tomatoes. Separately, the zrazas are accompanied by a spicy sauce made from red pepper and tomatoes.
Dough products
In Central Asian cuisine, dishes are often prepared from boiled unleavened dough. One of these is chuchvara, or varak chuchvara - an Uzbek version of traditional dumplings. They are prepared from minced ground beef. The dough for them is cut into small squares, a little meat mixture is placed in the center, then rolled into an envelope. Chuchvara is always served with tomato broth. Table vinegar or hot sauce made from paprika, red capsicum and tomatoes are used as seasoning. When serving, it is poured with sour milk and sprinkled with finely chopped herbs.
Manti is considered the national culinary pride of the Uzbeks - a traditional dish of the peoples of Central Asia, consisting of finely chopped minced meat wrapped in thinly rolled unleavened dough. In shape, they resemble large dumplings; they are steamed in a “mantyshnitsa” - a device made from steam casseroles, lined up in several tiers. They use minced meat, mainly lamb. To make it more juicy, a little poultry and fat tail fat are added to it. There is also a vegetarian version of the filling - made from potatoes or pumpkin. The dough for the dish should be unleavened, not yeasty and very thin (1-2 mm thick). The finished cakes are oval or square in shape. They are served to the table along with meat broth. Sour milk and herbs are used as additional seasoning.
Another pearl in the cuisine of Uzbekistan is lagman. It can be served as a first or second course. With a considerable amount of broth, it resembles a soup, but you just need to slightly change the cooking technology, and it immediately turns into noodles with aromatic gravy based on meat infusion and a complex filling. This dish is in great demand among the Uyghurs, Chinese and Uzbeks. To prepare it, they use a huge assortment of vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, onions, carrots, beans and radishes), lamb and noodles made from unleavened dough. The dish is complemented by many spices, in particular garlic, hot pepper, various herbs and herbs. It is served hot, in deep bowls or kes.
Among flour products, samsa is extremely popular - ordinary pies with meat filling, having a triangular, oval or square shape. As a filling, lamb or beef is used, less often chicken, as well as vegetables - pumpkin, lentils, potatoes and peas. The dough for pies should be unleavened. They are baked in the oven or tandoor (special clay ovens) and served with pickled onions and table vinegar.
Pies with liver or lamb offal, called gumma, are also popular among Uzbeks - they are deep-fried in cottonseed oil. There are dishes made from dough that are prepared exclusively by steaming, including khanum - small flatbreads stuffed with minced meat and potato-pumpkin puree. The main highlight of this dish is the finest dough, which in the skillful hands of Uzbek housewives turns into elegant roses, simple rolls or original lace “envelopes” with the most delicate, fragrant and juicy filling. An inexperienced guest may think that khanum is the same as manti, but as they say, “the east is a delicate matter,” so although these dishes are similar, they should not be confused. It’s better to try both the first and the second - then even the most fastidious gourmets will get double pleasure.
Uzbek sweets
Without sweets, the life of any person does not seem so joyful. Uzbeks probably agree with this statement, because in their cuisine there are many unique recipes for preparing various delicacies. Oriental delicacies are popular in many countries. This is largely due to the fact that they are made exclusively from natural products, without any dyes or preservatives.
If you believe the legends, then previously the recipes for the best Uzbek sweets were kept in the strictest confidence: only the ruler and his entourage could enjoy various delicacies. Centuries have passed, views have changed, now everyone can try these truly divine dishes, the main thing is to want to!
According to local etiquette, the guest is always treated to hot tea and served with a lot of goodies. Fragrant sweet flatbreads, homemade sweets, golden caramel, nuts, dried fruits, snow-white nishalda and incredibly tasty halva - this is the minimum list of what can be seen on the Uzbek table.
The list of local delicacies consists of several dozen items, but among the huge abundance of sweets, the most famous by many is called halva, or in the Uzbek version - halvaytai. This is a traditional oriental treat, incredibly tasty, which will appeal to everyone without exception. There are about a hundred recipes for halva, but it is often made from wheat flour, sesame seeds and walnuts. In some regions it is customary to add almonds and pistachios. Sugar syrup is prepared separately for it, which is mixed with fried flour, nuts and other ingredients are added to it. The delicacy is very sweet and has an amazing taste.
In Uzbekistan, it is customary to serve aromatic crystallized sugar, or navat, with tea. It is prepared from concentrated grape juice. For a richer taste, add a lot of spices. Navat is not only tasty, but also healthy. Sugar itself is used as candy for cold coughs and sore throats, and tea with it has an excellent warming effect, gives a person energy and vigor, and helps to quickly restore strength after colds.
If sweets are brought to the table in the form of white pillows, carefully sprinkled with flour, then this is nothing more than parvarda - national Uzbek sweets. The process of preparing them is quite labor-intensive. To make them tasty, the main thing is to cook the caramel correctly, because this is the main component. Integral components are also fragrant herbs, which give the delicacy a refined flavor and impart medicinal properties.
Tender, aromatic, crispy and simply melting in the mouth sweet cakes made from the finest flour threads - this is, naturally, pashmak, served in Uzbekistan with hot tea. The delicacy cannot be stored for a long time, so it should be eaten fresh. This is the only way to experience the amazing taste and delicate structure of these flatbreads.
Among Uzbek sweets, it is worth highlighting nishalda - according to tradition, it is prepared in March, for the Navruz holiday. It has a very delicate taste, consisting of beaten egg whites along with sugar and a decoction of licorice root. In appearance and consistency it resembles thick sour cream. Khvorost (small pieces of unleavened dough carefully fried in oil, sprinkled with powdered sugar) and chak-chak (sweet flatbreads in the form of balls or square bars, served with honey syrup) are very popular among Uzbeks.
It is impossible to imagine the menu of Uzbek cuisine without delicious peanuts, wrapped in sweet sugar fudge, and kozinaki, which are made from sesame or sunflower seeds, held together with chalk water in the form of small bricks. In the skillful hands of local confectioners, aromatic cookies are born - kush-tili, elegant, light sweet zangza cheesecakes, delicious caramel and many other delicacies. Quince stuffed with walnuts and almonds (bekhi-dulma) is the ultimate dream!
In general, what else can you say?! Uzbek cuisine is rich and original in its own way. These dishes may be rustic and homey-looking, but it's probably not the pretty wrapper that counts, but what's inside. As practice shows, in skillful hands, and if you also put your whole soul into what you love, then even the simplest dishes can be turned into real culinary masterpieces!
Chapter:
UZBEK CUISINE. Recipes of Uzbek dishes
Wonderful dishes for the daily and holiday table
This section will help make your table varied, tasty and attractive.
Here, in the selection of national recipes, the quality of the dishes and the convenience of their preparation were taken into account.
For all the wealth of national cuisines of the world, see the relevant sections
20th page of the section
Used to decorate Uzbek flatbreads Cakic- a tool for decorative piercing of flat cakes before baking.
With the help of chakich, beautiful circular patterns consisting of individual small holes are easily and simply created on the surface of products.
Dissolve salt in warm water, add melted lamb fat, knead the dough, wrap it in a napkin and leave for 10-15 minutes.
Then divide the dough into pieces weighing 200 g, roll out into flat cakes 3-4 mm thick, and make pricks with chakich.
Bake in tandoor.
Dilute salt in warm water, add finely chopped onion and crushed cracklings, and knead the dough.
Then place it on a board or table sprinkled with flour, divide into pieces weighing 200 g, and roll into round cakes 1 cm thick.
Fry the tortillas on both sides, placing them against the hot wall of the cauldron, without adding fat.
Knead the dough, divide it into pieces weighing 100 g, roll out thin flat cakes with a thickness of 2 mm with a rolling pin, and make chakich pricks.
Bake in tandoor.
Before baking, moisten one side of the flatbread with water and stick to the wall of the tandoor.
Remove them from the tandoor as soon as they are dry but not yet browned.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 1 glass of water, 1/2 glass of ghee or butter, 2 teaspoons of salt.
To grease the dough - 1 cup of lamb fat or sour cream.
For greasing the cakes - 2 tbsp. spoons of sour milk.
Dissolve salt in hot water, add ghee or butter, knead the dough, cover it with a napkin, and let stand.
After 10-15 minutes, roll out the dough to a thickness of 0.5 cm, grease the surface with lamb fat or sour cream, roll it into a roll, then, holding both ends with your hands, simultaneously moving your left hand forward and your right hand back, twist several times.
Cut into pieces weighing 300 g, make cakes 2 cm thick at the edges and 1 cm thick in the middle.
After pricking the chakich, brush with sour milk and bake in a tandoor or oven on sheets.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 1 glass of water, 1/2 glass of butter or ghee, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For minced meat - 200 g of meat, 2-3 onions.
Salt and red pepper - to taste.
Prepare the dough as indicated in the “patyrcha” recipe, roll it out to a thickness of 3 cm. Place the prepared minced meat on the rolled out dough.
Minced meat is made from lamb, onions, seasoned with salt and spices.
Roll the dough into a tube.
Bake in the same way as regular patyr.
For 1 kg of flour - cracklings obtained by melting 2 kg of fat tail fat, 1.5 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
Dissolve salt in a small amount of water.
Mash the hot greaves with a spoon, add salted water, add flour and knead into a stiff dough.
Divide the dough into pieces weighing 100 g, shape into round flat cakes 1 cm thick, make chakich pricks, deep-fry from which the cracklings have been removed.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 1.5 cups of water, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For minced meat - 700 g of meat, 500 g of onion.
Salt and spices - to taste.
Prepare the dough on eggs, let it rest, then divide into pieces of 20-30 g, roll out into flat cakes 2 mm thick and put minced meat on each, fold in half, pinch the edges and make crescent-shaped pies.
Fry in a frying pan in melted butter.
For minced meat, take the fatty flesh of lamb and beef, season with onions, salt and spices.
For flour mash - 3 cups of milk, 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar and 1 cup of flour.
For frying and greasing - 300 g ghee.
Prepare the dough according to the “gumma” recipe, but only without eggs, divide into pieces weighing 300 g, roll out thinly, dip them in boiling melted butter and, without frying, immediately remove and wrap in a napkin.
Dissolve a little granulated sugar in milk, add flour, mix thoroughly and bring to a boil (while boiling, constantly stir the flour mixture, otherwise it may burn).
Brush each tortilla with a spoonful of flour flour and fold in half to form a crescent.
Before serving, brush the gilmindi with ghee.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For minced meat - 300 g of meat, 2 onions, 1 tbsp. spoon of ghee.
Salt and black pepper - to taste; 250 g ghee.
Pass the meat through a meat grinder or chop it, add finely chopped onion, salt, ground black pepper, mix and fry in hot oil until cooked.
Dissolve salt in water, add flour, knead the dough, let it sit.
Then divide into pieces weighing 60 g and roll into very thin flat cakes.
Place one flatbread into a hot cauldron with a spherical bottom, greased with oil, fry it on both sides, and remove.
Then put in the second one and fry it on one side. turn over and leave in the cauldron.
Place a thin layer of prepared minced meat on it and cover with the first flatbread.
Place the minced meat on top again, cover with the raw flatbread and turn it down, and put a layer of minced meat on the flatbread on top and cover with the raw flatbread again.
Do this 10-12 times, constantly turning over and placing minced meat between the flatbreads.
Bake over very low heat, greasing the pot with oil as needed.
Place the finished pancake pie in a cup and cover with a napkin for 5-10 minutes, then serve.
Prepare the dough according to the “yupka” recipe and roll it out; Grease each prepared pancake with thick sour cream, cover with another, then fry on both sides until golden brown in a hot cauldron, greased with oil.
For 1 kg of flour - 1 glass of water, 1 glass of onion water, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 kg of frying oil.
Chop the onion, put it in water and mash thoroughly.
Then squeeze out the onion and knead the dough with the remaining water.
Roll out the pancakes as indicated in the “yupka” recipe and deep-fry them, but do not overcook them.
For 1 kg of flour - 1 glass of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For greasing: 2 cups sour cream or madras.
Durda - cracklings that settle to the bottom when preparing ghee.
Roll out the dough into a thin sheet (1 mm thick). Cut into notebook sheets.
Grease with thick sour cream or madda, fry, placing one pancake on top of another in the same way as a “yupka”.
When ready, separate the pancakes and roll each one into quarters, place on a plate and cover.
Serve after 5-10 minutes.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For greasing - 2 cups ghee, 2 bunches of green onions, 2 tbsp. spoons of sand or powdered sugar.
Prepare the dough (“envelope” of dough) as for pushhal, roll it out to a thickness of 1 mm, grease with melted butter and sprinkle with finely chopped green onions.
Then fold from four edges to the middle.
You will get a square cake consisting of several layers.
Fry in a cauldron like katlama, brushing with oil.
When serving, sprinkle with granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
Cooking galmana.
For 1 kg of flour - 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For greasing - 1.5 cups of butter or sour cream.
For adding - 2 tbsp. spoons of sand or powdered sugar.
For frying - 1 cup ghee.
Dissolve salt in warm water and knead the dough, roll into a ball, cover with a towel, and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
Then roll it out very thin (thinner than 1 mm). You should try to use less flour.
The rolled out flatbread can be greased with melted lamb lard, melted butter or butter, or sour cream.
After this, roll it onto a rolling pin, cut it lengthwise with a knife, remove the rolling pin and cut it in the middle again to get narrow strips.
Roll several narrow strips of dough into a circle.
Place the prepared dough circles on a board and roll out to a thickness of 1 cm (see figure below).
Grease the cauldron with ghee, add katlama and fry on both sides until golden brown and crispy.
Sprinkle the finished katlama with granulated sugar or powder.
Preparation of katlama.
For 1 kg of flour - 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 glass of sour cream, 2-3 onions; for frying - 1 cup ghee.
Prepare the dough and roll it out as indicated in the katlama recipe.
After this, grease the rolled out sour cream with sour cream and sprinkle finely chopped onion on top.
In the future, proceed as indicated in the “katlama” recipe.
Make puff pastry as indicated in the “katlama” recipe, make chakich nakoly, bake in the tandoor.
Grease the finished katlama with ghee.
For 1 kg of flour - 1/2 cup of water, 2 eggs, cups of melted butter, 1 tbsp. spoon of granulated sugar; for deep frying - 1 kg of cottonseed oil.
Dissolve sugar in a small amount of water, break eggs, add melted butter, stir and knead the dough, let sit.
Then roll out a long sausage as thick as a pencil, cut into pieces the size of almonds.
Deep fry.
There is another way to prepare “kush tili”: roll it out very thin and cut it with a special roller cutter into small jagged quadrangles, diamonds or triangles.
Deep fry.
For 1 kg of flour - 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of ghee, 1/2 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 kg of vegetable oil for deep frying.
Prepare the same dough as in the previous recipe.
Roll out the dough into a large sheet, 1-2 mm thick.
Cut with a special corrugated jigsaw into strips 5-6 cm wide and 45-50 cm long, roll each strip and deep-fry.
Serve in vases, sprinkling powdered sugar on top.
For 1 kg of flour - 10 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of alcohol, vodka or cognac; 1 kg of honey, 1 glass of granulated sugar; for deep frying - 1.5 kg of ghee.
Beat the eggs, add salt and knead the dough.
Add 1 tablespoon of alcohol, vodka or cognac to the dough.
Wrap the dough in a napkin and let it rest.
After a few minutes, roll it out to a thickness of no more than 2 mm, cut into strips 2-3 cm wide and cut the noodles, then deep-fry them.
Spread the fried noodles out to cool.
Melt the honey in another bowl, add granulated sugar and stir until the sugar melts.
When ready, remove the dishes from the heat and add the noodles to the still hot honey and stir.
Place the resulting mass in deep plates, greased with oil, and press well with your hands (pre-moisten your palms with cold water so that they do not burn and the noodles do not stick to them).
Allow the finished dish to cool.
When serving, cut into pieces.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 eggs, 1.5 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For minced meat - 1 kg of meat, 6-7 onions.
Salt, black pepper - to taste.
For deep frying - 1 kg of cottonseed oil.
Prepare dumplings as indicated in the chuchvara recipe, deep-fry a few of them.
For 1 kg of flour - 2 eggs, 1 glass of pumpkin juice, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For the filling: 1.5 kg of pumpkin, 100 g of granulated sugar, 1 kg of vegetable oil - for deep-frying.
Grate the pumpkin, squeeze out the juice, sprinkle with granulated sugar and set aside.
Using pumpkin juice, prepare the dough as for dumplings.
Cut the dough into squares measuring 4x4 cm, fill with minced pumpkin and, forming dumplings, deep-fry.
For minced meat - 800 g of meat, 500 g of onion, 200 g of lard.
Salt and spices - to taste.
Knead a stiff dough in salted water.
Add melted lamb fat to the dough and knead well.
Then roll it out to a thickness of 2 mm, cut out circles with a glass, put minced meat in the middle of each circle, and make round pies. Place every four pies together.
Before baking, moisten the back of the pies with salt water and bake in a vertical tandoor.
To create steam inside the tandoor, sprinkle the samsa with fresh water.
Close the neck of the tandoor tightly.
After 20-25 minutes, open the neck; To allow ventilation, open a small hole at the bottom of the tandoor.
Leave the pies for another 10 minutes on the dying coals, then remove.
(It is advisable to bake pies on guza-pai coals.)
Prepare the minced meat as follows: chop the fatty lamb pulp, add a little lard, chopped onion, black pepper, salt; knead everything well.
Grease the finished pies with oil and sprinkle with black pepper.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 1.5 cups of water, 4 teaspoons of salt, 50 g of melted lamb lard.
For minced meat - 1 kg of meat, 500 g of onion, 200 g of fat tail fat.
Salt and red pepper - to taste.
For greasing - 2 tbsp. spoons of butter.
Prepare the dough and minced meat as for samsa farmuda, knead well, divide into pieces weighing 100 g, roll out with a rolling pin into flat cakes 2 mm thick.
Place minced meat and a piece of fat tail fat in the middle of each flatbread, make a spherical samsa.
Bake as indicated in the Farmuda Samsa recipe.
When serving, grease the samsa with oil.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For minced meat - 800 g, meat, 500 g onions; salt and red pepper to taste.
For frying minced meat - 50 g of oil. For deep frying - 1 kg of cottonseed oil.
For powder - 1 tbsp. spoon of granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
Dissolve salt in warm water, add flour, knead the dough, roll it into a ball, cover with a napkin and let it lie for a few minutes.
Then roll out the dough very thin (0.5 mm thick), grease with oil and roll onto a rolling pin, cut lengthwise. You will get wide socks in several layers.
Cut them into rectangles measuring 6x8 cm.
Roll out the middle of each rectangle even thinner with a small rolling pin, add minced meat, fold in half and pinch.
The edges of the pies should be puff-shaped, in the form of notebook leaves.
Deep fry the pies.
The minced meat is prepared as follows: finely chop the meat or mince it, add onion, season with salt and black pepper, stir thoroughly, fry in a frying pan in a small amount of oil.
When serving, sprinkle the finished pies with granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For greasing - 150 g of melted butter and 0.5 kg of granulated sugar.
Everything is prepared as indicated in the Varaki Samsa recipe, but instead of minced meat, 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar is added to the puff pastries.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For greasing - 150 g ghee.
For minced meat - 800 g of meat, 500 g of onion.
Salt and red pepper - to taste, 2 teaspoons of water (in minced meat).
Prepare the dough as for Varaki Samsa, roll it out thin and cut into the same rectangles.
After putting in the minced meat, make pies of a rectangular, triangular or round shape.
Bake them in the tandoor.
For minced meat, finely chop the fatty flesh of the meat, add onion, salt, red pepper, add a little water, mix well.
For the filling - 2 kg of greens, 2 bunches of green onions and 4-5 onions, salt and red pepper - to taste, 2 eggs.
For frying the filling - 150 g of ghee.
For frying pies - 300 g of cottonseed oil.
Prepare unleavened dough, divide into pieces weighing approximately 50 g, roll out thinly.
Place a herb filling in the middle of each flatbread and make crescent-shaped pies. Fry them in hot oil.
For the filling, finely chop sorrel, quinoa, young shoots of alfalfa, mint, shepherd's purse and other greens, and add green and onions.
Season with salt, ground red pepper, simmer in oil until half cooked.
After this, add finely chopped boiled eggs to the filling.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt.
For minced meat - 1 kg of onions, 1 bunch of green onions, 4 eggs or 100 g of melted butter. For greasing - 100 g melted butter.
For minced meat - 400 g of meat, 2-3 onions, salt and red pepper - to taste.
For frying minced meat - 1 tbsp. spoon of ghee.
Knead the dough, roll into a ball, then roll out very thinly with a long rolling pin.
Grease it with oil and roll it on a rolling pin.
Then take out the rolling pin and cut the dough into circles 0.5 cm wide.
Roll out each circle with a short rolling pin into flat cakes.
Prepare the minced meat as for waraka samsa, put it on flatbreads and make small round pies.
Bake in the oven on greased baking sheets for 15-20 minutes.
Place the finished pies on a plate or vase, sprinkle with grape vinegar, sprinkle with black pepper and serve.
For the dough - 1 kg of flour, 2 glasses of water, 3 teaspoons of salt.
For greasing cream - 100 g butter and a handful of flour.
For minced meat - 800 g of meat, 800 g of onion.
Salt and red pepper - to taste.
Dissolve salt in warm water, add flour and knead into a stiff dough, roll out to 1 cm.
Bend it on four sides and fold it in half, cover with a napkin and let it lie for 10 minutes.
Then roll out again to a thickness of 0.5 cm.
Sprinkle the resulting flatbread with flour and grease with margarine, fold it over the edges again, fold it in half, and put it in a cool place for 5-6 minutes.
The oil should be well absorbed into the dough.
After this, roll out the dough into a very thin dough (2 mm thick), cut into squares, put minced meat on each square and make round pies.
Bake on sheets in oven for 20 minutes.
Before serving, brush with oil.
Prepare the minced meat as indicated in the “samsa formuda” recipe (see above).
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Dishes of Uzbek cuisine are food that many have known since childhood. It is unlikely that many will name more than two or three dishes, and it will most likely be pilaf, manti or lagman, but Uzbek cuisine is rich and varied.
Most importantly, the dishes are prepared from natural products, there are no complex ingredients, and they taste amazing.
Lagman- this is an Uzbek soup with homemade noodles, a kind of Central Asian version of ramen with a very spicy and fatty lamb broth and a lot of vegetables and meat. Depending on the recipe, lagman can be thinner or thicker. 
Eggplant appetizer “Badamjan”- these are baked or fried eggplants with pieces of bell pepper and radishes, sprinkled with finely chopped herbs and drizzled with oil. 
Chuchvara is a soup with small dumplings, usually served with suzma (a fermented milk product like sour cream) and containing black pepper, onion, tomato paste and bell pepper. 
Pilaf- a delicious combination of rice, pieces of beef, veal or lamb, carrots, onions and a special set of spices. It is easy to cook in large quantities in a cauldron, so this dish is often the basis of a holiday table. 
Salad "Tashkent"- a signature capital salad made from boiled beef tongue, radish and herbs, seasoned with sour cream sauce and garnished with fried onions. 
Manti- a dish of meat and dough that is steamed. The filling is beef, lamb or veal, although there is an option with pumpkin. The filling must be chopped into pieces, otherwise all the juice will leak out. Onions and spices are also placed inside. If desired, a little tail fat is sometimes added for flavor. Manti are eaten with kaymak (not to be confused with curd cheese, which is sold in stores), but it is not found in Russia, so it is better to eat it with sour cream, not forgetting to sprinkle with fresh herbs. 
Samsa- triangular pies made from homemade puff pastry filled with meat or pumpkin, onions, lamb fat and spices. As in manti, the filling is cut into cubes. Samsa is baked in a clay oven - tandoor, but at home you can also cook it in the oven. When the samsa is ready, brush it with egg yolk and sprinkle with black sesame seeds. 
Salad “Achik-chuchuk”, also known as "Achichuk", is fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs. This dish is perfect for vegetarians and fasting people. 
Naryn is a national dish of Uzbek cuisine made from homemade noodles and boiled meat, served with broth. Naryn is usually prepared from lamb, horse meat or kazy (boiled horse meat sausage) and sometimes from veal or beef. The main secret of this dish is that before cooking the meat, it must be covered with salt and dried for 24 hours. This is done to ensure the transparency and richness of the broth. Onions are added to the meat and noodles. In the original recipe, they take regular fresh onions, chop them, rub them with their hands and add them to the dish. You can also fry the onion and brush the noodle dough with the remaining oil. 
Shurpa- rich and fatty soup made from lamb and vegetables. The most famous varieties are kaiitnama, where the meat is placed fresh, and kovurma, where the meat is first fried in oil. 
Dimlama- an Uzbek version of roast, which uses beef, lamb, various vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, as well as fresh herbs and - of course - spices. 
Kutaby- fried flat pies made from the thinnest dough filled with meat, herbs, tomatoes, cheese - individually or together. 
Kabob (kebab)- beef, lamb or veal, strung in small pieces on skewers and cooked over an open fire. As a rule, the meat is pre-marinated. Pieces of lamb alternate with pieces of tail fat, which browns over the fire and acquires a delicate taste, and when serving, all this splendor is sprinkled with fresh, finely chopped onions and herbs and sprinkled with table vinegar. Hot tomato or adjika sauces are suitable. 
Halwaitar is the liquid embodiment of halva. Flour is added to the heated fat or oil, stirred, then sugar is added, and nuts and vanilla are added only at the end of cooking. 
Tea with sweets- this is an Uzbek tradition. There are a lot of options for preparing tea in Uzbekistan, and this drink is certainly served with nuts, dried fruits and other natural and healthy delicacies. By the way, Uzbeks never pour a full bowl for guests, showing that they are very happy and want the guest to sit longer. A full bowl means that the owner is in a hurry to send you away. 
Incredibly tasty, bright and rich dishes of Uzbek cuisine have been known to many since childhood. Pilaf, lagman, manti are just a few of the dishes of the richest Uzbek cuisine. Over the millennia, it has absorbed many elements of the cultures of neighboring countries. In it you can find echoes of Kazakh, Tatar, Russian, Mongolian, Uyghur, Iranian, Tajik, Kyrgyz and other cuisines. The Uzbeks made changes to each borrowed dish, preparing it in their own way. Dishes of Uzbek cuisine often combine many components and require special skill in preparation. Another feature of Uzbek cuisine is that one dish can have several cooking options. A striking example of this is pilaf. The dish, which has long outgrown the national framework and become a brand, is prepared differently everywhere, and everyone considers their own recipe to be the only correct one.
Opens the list of the best dishes of Uzbek cuisine beef dolma (tokosh). Its taste is in no way inferior to Caucasian dolma. For cooking you will need: beef pulp, round rice, beef fat, onions, pickled grape leaves, garlic, cilantro, spices to taste. There is nothing complicated in preparing dolma. You need to make minced meat from beef, fat and onions, add washed rice, salt, spices, garlic and herbs to it. Wrap the minced meat in grape leaves. Place the dolma in layers in a cauldron or wide pan, add water so that it lightly covers it. After boiling, dolma is cooked for 40 minutes over low heat. This delicious dish is served with herbs and sour cream.
One of the most popular dishes of Uzbek cuisine. The secret to making tender and juicy samsa is simple - you don’t need to skimp on the amount of fat and try to cut the meat as finely as possible. Like many other dishes of Uzbek cuisine, samsa has many cooking options: with meat filling, potatoes, pumpkin, cabbage, mushrooms, herbs, nuts, raisins.
To prepare samsa stuffed with meat you will need: minced lamb, flour, onions, eggs, butter, cumin, pepper, salt, sesame seeds. Prepare the minced meat and dough. Place the minced meat on the rolled out dough flatbreads and form a triangle. Place samosas on a baking sheet greased with oil. Brush each triangle with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake samsa at 200ºC for 40 minutes.
Pilaf
One of the best dishes of Uzbek cuisine is. Traditional Uzbek pilaf has only seven main ingredients: meat, fat, onions, carrots, rice, water and salt. Everything else is optional. Any meat can be used for pilaf: lamb, beef, poultry, horse meat. Sometimes pilaf is prepared without meat, replacing it with dried apricots, raisins, and mushrooms. If it is not possible to use lamb tail fat, it can be replaced with vegetable oil. The best rice for real Uzbek pilaf is devzira. This is an ancient variety grown in the Fergana Valley. Another important component, without which you cannot cook good pilaf, is a cast iron cauldron.
One of the most popular dishes of Uzbek cuisine. In Central Asia, lagman is served as both the first and second courses. It is prepared from special noodles (in a real lagman they must be handmade), meat and vegetable sauce – vajji. To prepare lagman you need: lamb or beef, tomatoes, onions, carrots, herbs, spices, salt, as well as eggs and flour for making noodles.
Not as famous as lagman, but no less tasty soup. This dish of Uzbek cuisine is prepared from vegetables and two types of meat. First, the meat is fried in a cauldron, then onions, carrots, and tomatoes are added to it. After the meat becomes soft, pour water into the cauldron and add rice and potatoes to the soup. Small meatballs formed from minced meat are added to the soup last. Let the mastava cook for 10-15 minutes and the delicious soup is ready. Don’t forget to use spices and herbs during the cooking process: parsley, cumin, basil, black pepper.
Ili ok shўva is one of the best dishes of Uzbek cuisine, which is prepared without frying the ingredients. This is the basic version of the famous shurpa, in the form it was prepared thousands of years ago. The recipe can be complicated by adding other components. White shurpa is especially good in winter, as it perfectly warms a person. A dish is prepared from lamb or beef, fat tail fat, and onions.
Dimlyama with tomatoes
The most delicious dishes of Uzbek cuisine include. In a cauldron you need to heat the lamb fat and quickly fry the pieces of meat in it. Then add the onion chopped into rings, add spices and simmer. Cut the tops off fresh tomatoes of equal size, place on the meat and simmer over low heat for about two hours. Dimlyama should be served along with the delicious sauce that has formed after finishing cooking in the cauldron.
Salad "Tashkent"- a very tasty, but little-known dish of Uzbek cuisine. There are several options for preparing it. For the classic “Tashkent” you will need: radish (can be replaced with radish), eggs, meat, onions.
Boil the eggs until done. Chop the radish into large strips. We also cut the boiled meat into strips. Fry the chopped onion in a frying pan in vegetable oil. Mix radish, meat and onion, adding spices, homemade mayonnaise or kaymak. Place the resulting mixture in a heap on a dish, decorate the salad with slices of meat and eggs, sprinkle with herbs and pour over mayonnaise.
One of the most popular dishes in Central Asia. There are many options for preparing manti: with meat, pumpkin, potatoes, cabbage, chickpeas and other fillings. This delicious dish of Uzbek cuisine is prepared by steaming, which allows you to preserve the nutritional value of all ingredients.
Chuchvara
One of the best dishes of Uzbek cuisine is. It is a soup with small dumplings. Chuchvara is served with suzma. The soup also includes tomato paste, black pepper, onions and bell pepper. Minced meat for chuchvara is prepared only from minced meat. They try to make dumplings as small in size as possible. As a filling, you can use not only meat, but also greens with fat tail fat and boiled eggs.
