Horazmcha ishlama gu'mma (Khorezmian baked or fried meat pies)

Yesterday I tried this kind of "Gu'mma" at my friend's house and I just loved it! My friend is also from Khorezm region and knows so many dishes which are really new to me. I am always surprised, that there are so many recipes in Uzbek cuisine and some are prepared only in one particular region and unknown to the rest of the country. So, I am really excited to cook that new dishes, which my friend-Malika (we have same names:)) is telling me. I am so thankful to her for giving me such a wonderful recipes! As always I changed recipe a little, adding richer taste and enhancing the flavor by adding celery to the filling. I also add in 4 tbsp of chicken broth to the filling, just to make it juicier. I rolled out dough a little thicker, to put more filling inside, otherwise it is rolled out thinly and baked with a fewer filling.
"Ishlama gu'mma" is prepared with different meat, but fresh and fatty parts of lamb is preferred. I cooked it with chicken and believe me it turned out to taste fantastic! I think vegetarians can cook this dish using tofu or tofu meat instead of beef/lamb/chicken.
My friend Malika told me that, this dish is served as an appetizer or a snack and she always cook "Ishlama gu'mma" for a long ride to the mountains or for picnics.
Ingredients:
For dough:
450 ml of warm water
Half tbsp of salt
30 grams of butter
Plain flour as needed
4 tbsp of melted butter for greasing
2 chicken legs
2 medium sized onions, peeled
1 medium or 2 small capsicum, cleaned from seeds
2 medium tomatoes
Fresh chopped celery
Salt to taste
Half tbsp of crushed coriander
Pinch of pepper
Half a tsp of cumin seeds
A little oil for frying
Prepare the dough: Dissolve butter and salt in warm water. Start adding flour until you will form medium hard dough. Cover and let it stand for 15 min.
Prepare the filling: trim off all the meat from chicken legs, grind well. Cut all of the vegetables in small cubes. Mix all together adding spices and salt.


4 tbsp of chopped celery has to be added before forming "Gu'mma"s.
Put the filling in fridge and start rolling the dough in big flat circle. It doesn't have to be thin.

Now grease the surface evenly with melted butter and start rolling it around itself, forming a log.


"Ishlama gu'mma" can be made in different sizes. Usually it is made in big half circle shape or just as one big circle, I made 6 medium sized half circles and one big circle.
So, cut out the log in desired pieces and put them on their flat sides.

Sprinkle with flour and roll them out. Put 2 tbsp of filling (for medium sized half circles) and pinch out the edges.

"Ishlama gu'mma" can be cooked in two different ways: you can bake them in preheated oven or you can fry them on medium heat with 1 tsp of oil. Just heat up the pan, put 1 tsp of oil, place 2 "gu'mma"s (or one depending on size),cover the lid and fry until the bottom is nice golden in color, then turn them to other side and again fry until nice golden color. I myself enjoyed fried one than the baked one:) Try both ways and choose what you like.
In this picture you can see that, two at the bottom are baked and two in front are fried "Ishlama gu'mma"s:

This one is big circle, baked "Ishlama gu'mma":

Enjoy these yummy pies with your family and friends and let me know how it turned out, if you will try to cook them.
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Karamli pompoqcha somsa (Samusa with cabbage)

I love that "Karamli pompoqcha somsa" is very moist, a little bit crunchy inside, tasty and of course very nutritious. You can also add in hard boiled eggs to this stuffing if you like. Try to use new and crispy cabbage for this samusa. The dough is same like in recipe "Pompoqcha somsa".
Ingredients:
300 ml of milk
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of sugar
1.5 tbsp of dried yeast
30 gr of butter
Plain flour as needed
For the filling:
One small cabbage
1 medium sized carrot
2 onions
1 small beetroot (optional)
Salt to taste
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of coriander powder
Half a tsp of pepper
70 grams of butter or clarified butter
1 egg yolk
Sesame seeds for sprinkling
Warm up the milk and add in butter, stir until butter will dissolve in milk. Add in salt, sugar and yeast. Mix well, then gradually add in flour until you form a soft, but not too sticky dough. Cover and set aside to warm place for rising, approximately for 1.5 hour.
Prepare the filling: shred cabbage thinly, peel out carrot and cut in very thin strips or just grate. Peel onions and slice. Melt butter and fry onions until transparent, add in all spices. Put in carrots and beetroot, fry for 2-3 min, add in cabbage. Continue frying for 5 min more. Set the heat on low, cover the pan and cook until cabbage is almost done, but still a little crunchy. Take from heat and add in salt, mix and set aside.
Divide the dough to 20-25 equal pieces. You can make them bigger or smaller to your taste. Roll out each piece to round shape (they must not be thin, roll out approximately half centimeter thick), put 1-1,5 tbsp of filling and pinch the edges.

Brush "Pompoqcha somsa"s with an egg yolk, sprinkle some pepper or sesame seeds and bake until golden color. Can be served as hot and as cold. Goes well with yogurt-"Qatiq".
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Kartoshka somsa (Samusa with potatoes)

I usually made "Kartoshka somsa" as a complementary dish for soups. I'd like to make them bigger and round in shape. This time I used whole wheat flour to make my somsas healthier:)
Ingredients:
For dough:
300 grams of luke warm water
1,5 tsp of salt
Whole wheat flour as needed
150 grams of butter
For the filling:
3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut in small cubes
100 grams of lamb's tail fat, cut in small cubes
2 onions, peeled and sliced
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of ground coriander
Half a tsp of ground pepper
Salt to taste
1 egg for brushing
Some of your favorite seeds for sprinkling over
Make medium soft dough out of water, salt and flour. Wrap and set aside for 20 min. Roll up the dough very thinly and grease with melted butter. Let the butter harden a little. Roll up the dough in to long log and put in fridge for 1 hour. Take the dough out of the fridge and cut equal 3 inch pieces.

Roll each piece, putting them on their flat side,making edges slightly thiner than the center. Don't over roll the center (or it won't be puffy). Put 2 tbsp of filling and 4-5 cubes of tail fat, cover with another round pieces and pinch the edges well.



Brush all of the "somsa"s with an egg (beat egg with fork beforehand) and sprinkle some seeds over. Bake in preheated oven until nice and beautiful golden color. Enjoy with your favorite soup!
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Kadi gu'mma (Fried small pumpkin pies)

"Kadi gu'mma" mostly made in Khorezm region, but has the varieties in other regions too. In Tashkent we have "Qovoqli varaqi somsa" which is similar to "Kadi gu'mma". The dough for these pies can be made in two different ways- the simple one and the puff one. Simple one is same as in recipe "Horazmcha Gumma (fried small meat pies)", and the second, puffy one is made as in recipe "Qovurma varaqi somsa (Fried puff samusa)", but after greasing and rolling the dough into long log, instead of cutting along the stick, slice the log in equal 1 inch pieces. Put them on their flat side, sprinkle some flour and roll them out.
Ingredients:
The same dough as in recipe "Qovurma varaqi somsa (Fried puff samusa)"
300 grams of pumpkin, peeled and grated
1 big onion, peeled and sliced thinly
40 grams of butter
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of coriander
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste (optional)
For the filling, melt the butter and fry onions until transparent. Add salt, sugar and spices. Take from heat and add in grated pumpkin, mix well and set aside.
Prepare the dough and after rolling out all of the pieces, put 1 tbsp of filling and pinch the edges.

After you done with pinching, cut along the sides with a special knife, just to give the edges beautiful look.

Fry over medium heat until golden and turn. Repeat with the other side.

When "Kadi gu'mma" s are ready, put them on a paper towel for 10 min, just to get rid of that excess oil.
Serve 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!!!

Moshli somsa (Samusa with mungbeans)

"Moshli somsa" is perfect for vegetarians as it is very good source of protein. But it is not recommended for those who suffer from high blood pressure (maybe you can eat only 1 if you have it).
For this type of somsa, you have to prepare 3 days ahead, so that your mungbeans will soak well and will double in size. Don't forget to change the water everyday.

Ingredients:
1,3 cup mungbeans
3 onions, peeled and sliced
50 gr of butter
Salt to taste
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
0.5 tsp of ground pepper
5-6 tbsp of milk

For dough:
200 gr of water
1 tsp of salt
150 gr of butter or margarine
1 cup of whole wheat flour
Plain flour as needed
First prepare dough. Mix water, salt and add in 1 cup of wheat flour, mix with a spoon. Start adding plain flour until you form medium hard dough. Cover and let it rest for 20 min. Then roll it up as thinly as you can and grease all of the surface with melted butter or margarine, let it stand for 10 min and start rolling it around itself forming a log. Now cover the dough and put in to the fridge for 1 hour. Prepare filling while dough is chilling in the fridge.
Take 1,3 cup of mungbeans and wash well. Layer evenly in dish and pour enough water to cover them.

Leave for the next day. Next day, drain well and pour fresh water to cover mungbeans. Repeat the next day. On the third day, mungbeans are ready to use.

Drain and wash mungbeans well, clean from hard seeds and set aside.
Melt butter in a pan and fry sliced onions until golden and transparent, add in spices and salt at the end.
Grind mungbeans and fried onions together, add in 5-6 tbsp of milk while grinding, as texture will be thick.

Now take the dough and cut the log in equal pieces, turn on to the flat side and roll each piece one by one. Put 1 tbsp of filling and pinch the edges well.

Brush all "somsa"s with egg yolk, sprinkle some seeds or pepper and bake in preheated oven until nice golden color. Serve as hot and enjoy!

Belishi

"Belishi" is another type of fried samusa, which is originated from tatar cuisine. I must say that I tried many different recipes, but I never liked the result much. Recently I finally found the recipe of an ideal "Belishi"s. They turned out to be so soft and fluffy, soooo tasty! I decided to share the recipe with you. In original recipe the filling with meat is uncooked, and it says you must put a little meat in each "Belsihi". But I like "meaty belishi"s, so I decided to fry the meat filling beforehand, as in this way I can put more filling in "Belishi" without any fear of uncooked meat:) And one another secret: fry them over medium heat, if they will get brown very fast, then slightly reduce the heat and continue frying.
Ingredients:
1.5 cup of warm milk
1 sachet of dried yeast (30 gr)
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt
50 gr of butter
3-3/1 cup of plain flour
300 gr of minced meat (preferably lamb)
2 onions, small, peeled and chopped well
1 tbsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of cumin
half a tsp of fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste
50 gr of oil
Another oil for frying "Belishi"s
Heat up 50 gr of vegetable oil and fry minced meat and spices, after 4-5 min add in onions and salt. Fry until onion is transparent, then set aside.
First of all mix yeast, sugar and warm milk. Cover and let it stand for 10 min. It must bubble well.
In another dish, mix well flour, salt and butter, gradually add in milk mixture. Form a soft dough, but not too soft. It must be a little sticky. At the end work with slightly oiled hands and knead it well. If it is too sticky, then add up a little more flour.
Cover and put in warm place for about 1.5-2 hours.
After dough is ready, oil your working surface and divide the dough in 20-25 pieces.
Flatten up with hands, put in 1-1.5 tbsp of filling and gather the dough around the meat pinching it well.








I prepared 7 at ones, and while frying them, prepared the other 7 and so on.
Fry them until light brown in one side, then turn and fry another side. Be sure to fry an open side first.

Cooking oil must cover at least half of "Belishi"s.

In frying process, put ready "Belishi"s in a bowl and cover them. At the end, serve with fresh sour cream, as you will put some in the middle of "Belishi" and just enjoy it! You will love it!
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Nu'hot somsa (Samsa with chickpeas)

"Nu'hot somsa" is not so popular recipe, but I like that it is nutritious and tastes different. Usually you can't find it everywhere, where you can find another types of samsas. I myself never seen it in any restaurant or cafes or maybe I don't know where to find them. Anyway, it is very easy to bake it at home in the oven. I used regular dried chickpeas, soaked for 8 hours, but you can also use canned ones. Sometimes you can also add boiled egg in the filling, that will also will taste great! Experiment with the fillings and you will get more different recipes:)
Ingredients:
The dough is the same as in recipe of "Tugrama tovuq somsa"
For filling:
250 gr of dry chickpeas
3 medium sized onions, peeled and chopped
70 gr of butter
Salt to taste
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 egg, slightly beaten
Some of your favorite seeds
Soak chickpeas for 8 hours (beforehand). Drain the water and wash them well. Put in a cold water and bring to boil, make sure you take enough water. Simmer for about 1 hour or until chickpeas are very soft. Add salt at the end. Now chop cooked chickpeas in a blender until smooth, add some water (where chickpeas were boiled)to help the process.
Melt butter in a pan and fry onions util they are soft . Mix with chickpea puree and add in spices. Mix well. Check for saltiness.
Now roll out every piece of the dough and put one tbsp of filling in it.

Pinch the edges as you want and then brush them with slightly beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or any other seeds and bake in preheated oven until nice golden color.
It is preferable to eat it as hot, but if you like you can eat it as cold also:)
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Tugrama tovuq somsa ("Samusa with chicken)

Usually this type of "somsa" is cooked in special clay ovens- "tandir", and the recipe of the dough is slightly different, but I cook it in ordinary oven and believe me, there is a little difference, unless the smell. In "tandur" it has it's own special smell. Use even small bones of the chicken for the filling. Choose ripe and red tomatoes, (I couldn't find that ones and used hard ones) as they will give juice to the "somsa".
Ingredients:
For dough
200 ml of water
30 gr of butter
1.5 tsp of salt
Plain flour as needed
Melted butter for greasing (approx. 120gr)
For filling
300 gr of chicken (I used 3 thighs)
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of cumin seeds
Make the dough mixing water, melted 30 gr of butter and salt and gradually adding flour to form a medium hard dough. Cover it and let it stand for 20 min. Then roll it up as thinly as you can and grease all of the surface with melted butter, let it stand for 10 min and start rolling it around itself forming a log. Now cover the dough and put in to the fridge for 1 hour.
Prepare the filling while your dough is resting in the fridge. Cut up chicken thighs in medium-small chunks.

Chop onions and tomatoes.

Mix all together with salt and spices. Mix well and set aside.
Now take the dough and cut the log in equal pieces and roll each piece one by one. Try to make your "somsa"s bigger, as for some of them you will also put the bones.
I myself don't like the bones in "somsa"s, but my husband does, so I make 2-3 pieces for him:)
Now put filling to each rolled piece and pinch the edges forming triangles. Slightly grease with beaten egg and sprinkle some seeds over them. Bake in preheated oven until nice golden color.
Enjoy and let me know if you liked it:)
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Qovurma varaqi somsa (Fried puff samusa)

"Qovurilgan varaqi somsa" is another variety of Uzbek "samsa"s. It is time taking, but delicious dish. Good as an appetizer, finger food or as a lunch with some kind of salad. I love eating it dipping in sour cream:) or yogurt. You will get about 26 "somsa"s from this recipe.
Ingredients:
for filling:
30 gr vegetable oil or butter
200 gr minced meat, preferably lamb
100 gr peeled and sliced onions
1 tbsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of cumin seeds
Salt to taste
For the dough:
150 ml of luke warm water
1 tbsp of salt
Plain flour as needed
50 gr butter melted for greasing
Oil for frying about 500 ml
First prepare the dough. Mix water and salt and gradually add in flour. Mix until you will form a medium hard dough. Cover it and let it rest for 20 min.
Prepare filling while your dough is resting. fry minced meat over medium heat for about 10 min. Add in 20 ml of water, set the heat on low and cover the lid. Cook until meat is well cooked, then add in onions, salt ans spices and fry over medium heat until onions are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Now roll out your dough and grease with a melted butter.

Wait until butter is slightly hardens and then roll the dough around your rolling stick (I use cricket stick for rolling:))Now cut along the stick and remove the stick.

Cut again to 2.5 inch pieces and then cut along the pieces.


Slightly roll out each square, put 1 tbsp of filling to each and pinch the edges, then cut the edges with a special knife.


Repeat with other pieces and put them on the cotton towel.

Now you can start frying them. Heat the oil well. Check it putting small bread cube in it, if it turns brown within a 15 sec, then your oil is heated enough. Start frying "Somsa" s until they are nice golden color. Serve immediately while hot and enjoy dipping it in to the sour cream or yogurt or just itself:)
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Parmuda somsa

"Parmuda somsa" is one variety of Uzbek somsas. It is comfortable to eat, as it is small and handful:) You will enjoy the process also, involve your children if you have them:) That would be good mother or father activity with the kids.
Ingredients:
260 ml of water
1 egg
1.5 tsp of salt
Plain flour as needed
100 gr of butter for greasing
450 gr meat minced (preferably lamb)
250 gr chopped onion
Salt to taste
1 tbsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of ground pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
Some black sesame seeds for sprinkling
Make medium hard dough mixing water, egg, salt and flour. Cover and let it rest for 15 min. Then roll it out, and grease the surface evenly with melted butter. You can roll the dough not very thinly, approximately half cm. After greasing butter, roll around itself forming a log. Put this log in to the fridge for 30 min. While it is in fridge prepare the filling.
Mix well together, meat, onion, salt and spices.
Now take out the dough, and slice the log in equal 1 inch pieces. Put them on their flat side, sprinkle some flour over it. Now roll each circle and put some filling in it. Make sure you roll the edges slightly thicker than the middle as while pinching it gets thick.

Now pinch the edges in the middle forming round "somsa"s.

Slightly brush some water on edges and stick 4 "somsa"s together. Brush them with slightly beaten egg and sprinkle some seeds.

Bake in preheated oven over high heat until nice golden color.
Enjoy your delicious "Parmuda somsa" s with your family, with some cup of hot tea:)



Yoqimli ishtaha!!!