Shirin somsa (Sweet samusa)

"Shirin somsa" is a special samsa which is usually made for Navruz celebrations or any other special occasions. It is high in calorie and very nutritious. I like it's naturally sweetness and that they can be made without any sugar. You can use different dried fruits, but usually black raisins, dried figs, 2-3 kinds of nuts are used for the filling. I also like to add dates, as it gives extra taste and helps to join all the ingredients with it's stickiness. As for as nuts, I usually use almonds and walnuts.
Ingredients:
For dough:
200 grams of butter or margarine
200 ml of sour cream
1 tsp of baking soda
Pinch of vanilla
Plain flour as needed
For filling:
100 grams of walnuts
100 grams of black raisins
100 grams of almonds
100 grams of dried figs
100 grams of dates
4 tbsp of honey or 50 grams of sugar (optional)
First of all, prepare dough and refrigerate for an hour. Chop chilled butter with 1 cup of flour until it will resemble bread crumbs. Add in sour cream, vanilla and baking powder and mix well. Start adding plain flour until you will form soft, but not sticky dough. Wrap and refrigerate.
Chop all of the dried fruits and nuts. Add in honey and mix well.

Take out dough from fridge and divide in two. Roll each piece and cut equally.

I like to make "Shirin somsa"s small, but you can make them bigger if you want.
Roll each piece and put 1.5-2 tsp of filling and pinch the edges.

Roll and shape all of your samsas and bake in preheated oven, until nice golden in color. Sprinkle powdered sugar while samsas are hot.
Serve with a nice hot cup of tea and enjoy!
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Yog'da qaynagan baliq (Fish "boiled" in oil)

In Uzbekistan fish dishes are more popular in regions which are situated in the basins of rivers Amu Darya, Syr Darya and also around many reservoirs. For example, only in Khorezm region more than 35 species of fish are known, where as you can guess a lot of different ways of coking fish. One of my favorite recipe is deep fried fish. I love the crunchy skin and the soft meat which is juicy and just yummy!
For this yummy dish, it's better to choose smaller fish, that can be fried whole. You will also need deep pan for frying. Fresh fish is preferable.
Ingredients:
1 fish for one person
Freshly ground pepper
10-15 tbsp of lemon juice
Salt to taste
Plain flour, just for coating fish
About 2 liters of oil for deep frying
Finely clean fish and wash all over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut along 3-4 times.

Put fish in deep bowl and pour lemon juice evenly over it. Cover and let it stand for 1 hour.
Finely heat the oil in deep pan. Put fish on cotton towel and finely rub to get rid of any liquid. Roll the fish over flour to cover all over evenly. Now carefully deep in to the oil and fry until fish is nicely cooked.
Serve with fresh vegetables and enjoy!
Yoqimli ishtaha!

Tugmacha somsa (Button samusa)

"Tugmacha somsa" can be made of any "somsa"s dough. If you like it to be soft, make it from dough as in recipe of "Gushtli somsa", if you like crunchy stuff, then make it as in recipe "Parmuda somsa". Filling also can be different, with meat, poultry, pumpkin and so on. But usually it is made of fresh lamb, especially oily parts of it.
Ingredients:
Choose any dough you like and use that recipe, but after rolling it in long log, slice out smaller/thiner pieces to make "somsa"a small as buttons.
300 grams of meat
4 medium sized onions
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of coriander
Salt to taste
egg yolk for brushing
sesame seeds for sprinkling
Chop meat along other ingredients. If you like your "somsa"s be more juicy and tasty use some lamb's tail fat. Just cut it in very small cubes and add in to the filling.
When you finished slicing out the dough in small parts, turn them on their flat side, slightly press with fingers to give them round look, put 1 tsp of filling and pinch the edges well. Usually "Tugmacha somsa" is round in shape.

You can see how small are "somsa"s in picture.
After you done pinching all of "somsa"s, brush them with egg yolk and sprinkle with your favorite seeds. Bake in preheated oven until "somsa"s are golden in color.
Serve and enjoy them! Children just love "Tugmacha somsa"s!
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!