Fatty, juicy, and very tasty — Uzbek cuisine is one of those that you must try in your lifetime. Here are five dishes that will help you understand it. Many of them can be cooked at home!
1. Plov
Of course, this list couldn’t start with any other dish! The peoples of Central Asia learned to cook plov (pilaf) before our era and still love it. In restaurants, plov is cooked only by men, while at home, it is usually made by women.
Each region has its own way of making it. But usually, the ingredients are lamb and lamb fat (you can substitute sunflower oil), onions, carrots (red and yellow), rice, sometimes raisins, chickpeas, and of course, cumin (zira).
Plov can be served with a quail egg, kazy (horsemeat sausage), and even dolma. Uzbeks also shared with me that serving plov at the table means it’s almost time for guests to head home — it’s the last dish on the menu. Whether this is true or not, we didn’t verify.
2. Lagman
I hope no one is offended if I call lagman the Uzbek ramen or wok (yes, they have two variations of lagman). The noodles in this dish are usually thick, and there is always meat and vegetables. This dish is eaten by Chinese, Tajikistanis, and Uighurs. There are many variations of the dish. If you decide to cook lagman at home, you can create your own recipe, and it will still be lagman.
3. Manty
The Uzbek version of dumplings. They are steamed and differ in that the meat is cut a bit thicker than in dumplings, plus, of course, there are onions and spices. You can also try manty with pumpkin — they have these too!
4. Samsa
A pastry with meat or greens, which always includes lamb fat. Samsa is often cooked in a tandoor — the dough sticks to its walls until it’s ready. The dough is puff pastry, so the pastry turns out crispy. It’s best eaten hot. You can find interesting samsa with greens outside the city — vendors stand right on the road. Be sure to stop by if you pass one — you won’t find such samsa in the city.
5. Sumalak
We will finish the list with a festive dish prepared for the main holiday — Navruz. You can’t buy sumalak even in Uzbekistan if you come outside of spring.
It’s hard to describe what it resembles — in consistency, it’s like jam or porridge, in taste — a strange condensed milk. One thing can be said for sure — it’s a dessert! The ingredients are sprouted wheat grains with added flour. The dish turns out sweet without adding sugar.
It needs to be cooked for many hours, constantly stirring. The whole family or even several families participate in its preparation; one person can’t handle it alone. This process brings everyone together, and during stirring, the person gets rid of bad thoughts. The finished dish is traditionally shared with all friends and neighbors.
And don’t forget to drink any dish with tea, as locals can’t imagine a day without it!
