Uzbek cuisine- one of the richest in Central Asia. Many factors influenced the formation of its culinary traditions. At one time, the Uzbeks did not lead a sedentary, but a nomadic lifestyle, so they preferred to cook high-calorie food using lamb, horse meat, beef, cottonseed and fat tail fat. They also used a large amount of herbs and spices. All these traditions have survived to this day. Currently, Uzbek cuisine offers many dishes that have gained incredible popularity far beyond the borders of the country.

Uzbek pilaf

Pilaf is perhaps the most famous dish. It is present in the menu of many establishments, as well as in cafes of Uzbek cuisine, which can now be found quite often.

Pilaf is a favorite dish of many, it is incredibly satisfying and high-calorie. Different regions of Uzbekistan have their own peculiarities of its preparation. Rice is an important ingredient in this dish. Therefore, it must be chosen with great care. The dish is prepared exclusively from rice durum varieties. Of course, it is very difficult to find it in our area, so you can replace it with other species. But in any case, rice should be of high quality and not boiled soft. It well absorbs the aroma of spices, meat, vegetables and at the same time sets off their taste. As for meat, they use exclusively beef or lamb.

To prepare a popular dish of Uzbek cuisine, we need:

1. Beef or lamb - 0.5 kg.
2. Rice - 450 g.
3. 3-4 bulbs.
4. Head of garlic.
5. Fat tail fat - 250 g.
6. Carrots - 2 pcs.
7. Salt.
8. Spices - paprika, barberry, mixture ground peppers, zira.

Recipe for Uzbek pilaf

Fat tail fat is cut into pieces and drowned in a well-heated cauldron. After the cracklings acquire a golden hue, they must be removed from the dish. The meat is cut into small pieces (2 by 2 centimeters in size). Peel onions and carrots and cut into cubes. Next, put the onion in a cauldron with fat and fry until golden brown. Vegetables should be stirred occasionally. Then meat is laid out in the dishes, which must be distributed over the entire surface. After five minutes, the contents of the cauldron must be mixed. Now you can put the carrots on top and let it warm up a little. You can lightly salt it on top. As soon as the salt disappears, this is a signal that all contents must be mixed again. When the carrots become soft, you can add half a pinch of cumin and add a little more salt. Next, pour water into the cauldron so that it slightly covers the carrots. After the liquid boils, the fire must be reduced and boiled for forty minutes. Then add spices and garlic.

Rice should be rinsed until the water is clear before cooking. As soon as zirvak (this is gravy for pilaf) is ready, you can take out the pepper and garlic, after which we increase the heat and spread the washed rice in an even layer. The liquid should cover the rice, if it is not enough, then be sure to add water. Gradually, during cooking, it will evaporate. When the water has almost completely evaporated, this means that the pilaf is almost ready. It must be collected in a slide, close the lid, reduce the heat, leave to languish for another 20 minutes. At the very end of cooking, pepper and garlic are returned to the pilaf.

If you like Uzbek cuisine, recipes at home are quite easy to implement. Of course, it is unlikely that you will be able to find everything. necessary products, you will have to replace some components with something else.

Lagman in Uzbek

The second dishes of Uzbek cuisine are incredibly tasty and satisfying. One of the most popular is lagman in Uzbek. To prepare such a famous Asian dish, you need noodles home cooking. It is served with a delicious meat sauce with the beautiful name waju. The best dishes of Uzbek cuisine should definitely be tried at home. Your family will surely love them.

Lagman Ingredients:

1. Potato - 0.3 kg.
2. Beef - 0.6 kg.
3. Fat or vegetable oil - 35 g.
4. Garlic, onion.
5. One bell pepper.
6. Two carrots.
7. Radish.
8. Tomato puree - 45 g.
9. Salt and spices.
10. broth or water.
11. Greenery.

Noodle Ingredients:

1. Two eggs.
2. Flour - 0.3 kg.
3. Water - 100 g.

Uzbek lagman recipe

Recipes of Uzbek home cooking are not difficult. Following them, it is enough just to cook tasty dish for lunch or dinner to please family.

For lagman, we need homemade noodles. To prepare it, add water and eggs to a bowl of flour, and knead the usual unleavened dough. Then it is rolled out in a thin layer and rolled up in the form of a tube, which is then cut. The result is long, thin homemade noodles.

Next, put a pot with two liters of water on the fire. It is salted and dipped into noodles. The liquid is brought to a boil and the noodles are boiled until tender. As a rule, it takes no more than four minutes. The finished noodles are washed several times and thrown into a colander.

Many dishes of Uzbek cuisine are prepared on the basis of sauces, including lagman. Meat is used for waju. It is cut into small pieces and salted. Then they clean and wash the onions with carrots, cut them into cubes. Radishes and peppers are also peeled and cut into strips. Next, peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces, chop the garlic. We put a frying pan on the fire, add fat or vegetable oil, spread the meat and fry over low heat until golden brown. Then add carrots Bell pepper, onion and radish. All ingredients are mixed in a pan and fried for ten minutes.

After that, we transfer all the components to a cauldron, add potatoes, tomato puree, chopped garlic and fresh chopped tomatoes. Vegetables with meat are poured with broth, seasoned with a mixture of black and red peppers and stewed for 40 minutes over very low heat.

A real chef of Uzbek cuisine serves lagman as follows. The noodles are heated in hot water, after which they are laid out in a deep plate. Top it with meat sauce and generously sprinkle with chopped herbs. Uzbek cuisine offers an incredible number of hearty meat dishes. But lagman is especially popular, like plov, even outside of Uzbekistan. Such dishes (albeit slightly adapted to our capabilities) have long been included in the menu of our hostesses.

Samsa with onions and beef

Samsa is one of the best dishes, which offers a multifaceted Uzbek cuisine. Recipes at home can be slightly modified, since it is not always possible to execute them exactly. Real samsa is baked in a tandoor. Of course, in modern conditions this is impossible to do, so a hearty puff dish with meat is baked in ordinary ovens.

Uzbek cuisine (the recipes are given by us in the article) is so multifaceted that you can find an incredible number of wonderful hearty dishes in its arsenal.

Samsa can be prepared with the most different fillings and become a decoration of both a festive and everyday table. To prepare it, we need:

1. Sour cream - 210 g.
2. Boiled water - 100 ml.
3. A teaspoon of salt.
4. A pinch of soda.
5. Flour - 0.6 kg.

For filling:

1. Minced beef - 0.4 kg.
2. Onion - 0.3 kg.
3. Two tablespoons of vegetable oil.
4. Salt.
5. Hot peppers.
6. Sesame.

Recipe for samsa

Uzbek cuisine has in its assortment an incredible number of recipes for making samsa with different fillings. We offer classic recipe with beef. But it is worth noting that the filling should be put into the raw dough, then the pastry turns out to be incredibly juicy and tasty.

In order to knead the dough, mix water with sour cream, add soda, salt and gradually add flour. Next, knead the dough. It should be tender and soft. On the one hand, it must be thoroughly kneaded, and on the other hand, try not to oversaturate it with an extra amount of flour. It is acceptable if the dough is slightly sticky to the surface, but at the same time it should not leave marks on the table.

Next, you can proceed to the preparation of the filling. It can be very different - vegetables, pumpkin, any meat. In our case, take fatty beef, mix it with hot pepper, chopped onion and salt. Add a little vegetable oil to the filling, and carefully knead the minced meat.

Onions for cooking samsa cannot be twisted in a meat grinder. During the baking process, it can turn the meat into a lump. For getting juicy pastry onions are chopped by hand into strips or half rings. Meat and onions must be taken in almost equal proportions.

We divide the dough into three parts, leave one of them for work, and cover the other two with a towel. Cut the dough into equal pieces. Grind each of them with flour and roll out in the form of a pancake. Put the filling in the center of each circle and form the samsa. It can be triangular, round or oval.

Next, spread the samsa on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Now you need to grease the baking surface with an egg. Top samsa can be sprinkled with sesame seeds. We send the baking sheet to the oven for forty minutes. We bake samsa at a temperature of 190-200 degrees until browning. Here our dish is ready, it is served hot on the table.

Bukhara tea

Uzbek cuisine (recipes are given in the article) offers many wonderful dishes. Even tea is prepared incredibly tasty according to special recipes. We offer to prepare Bukhara tea, which will be incredibly useful during colds and cold weather. And in the summer, such a drink will quench your thirst well. Tea is not only tasty, but also enriches the body with vitamin C.

To prepare it, we need:

1. Half an orange.
2. Tablespoon of sugar.
3. ½ cup lemon juice.
4. ½ cup orange juice.
5. A teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
6. Two teaspoons of green tea.

Bukhara tea recipe

Dry tea should be mixed with sugar and cinnamon, and transferred to a teapot for brewing. Fill the mixture with boiling water to half the volume and let it brew for ten minutes. Then add more water, cover with a napkin and let it brew for another five minutes.

Squeeze out the liquid from the orange and mix it with the prepared juice. Pour the resulting mixture into bowls and add the brewed tea. You can also add a slice of lemon and orange to the aromatic drink.

Mashkhurda

Uzbek cuisine is replete with recipes delicious first dishes. One of them is Mashkhurda. This is a hearty homemade stew that cooks quickly enough, and the result exceeds all expectations.

For cooking, take the following products:

1. Beef - 0.7 kg.
2. Fat tail fat - 160 g.
3. Bones - 0.4 kg.
4. Vegetable oil infused with red pepper (hot) - 35 ml.
5. Mash (kind of legumes) - 370 g.
6. Rice - 360 g.
7. Two large bulbs.
8. Carrot - 3 pcs.
9. Tomatoes - 2-3 pcs.
10. Two tablespoons of barberry.
11. Spices (a mixture of coriander, zira and red pepper).
12. Parsley.
13. Basil (green and purple).
14. Salt.
15. Turmeric.
16. Bay leaf.

Recipe for mashkhurda

A lot of fat is used to cook the dish. And the reason for this is mung bean (a type of legume), which absorbs fat well. However, you can use ordinary vegetable oil.

We cut the beef into small pieces, carrots into strips, and onions into cubes. Remove the skin from the tomatoes and cut them into cubes. Rice and mung bean should be thoroughly washed before cooking.

On a mixture of fat and vegetable oil, lightly fry the bones, add the meat and cook it until beige. Next, put the onion in the cauldron and fry it until transparent. Gradually add tomatoes and spices. As soon as excess liquid leaves the tomatoes, you can put carrots in the cauldron, and after five minutes add mung bean. Pour about three liters of water into the dishes, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the gas and cook for another half hour. Cooking lasts until the mung bean bursts. Then salt the dish, put pepper, rice and bay leaf. Marshkhurd must languish in the cauldron for another half an hour. At the end of cooking, turn off the fire, cover the dishes with a lid and leave the dish to infuse until morning.

Mashkhurda is always served with something sour-milk. It's just an amazing combination of flavors. The next day, the dish becomes very thick, this should be taken into account when adding water during the cooking process.

Katlama

Katlama - Uzbek puff pastry. There are two varieties. Some are very greasy, because they are fried in a pan in oil. And the second is baked in the oven. The filling for the preparation of such cakes is very different: traditional melted fat, fried onions, herbs, meat, etc.

Ingredients:

1. Flour - 0.5 kg.
2. Yeast - 25 g.
3. Water - 240 ml.
4. One egg.
5. Salt.
6. A pinch of sugar.
7. Sesame.

Katlam recipe

Yeast must be dissolved in warm water, add sugar and allow the mass to rise. Next, pour warm water into the dishes, add flour, yeast, salt and knead the dough. It should come out obedient, if necessary, then it can be kneaded on the table, adding a little more flour. Ready dough divide into two equal parts, cover with a towel and let it stand for twenty minutes. Then again knead each part separately. Now roll out the dough into a thin layer and grease the surface with a mixture of melted fat and butter. To obtain puff cakes, the dough is cut into thin strips, 5-7 centimeters wide. We roll each of them into one roll one on top of the other. The dough should be slightly stretched while twisting. From two parts of the test, you will get two such blanks. They need to be covered with a towel and let stand for half an hour. During this time, the fat should be absorbed and the dough should rise. Next, we flatten one blank into a cake, but it is better not to use a rolling pin, it is better to knead the dough with your fingers and palms. It is necessary to form sides in the cake, and press the middle a little so that the dough does not bubble.

Now the finished cake needs to be greased with a beaten egg and sprinkled with sesame seeds. We transfer the blank to parchment and send it to the oven. Usually the cake is baked for twenty minutes. After cooking, the cake seems very hard and dense, so it needs to be covered with a towel. Such a little secret will help make pastries soft and crumbly.

Instead of an afterword

Uzbek cuisine has countless recipes for delicious and hearty dishes. They are incredibly popular far beyond the borders of the country, due to their taste. If you are a fan of such food, then on the basis of the above recipes, you will be able to independently master the basics of cooking real Uzbek dishes.

Spicy, rich, hot and hearty dishes of Uzbek cuisine are food that has been familiar to many since childhood. It is unlikely that many will name more than two or three dishes, and it will most likely be plov, 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 the taste is amazing.

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1 Lagman is an Uzbek soup with homemade noodles, a kind of Central Asian version of ramen with a very spicy and fatty lamb broth and lots of vegetables and meat. Depending on the recipe, there is a more liquid or thicker lagman.

2 Eggplant appetizer "Badamjan" is baked or fried eggplant with slices of bell pepper and radish, sprinkled with finely chopped herbs and drizzled with oil.

3 Chuchvara is a soup with small dumplings that is usually served with suzma (a fermented milk product like sour cream) and contains black pepper, onion, tomato paste And bell pepper.

4 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, which is why this dish is often the basis of a festive table.

5 Salad "Tashkent" - branded capital salad, made from boiled beef tongue, radishes and greens, dressed sour cream sauce and garnished with fried onions.

6 Manti is a steamed meat and dough dish. The filling is beef, lamb or veal, although there is a variant with pumpkin. The filling must be chopped into pieces, otherwise all the juice will flow out. Onions and spices are also placed inside. Optionally, a little fat tail fat is sometimes added for flavor. Manty is eaten with kaimak (not to be confused with cottage cheese, which is sold in stores), but it is not found in Russia, so it is better to eat with sour cream, remembering to sprinkle with fresh herbs.

7 Samsa - triangular pies made from homemade puff pastry stuffed with meat or pumpkin, onion, 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 in the oven. When the samsa is ready, it is smeared with egg yolk and sprinkled with black sesame seeds.

8 Salad "Achik-chuchuk", also known as "Achichuk", is fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic and herbs. This dish is perfect for vegetarians and fasting people.

9 Naryn is a national dish of Uzbek cuisine from homemade noodles And boiled meat, which is served with broth. Usually, naryn is made from lamb, horse meat or kazy (boiled horse meat sausage) and sometimes from veal or beef. The main secret of this dish - before you cook the meat, it must be covered with salt and dried for a day. This is done for transparency and saturation of the broth. Onions are added to meat and noodles. IN original recipe take an ordinary fresh onion, cut it, rub it with your hands and add it to the dish. You can also fry the onion, and brush the noodle dough with the remaining oil.

10 Shurpa - a rich and fatty soup made from lamb and vegetables. The most famous varieties are kaitnam, where the meat is put fresh, and kovurma, where the meat is first fried in oil.

11 Dimlama is an Uzbek version of a roast that uses beef, lamb, various vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, as well as fresh herbs and - of course - spices.

12 Kutab - fried flat pies from the thinnest dough stuffed with meat, herbs, tomatoes, cheese - individually or together.

13 Kabob (barbecue) - 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 fat tail fat, which is browned on fire and acquires the most delicate taste, and when served, all this splendor is sprinkled with fresh, finely chopped onions and herbs and sprinkled with table vinegar. As a sauce, spicy tomato or adjika is suitable.

14 Khalvaitar is the liquid embodiment of halvah. Flour is added to the overheated fat or butter, stirred, then sugar is added, and nuts and vanilla are added only at the end of cooking.

15 Tea with sweets is an Uzbek tradition. There are a lot of options for making tea in Uzbekistan alone, and this drink is certainly served with nuts, dried fruits and other natural and healthy treats. 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 get you off.

When it comes to Uzbek cuisine, everyone immediately remembers Uzbek pilaf. But Uzbek cuisine is famous not only for pilaf.

National cuisine of Uzbekistan has an ancient history and is closely connected with the Uzbek culture, language, traditions and geographic and climatic conditions. A significant impact on the diversity and originality of the recipes of Uzbek cuisine was the fact that, unlike the cuisine of the closest geographical neighbors (the nomadic peoples of the Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Kirghiz and Turkmens), Uzbeks historically were characterized by both a sedentary and nomadic way of life. At the same time, the adoption of culinary traditions, the assimilation of cultures (especially the Persian-Tajik) had a profound effect on the variety and richness of dishes. The origin of many of them has common roots with traditional Asian dishes such as plov, lagman, manti and others. However, Uzbekistan has its own peculiarities in the preparation of these dishes, as well as its own completely original dishes. Despite the fact that the main dishes and cooking technologies of Uzbek cuisine were formed more than a thousand years ago, Uzbek cuisine was enriched with new products, ingredients and culinary techniques of Russian, Ukrainian, Caucasian, Tatar, Uighur and European cuisine.

These are hearty and fragrant meat dishes, thick soups with an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs, exotic sweets and original pastries. Features of Uzbek cuisine, like many other national cuisines, are determined by the specifics of local agriculture. Grain farming is very well developed in Uzbekistan, so noodles and bread are of great importance in the local cuisine. Sheep breeding is also widespread in Uzbekistan, so the most popular type of meat is lamb, which is part of most of the main dishes of Uzbek cuisine. Horse meat and camel meat are used less frequently.

Recipe for Uzbek cuisine huge. More than 100 types of pilaf, 60 types of soups, 30 types of barbecue are known.

Pilaf- the most popular dish in Uzbekistan. It is prepared for every day, and for special holidays, both secular and religious. And each region of Uzbekistan has its own plov - Bukhara, Khorezm, Fergana, Samarkand, Tashkent. They differ in the way of preparation and additives to the main products.

Among soups, especially tasty and fragrant are lagman And shurpa- vermicelli and potato soup with lamb, fresh herbs and vegetables.

Steamed manti stuffed with meat, pumpkin, spring greens.

Variety in taste and appearance cakes- Uzbek bread, which is baked in a tandoor - a special clay oven. Samsa is also prepared in the tandoor - national pies with meat, onion and fat tail fat.

No meal is complete without sweets. They are put on the table before serving the main dish with green tea- the main drink in Uzbekistan. Among the sweets, they serve dried apricots, raisins, nuts, halva, parvarda, baklava, honey, and in spring there will definitely be sumalak on the table - delicious and healthy dish made from sprouted wheat.

The main meat dishes are characterized by the preparation of fried, high-calorie foods, the widespread use of cottonseed oil, lamb tail fat, butter, spices and herbs. Meat dishes are almost always prepared with onions, and its proportion to the meat is much larger than in European cuisine.

Many dishes have a complex recipe, are prepared by hand, which requires many years of skill and culinary art. A special professional skill is required when preparing a large pilaf for tens and hundreds of kilograms of rice. Manti, dumplings (chuchvara) are molded by hand, the popular spring dish sumalak is cooked over low heat for more than 10 hours. At the same time, the preparatory stage for wheat germination can take several days.

Currently, modern gas and electric stoves, kitchen utensils and appliances are widely used for cooking in Uzbek cuisine. However, traditional cooking methods are still popular. An obligatory element of kitchen utensils is a cauldron - a cast-iron cauldron of a spherical shape. Tandir - a clay oven can be found everywhere in Uzbekistan and it is an almost indispensable element, especially in rural cuisine.

Traditional type of dishes, on which pilaf and many other dishes are served - lagan, a large flat plate or dish. Forks are rarely used in a modern meal in Uzbek cuisine - if pilaf is not eaten with hands, then it is customary to eat it with a spoon. Other utensils used in Uzbek cuisine: scythe (deep bowl), piala (a cup usually for tea).

In the Uzbek national cuisine, there are noticeable differences between regions. In the north, pilaf, dough dishes are considered the main dishes. In the southern part of the country, preference is given to multi-component dishes of vegetables and rice. In the Ferghana Valley they cook darker and fried pilaf, in Tashkent it is lighter.

In Uzbek families, it is characteristic that cooking at the household level is considered a male occupation, and men often take on culinary duties in the family. Cooking a large pilaf in a cauldron for a hundred or more kilograms of rice is the prerogative of only men. To fully enjoy the Uzbek feast for a European is an impossible task. Not only that, Uzbek cuisine is fatty and satisfying. Here it is customary to eat slowly, long and tastefully. A long series of dishes strikes the unprepared imagination of those who are used to diets. Up to ten dishes per meal is the usual Uzbek hospitality.

They eat in Uzbekistan three times a day, but there is an abundance on the table different dishes and they are all high in calories. The main dishes are not for lunch, but for dinner. Firstly, because of the heat, and secondly, because many Uzbek dishes are cooked for a long time, sometimes even throughout the day. And in general, a good feast, in a big company, a real dastarkhan (Uzbek table), can be arranged in the evening, when the day's bustle is behind.

There are dishes that are not prepared every day, but only for weddings and festive tables, dear guests. These are such delicacy dishes in their own way as kazy-karta, postdumba uramasi (tail-tail shell roll), tandir-kabob (barbecue in tandoor), norin, khasip (homemade sausage).

If the choice of soups and hot dishes of Uzbek cuisine is quite wide, then the assortment of desserts is really very limited. A typical meal ends with fresh fruit or dried fruit compote, baklava, nuts or halva are also served at the table. Sweet pastries are less common than in other countries of the region.

Traditional Uzbek national drink, as in many other countries of Central Asia - green tea. Green tea for Uzbeks, it is a drink that has not only gastronomic, but also cultural significance. This drink always accompanies the meal, it is a symbol of hospitality. If the owner of the house offers tea to the guest, it means that he is happy with this guest. Green tea is considered traditional, but black tea is no less popular in Tashkent.

Alcohol in Uzbekistan is consumed much less than in European countries, but wine is popular compared to other Muslim countries. There are more than a dozen wineries in Uzbekistan that produce good wine from local grapes. Beer and strong spirits are also consumed. alcoholic drinks(vodka, brandy)

The main well-known dishes of the Uzbek national cuisine: Pilaf- this is undoubtedly the most popular and most famous dish of Uzbek cuisine, which is, roughly speaking, pieces of meat with rice, carrots and onions. Dozens of varieties of pilaf are known in Uzbekistan, which differ both in the way of preparation and in the situation - there are different types festive and ceremonial pilaf. Pilaf is not just a dish, it is a real cultural symbol of the country. According to tradition, if pilaf is prepared for guests, then the owner of the house must certainly cook it. In many families, this tradition is still observed today.

Shashlik- pieces of meat (lamb, beef, pork, liver, fish, vegetables) on metal skewers cooked on coals,

Shurpa(soup from a large piece of meat, potatoes and fresh vegetables),

Lagman(a noodle-based dish that can be served both as a soup and as a second course),

Mastava (vegetable soup with lamb and rice)

Domlama(meat stew with vegetables),

Manti(large steamed dumplings)

Chuchvara and samsa(stuffed pastry pies served both as an appetizer and as a main course),

Kainatma shurva(broth), mohora (soup with peas), ugra (noodles), chuchvara (dumplings), manchiza (soup with dumplings),

flat cakes: round-shaped bread cooked in a tandoor (clay oven),

Sweets(jam, nishalda, honey, parvarda, baklava, sumalak),

Uzbek national cuisine photo

Uzbek National dishes- these 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 fragrant pilaf, delicious barbecue, lush golden cakes with piping heat and amazing sweets. It is impossible to resist the abundance of local dishes! We can say with confidence that there are no less goodies in sunny Tashkent, Samarkand or Bukhara than there are stars in the sky! Culinary traditions inherent in Uzbek cuisine have evolved over many centuries. It was not without the influence of other peoples, who at one time conquered the lands of Central Asia. The nomadic way of life and the 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 it was formed under the influence of Asian traditions, still has features and specific features. It is characterized by the use of meat. Lamb, horse meat, beef, poultry - without this it is difficult to imagine a table in Uzbekistan. The food here is very satisfying and high-calorie. Cooking is also unthinkable without spices - coriander, saffron, hot pepper, agar-agar, cumin, rosemary, etc. Such an abundance of fragrant herbs and seasonings saturates the dishes with a unique, exquisite aroma. Spices immediately awaken a brutal appetite, therefore, smelling these goodies, there is a desire to try them. And there are so many delicacies here that your eyes run wide: appetizers, hot first courses, meat products, fragrant pastries, desserts. You definitely won't go hungry! There are hundreds of recipes and names of various dishes in Uzbek cuisine. Naturally, it is impossible to list everything, so it is worth highlighting the most popular of them.

Uzbek snacks

In the local cuisine, snacks are specific. Juicy homemade sausages and tail fat dishes can hardly be classified as light dishes. One of the most original snacks considered hasip. Fragrant, enchanting with pleasant smells of oriental spices, homemade boiled sausage made from lamb meat, liver and rice porridge- here it is heavenly pleasure 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 please not everyone, but after tasting 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 under the unpretentious name - kazy. This amazing meat delicacy can be eaten at least every day - it is unlikely that anyone will get tired of it. By the way, it is cooked, 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 pluses than minuses, and this is already good!
For lovers of salty, perhaps, there is nothing tastier than the Uzbek kurt. Truly, this is a universal dish: it will go with both beer and soup, and on a long journey it will help to quench thirst and hunger. On hot summer days, it retains water in the body longer. What is it? In general, kurt is known to Asians from ancient times. Its recipe was invented for the purpose of preserving fermented milk products, with which savvy wives supplied their husbands when they went along with trade caravans far beyond their native lands. Kurt is dried salted curd made into small balls. It is prepared from suzma (a product remaining in the manufacture of cottage cheese) and salt. To improve the taste, various seasonings are added to it, mainly basil and red pepper. Kurt is a magical snack. It is easily digestible, it is equivalent to meat dishes in terms of calories, 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 satisfying, high-calorie, and have a thick texture. They are prepared on the basis of meat or fish broth with the addition of meat, cereals, beans, peas, different varieties pumpkins and a huge amount of herbs and spices.
Depending on the method of cooking meat, two types of soups are distinguished. The first one is roasted, for it they use pre-fried lamb. Vegetables and other ingredients are usually cut into small pieces. For a richer taste, bell peppers, tomatoes and a lot of seasonings are added. 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 mastoba. According to the composition of the main ingredients and cooking technology, it resembles pilaf, so in everyday life it is often called "liquid pilaf". Essentially, mastava is a dressing soup made from rice and fresh lamb with 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, additionally decorated with greens.
Uzbeks consider katykli khurda to be an easily digestible and satisfying meal - this is a soup cooked on meat or vegetable broth. The main components here are rice and wheat groats, in some regions of the country it is customary to add beans and mung beans (mung beans). Katykli khurda belongs to the category of dietary dishes. Unlike other soups, a little sour milk is necessarily added here, which gives it a light, delicate taste and pleasant aroma.
One of the options for katykli is chalop - a cold sour-milk soup popular with many Turkic peoples. In Uzbek cuisine, it is a mixture of katyk (sour milk), finely chopped greens and vegetables. It is prepared mainly on hot summer days.
Karakum also belongs to sour-milk soups. The set of ingredients in this dish is really minimal. It is prepared on the basis of katyk and finely chopped onion. Season everything with red pepper and add a little boiled water. Karakum is served in bowls along with small flatbreads.
Shurpa is very popular in the East - a filling soup made from pre-fried meat and vegetables. 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), apples, plums, dried apricots and dried fruits are used in unlimited quantities, which gives the soup a sweetish aftertaste and a fresh fruity aroma.
In the cuisine of Uzbekistan, there are several varieties of traditional soup. Roasted lamb shurpa, or kaurma-shurpa, is widely known. It is prepared from the costal part of the carcass of a ram. 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. No less famous is corn shurpa.
Among the first courses, it is worth highlighting pieva - onion soup with lamb and tomatoes. Yerma is also considered a popular and satisfying dish - a broth made from crushed wheat, meat and tomatoes. Due to the addition of red capsicum, it turns out to be quite spicy, so it is often washed down with sour milk.
Shurpa-chaban, a soup based on lamb ribs broth with chopped onions, tomatoes and potatoes, is also a common dish. It is served in an unusual way: the rest of the fresh onion, ground together with black pepper, is put on the bottom of the plate, and then the soup is poured. Onion with spices perfectly sets off the taste of lamb and vegetables and gives the dish a richer flavor.
Among the first courses made from beef, kiima-shurpa is popular - a dressing soup made from bone broth with meatballs, sauteed onions, finely chopped carrots and potatoes. During serving, separately boiled rice is added to it, spoiled milk or a little sour cream, sprinkle with chopped herbs.
Uzbek cuisine is also known for hearty and unusually fatty dishes. These include suyuk-osh - a common beef soup with onions, carrots and potatoes. It is also customary to add a little noodles to it. When serving, suyuk-osh is necessarily seasoned 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 second course. Soup is prepared from finely chopped lamb and lard. Separately, the noodles are boiled in salted water. Mix it with pre-fried meat, pour everything with broth and decorate with herbs.

Uzbek pilaf

Pilaf, which appeared a long time ago, is considered the pearl of the local cuisine. For the first time, the technology of its preparation was 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 can do without it! Uzbekistan is 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 in its preparation. The first is the proportions of meat and cereals, which determine the taste. In each region, this combination is different, which is reflected in the taste characteristics. When preparing pilaf, much attention is also paid to grain, so cereals are also prepared according to a special technology - it must be hard and crumbly. To achieve this effect, it is not boiled, but stewed over low heat.
In the East, there are two key options for cooking pilaf - Iranian and Central Asian. In the first, rice and the filling for it are prepared separately and these components are combined only at the time of serving - this is how 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 basic ingredients and the ratio between the amount of meat and cereals. Here you can find a variant 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, togram palov is very popular. It is prepared in two stages: 1/4 of the meat, carrots and onions is stewed with rice, the rest of the filling is cooked in another cauldron. They are joined together at the time of filing. Separately, marinated wild onions are served with it.
The tontarma pilaf is no less famous, it differs from the traditional one only in that the rice is still fried in melted butter before cooking until a red crust forms. Then the grain part is placed in cast-iron boilers and cooked according to regular prescription, mixing it with passivated 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. Rice is boiled in another pot. When serving on a plate, first lay out the grits, pour hot oil on top of it, and only then put the appetizing filling.
In Uzbek cuisine, there is also a vegetarian option - this is Bukhara pilaf without meat. For its preparation, only rice, a set of vegetables and fruits, a lot of greens, herbs and spices are used. Groats are mixed with pre-passivated in vegetable oil carrots and onions. Then add some washed raisins, as well as chopped root and parsley. A rich combination of spices, herbs and dried fruits gives the dish an unusual 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 for it all the components are cut very finely. The dish looks extremely exotic and rather unusual, and its taste will be remembered for a long time.
Shavlya is one of the traditional dishes of Uzbekistan. In the people it is called only as "improperly cooked pilaf." In fact, 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 meat, on the contrary, lay less. There are also tomatoes. All this affects the consistency and taste characteristics, making the dish unlike traditional pilaf.

Main dishes

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, both for the first and for the second, 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.
Bright, juicy and fragrant dish is basma. It consists of meat and vegetables stewed in own juice. For cooking, a large cast-iron cauldron is used here, on the bottom of which a little tail fat is placed. Then coarsely chopped lamb and a whole mountain of vegetables are laid out in layers - onions, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, eggplants and cabbage. Everything must be crushed with salt, spices, herbs and add lots of fresh herbs. The ingredients are poured with water and stewed over low heat until fully cooked.
Popular among the Turkic peoples is smoke, which is common in the agricultural regions of Central Asia. It is an assortment of stewed vegetables(cabbage, bell pepper, onion, eggplant, carrots and potatoes) with the addition of lamb and tail fat. It is cooked in large cauldrons. All components are laid out in order, poured with water and stewed over low heat. After cooking, the food is thoroughly mixed and served on large plates.
For the national cuisines of all countries and peoples that have ever experienced Turkic influence, dolma is also characteristic, in the Uzbek version it is called tokosh. To some extent, this is an "eastern" relative of Russian cabbage rolls. Dolma is minced meat wrapped in young grape leaves. Usually lamb and rice are used for it. For a richer taste, often add lemon juice, nuts, olive oil and bow. Dolma in Uzbekistan is made from beef and round rice. Greens are necessarily added 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 main dishes include kovurdak - the usual roast 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 range, kovurdak is seasoned with many spices and spices that go well with the main ingredients.
An analogue of kovurdak is bekhili zharkop, or roast with quince. It is quite simple, for cooking they take young lamb meat, onions and a little quince. The crushed ingredients are simmered over low heat. Serve it with finely chopped greens or a few sprigs of cilantro.
Uzbek, like any other Asian cuisine, is hard to imagine without barbecue (kabob). before the gentle fragrant meat, fried on coals, no gourmet can resist. In Uzbekistan, there are many options for its preparation. Here you can find kabob made from fresh lamb, beef, chicken meat and even the liver (zhigar kabob).
IN classic version food is cooked on the coals of saxaul - the so-called "desert tree". The meat is pre-marinated. For the marinade, they take 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 meat, fat tail fat is added to it. The dish is served with fragrant hot cakes and pickled onions. And after a hearty lunch, guests are offered a cup of strong green tea.
Among the meat dishes, one can also distinguish thum-dulma, or zrazy in Uzbek - a very fatty, but at the same time quite satisfying meal. It is prepared from ground beef, outwardly it resembles simple meat cakes, inside of which hard-boiled eggs are wrapped. Thum-dulma is breaded in breadcrumbs and deep fried. It is served at the table along with a side dish of fried potatoes and fresh tomatoes. Separately, it relies on zrazy spicy sauce from red peppers and tomatoes.

Dough products

In Central Asian cuisine, dishes are often prepared from boiled unleavened dough. One of these is chuchvara, or varak chuchvara - the Uzbek version of traditional dumplings. They are made from minced beef. The dough for them is cut into small squares, in the center of which a little meat mixture is placed, then rolled up in the form of an envelope. Chuchvara is always served with tomato broth. As a seasoning, use table vinegar or a hot sauce of paprika, red capsicum and tomatoes. When serving, it is poured over with sour milk and sprinkled with finely chopped herbs.
The national culinary pride of the Uzbeks is manti - 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 of steam kaskans lined up in several tiers. For them use chopped meat, predominantly lamb. To make it more juicy, a little poultry meat and tail fat are added to it. There is also a vegetarian version of the filling - from potatoes or pumpkin. The dough for the dish should be fresh, not yeasty and very thin (1-2 mm thick). Ready cakes have an oval or square shape. They are served at the table with meat broth. As an additional seasoning, sour milk and herbs are used.
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 soup, but as soon as the cooking technology is slightly changed, it immediately turns into noodles with fragrant gravy on meat infusion and a complex filling. This dish is in great demand among the Uighurs, Chinese and Uzbeks. For its preparation, a huge assortment of vegetables is used (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, onions, carrots, beans and radishes), lamb and noodles made from unleavened dough. Many spices complement the dish, in particular garlic, bitter pepper, various spices and herbs. It is served hot, in deep bowls or kese.
Among flour products, samsa is extremely popular - ordinary pies with meat filling, having a triangular, oval or square shape. Lamb or beef is used as a filling, less often chicken, as well as vegetables - pumpkin, lentils, potatoes and peas. The dough for pies should be unleavened. They are baked in an oven or tandoor (special clay ovens), served with pickled onions and table vinegar.
Popular among Uzbeks are pies with liver or lamb offal, called gumma - they are deep-fried in cottonseed oil. There are dough dishes that are prepared exclusively for steaming, and khanum belongs to them - small cakes stuffed with minced meat and mashed potatoes and pumpkin. The main highlight of this dish is the thinnest 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 stuffing. It may seem to an inexperienced guest that khanum is the same as manti, but as they say, "the east is a delicate matter," therefore, although these dishes are similar, they should not be confused. It is 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 seems not so joyful. Uzbeks probably agree with this statement, because their cuisine has many unique recipes for cooking various goodies. Oriental delicacies popular in many countries. To a greater extent, this is due to the fact that they are made exclusively from natural products, without any dyes and preservatives.
If you believe the legends, then earlier the recipes for the best Uzbek sweets were kept in the strictest confidence: only the ruler and his entourage could enjoy various goodies. 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 many goodies are served with him. Fragrant sweet cakes, homemade sweets, golden caramel, nuts, dried fruits, snow-white nishalda and insanely delicious 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 is halva, or in the Uzbek version - khalvaytay. This is a traditional oriental treat, incredibly tasty, which will appeal to everyone without exception. There are about a hundred recipes for halva, but often it is prepared from wheat flour, sesame and walnuts. In some regions, it is customary to add almonds and pistachios. Prepared separately for her. sugar syrup, which is mixed with fried flour, nuts and other ingredients are added to it. The delicacy is very sweet and has an amazing taste.
For tea in Uzbekistan, it is customary to serve fragrant crystallized sugar, or navat. It is prepared on the basis of concentrated grape juice. For a richer taste, many spices are added. Navat is not only tasty, but also healthy. Sugar itself is used as lollipops for colds 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 in the form of white pillows, carefully sprinkled with flour, were brought to the table, then this is nothing more than parvarda - national Uzbek sweets. The process of their preparation is quite laborious. To make them tasty, the main thing is to cook caramel correctly, because this is the main component. Integral components are also fragrant herbs, which give the delicacy refined flavors and endow with healing properties.
Delicate, fragrant, crispy and simply melting in your mouth sweet cakes made from the finest flour threads are, of course, pashmak, served in Uzbekistan with hot tea. long storage delicacy is not subject, so it should be eaten fresh. This is the only way to feel the amazing taste and delicate structure of these cakes.
Among Uzbek sweets, it is worth highlighting nishalda separately - according to tradition, it is prepared in March, for the Navruz holiday. It tastes very tender, is a downed egg whites along with sugar and a decoction of licorice root. In appearance and consistency, it resembles thick sour cream. Brushwood (pieces of unleavened dough of small sizes carefully fried in oil, sprinkled with powdered sugar) and chak-chak (sweet cakes in the form of balls or square bars served with honey syrup) are very popular among Uzbeks.
The menu of Uzbek cuisine cannot be imagined without delicious peanuts wrapped in sweet sugar fudge, and gozinaki, which are made from sesame or sunflower seeds, held together by chalk water in the form of small bricks. In the skillful hands of local confectioners, fragrant cookies are born - kush-tili, elegant, light sweet zangza cheesecakes, delicious caramel and many other goodies. Stuffed same walnuts and almond quince (behi-dulma) - this is the ultimate dream!

In general, what else can be said?! Uzbek cuisine is rich and original in its own way. Perhaps these dishes are rustic and look homely, but the main thing is probably not a beautiful wrapper, but what is inside. As practice shows, in skillful hands, and if you also put your whole soul into your favorite business, then even the simplest dishes can be turned into real culinary masterpieces!