The Uzbek cuisine
The Uzbek cuisine has 100 types of pilaf, 60 kinds of soup and 20 types of shashlik.
Och or Plov
The national dish of Uzbek is och, or plov in Russian, based on sautéed rice and mutton and beef. There are about 100 recipes depending on the region.
In Bukhara, the rice is not jumped, but boiled. In the valley of Ferghana, it is accompanied by leaves of vines stuffed with meat and onion. Elsewhere, it will be complemented with garlic, chickpeas or grapes. The dish is traditionally cooked on Friday, as well as for all great occasions: navrouz (New Year’s Day), end of Ramadan, wedding, birthday … In the tchaikhanas bazaars, one finds every lunch.
RICE PLOV WITH POICHICHE
To prepare plov of rice with poichiche it takes 1 kilogram of rice, 200 grams of poichiche, 300 grams of meat, 250 grams of fat (oil), 400 grams of carrot, 2 onions, salt and spices , Pepper) to your taste.
On the day before it is necessary to sort the poichiche and soak it in cold water for 10-12 hours. The rice is soaked in hot salted water for 2 hours. Peel and cut round the onion. Cut the carrot out of the straw, the meat into pieces. The oil is heated in the casserole and the pieces of meat are browned, then the onion is added and roasted until the color changes. Place the carrot and poichiche and add water to cover the contents of the casserole
Fully. One cooks for one hour, the poichiche must become soft. Then add salt and spices. We put the rice on the grill and we equal it, we add water to cover the rice. It is necessary to reinforce the fire to obtain the bubbling. After evaporation of the water, reduce the fire and lower the lid for 20-25 minutes.
Then the contents of the casserole are mixed and the meat cut into small pieces. It is served on a large plate, putting meat on top of the rice.
Chachlik
The chachlik, the word “six pieces”. These are skewers consisting of six pieces of meat. They are also found in beef, mutton, or chicken. The kebabs or – roast meat – are pieces of minced meat, molded by hand around the skewer. Chachliks and kebabs are eaten with onion in vinegar. The meat is slightly spiced or scented with coriander.
The bread-cake
An important part of the traditional table of Uzbekistan is the national bread-cake. The bread-cake is broken by the hands. From antiquity the bakers prepare the patties to the stove of clay, after which the bread succeeds good and crunchy.
The soups
The soups have an important place in the national kitchen of Uzbekistan. They are rich in vegetables: carrots, beets, onions and greens. The most popular soups are: Mastava, Moch-horda, Manpar and Shourva.
Shourva
To prepare chourva, the broth requires 600 grams of meat with bones, 500 grams of rave, 2 carrots, 2 potatoes, 2 tomatoes, 1 pod of pepper, salt to your taste. 2 hours after filtering and put the meat and all vegetables peeled and cut into pieces and dirty at the end of cooking.
The Uzbeks serve the broth in Uzbek bowls and put the vegetables with meat separately on a plate.
Laghmans
In the Uzbek cuisine there are also Uyghur and Kazakh specialties. The most common are the Laghmans (pasta that is eaten in soup)
the Manty
The Manty Steamed
of Raviolis
Of Raviolisen soup
the Bechbarmak
the Bechbarmak
(A specialty of the Kazakh nomads).
Tea
Tea, green or black, is the must-drink in Uzbekistan. It is served at all hours of the day. Serving tea is all a ceremonial. It is poured three times into a cup and poured each time into the teapot. These three repetitions symbolize loy (clay), moy (fat) and tchai (tea) or water. The first quenches the thirst, the second isolates the cold and the danger, the third extinguishes the fire. The cups are never filled. The cups full of thesignify it’s time to leave for the guest. The teapot or cups should be taken or given from the right hand.