Lochira (Tashkent flat bread)

"Lochira" is crunchy, flat and delicious bread, which goes very good with Uzbek soups. Usually it is baked in special "Tandir" as many other Uzbek breads, and while baking in hot "Tandir" it naturally has it's curves on sides. But as I don't have any access to "Tandir" I baked it in regular oven in tart shaped dish. In so called "Choyhona"s (tea house) people eat it with different sweets like "Holva", "Qand", "Novvot" or dried fruits and of course with a hot green or black tea:) I remember how my dad used to take me to that kind of tea houses, while he was meeting with his friends, I enjoyed sweet "Novvot choy" (tea with crystallized sugar)with "Lochira" prior to delicious meal so called "Qora osh" (Black pilav). I also remember how I admired birds in cages and tried to feed them with bread crumbs:) That was nice tea house with a small river where I caught little tadpoles. That was one of the nice childhood memoirs:)
Ingredients:
600 ml of full fat milk
50 gr butter
1.5 tbsp of salt
Plain flour as needed
1 egg
Black sesame seeds for sprinkling
Melt butter in warm milk, add in salt and mix well. Gradually add in flour to form nice tight dough. Cover it and let it rest for 20 min. After divide the dough in to 6 equal pieces.

Take one piece and cover the rest. Roll out the dough and place in to the tart dish, punch it with special "chakich" or a fork, brush with slightly beaten egg and sprinkle with seeds.

Bake in preheated oven until nice golden color. Take out and bake the rest pieces and enjoy this bread with a nice hot soup:)
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Yongoqli chim chi (Korean carrot salad with walnuts)

This recipe is almost the same with the earlier recipe of "Koreyscha sabzili salat", but here we will add some walnuts.
Ingredients:
4 red carrots, peeled
4-5 cloves of garlic
Salt as taste
3 tbsp of vegetable or olive oil
200 gr of crushed walnuts
Grate or cut carrots in thin long strips, mash the garlic cloves and add in to carrots, also add salt and oil. Mash again until carrots are half soft. Add in walnuts, mix and put in fridge for 2 hours. Later serve and enjoy orangy, healthy, yummy salad:)
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Kabob shashlik (Kebab)

In Uzbekistan, there are so many ways to cook "Kabob"s! "Shashlik" can be made of lamb, beef or chicken. It can be made of whole or ground meat. You can also add some vegetables to make your meat even juicier and flavorful. The main secret of delicious "Kabob-Shashlik" is lamb's tail fat and the marination. You have to marinade meat beforehand. There are different recipes of marination-yogurt with spices, sprinkling water with spices, vinegar with spices and etc. can be used for marination.  Choose your favorite. Today I am posting the recipe of marination the meat in sprinkling water. Try to buy fresh, soft and tender meat.
Ingredients:
1 kg of meat (lamb or beef)
2 big onions, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp of coriander
1 tbsp of cumin seeds
1tbsp of salt
1tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of ground pepper
500 ml of sparkling water
Cut meat in 15-20 gram pieces. Put in a deep bowl and season with spices and onion, finely mash with hands. Add in sparkling water, cover with flat dish, put some weight on it and put in cold dark place for at least 5 hours or in a fridge for overnight. (If the weather is too hot, put your meat in the fridge).

Cube lamb's tail fat just before cooking. Cut pieces must be the same size as meat pieces.
Drain all the liquid from meat. Skew the meat pieces to grill sticks, alternating with fat pieces.

Cook "Kabob-Shashlik" on a heated coal, rotating every minute until browned.

You will see how heavenly will it smell, just YUM!
Peel some onions, slice and mash them with 1 tsp of white vinegar, wash under cold water and serve along with "Kabob-shashlik". Enjoy without thinking about calories:)
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

"Kamalak" gazagi (Salad "Rainbow")

This salad is so colorful and beautiful, that every time you look and eat it you will surely enjoy it:)Besides it's very healthy and useful. Low calorie and helps to digest heavy food like meat and eggs. I call it "Kamalak" because it has so many colors.
Ingredients:
1 yellow capsicum
1 red capsicum
1 green capsicum
1 big tomato
1 medium cucumber
Salt to taste
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 tsp of Chinese salt
Wash and clean all the vegetables. Don't peel them. Cut all the vegetables in small cubes. Mix in a bowl with salt, oil and Chinese salt. Serve and enjoy:)
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Kartoshka pyuresi (Mashed potato)

I understand that it is simple and ordinary dish but anyway I decided to post the recipe, just to show how I make it:). Mashed potato puree is very popular in Uzbekistan and is preferred side dish for many people.
Ingredients:
4-5 potatoes, peeled and cut in medium pieces
Water for boiling
50 grams of butter
Salt to taste
1 egg
Canned green peas
Put potatoes into boiling water and cook until potatoes are very soft. Add in salt and cook for 5 min more. Drain the potatoes, saving a cup of water in this process.

Add in butter and enough water that was saved (add water gradually, to make the paste thick and smooth) into cooked potatoes and finely mash them. Well your mashed potato is ready at this stage, but if you want to serve it beautifully as I did, do the next thing: add 1 egg to mashed potatoes and mix well until no lumps. Grease the baking sheet. Preheat the oven. Put mashed potatoes in pastry bag with a special tip (that you use for decorating cakes) and squeez out some mashed mixture shaping a rose. Bake these "roses" until they are slightly golden in color. Put some green peas in to the middle and decorate with fresh green leaves. Enjoy your beautiful and yummy roses!
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Lagmonlik kifta (Meat rolls with dough)

To tell the truth I invented this dish by myself:) But I use classic "Lagmon" and "Kifta" for this recipe, so it is truly Uzbek dish. I like inventing some interesting and pretty meals:) It is fun and it's not boring. For me it seems boring to eat same dishes everyday, so I try to make some different things:) I hope you will like it.
Ingredients:
350 gr meat
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 small potato
30 gr of butter
Salt to taste
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of cumin seeds
For lagmon:
1 small egg
50 ml of water
1 tsp of salt
Plain flour as needed
Oil for greasing
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of baking soda
First you have to make dough, beat slightly egg and add sugar and water, gradually add in flour to make medium hard dough. Cover it and let it rest for 15 min.

I usually use sea salt as it is more healthier than regular salt. Mix in small bowl 1 tsp of salt ans 1 tsp of soda with 100 ml of water. After 15 min, rinse your hands in salty and soda water and punch the dough, repeat 2 more times and knead it for 2 min. Again cover the dough and let it rest for 15 min. Repeat this punching thing for 3 times more.
Now divide the dough in 6 equal pieces and form small logs from them, grease them with oil, cover with cotton towel and let it rest for 10 min.

After 10 min roll out each piece into the longer logs, and again cover with towel and leave for 10 min. You will see how it will be easier each time to rolling them.

This time try to make long and thiner logs and roll them in flat plate. Grease the plate with oil beforehand. Grease the logs also to prevent sticking to each other.

Now cover them and leave for 15 min. While they are resting make "Kifta"s.
Ground meat, onion, potato, melted butter, salt, spices all together in food processor. If you don't have food processor, them mix minced meat with grated potatoes and add melted butter, salt and spices.
Form slightly long logs from meat and roll them in a flour. You will get 12 logs.

Set them aside. Now take rested "Lagmon" noodles one by one and again try to roll thinner logs and after that, take meat logs one by one and roll noodles around them. Try to work quickly as the noodles will get thinner with each time.
After you finished, place them on greased steamer sheets and cook for 45-50 min. Boil the steamer water beforehand.

After your "Lagmonlik kifta" is ready, fry them on a little oil for giving them more pretty look, or if you don't want just skip frying. I do both:)
Serve them with some side dish and enjoy this pretty and tasty meal! I cooked mashed potato for the side dish today.
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Qovurma mohora (Fried soup with garbanzo beans)

Earlier I posted the recipe of "Mohora" which is prepared by boiling. Today I am posting new recipe of fried "Mohora" soup. It is rich in taste and also very tasty. My mum cooks this type of "mohora" when she is expecting guests, she always uses lamb's meat and of course the quantity was more:). She always uses our natural traditional oven which is heated with firewood for cooking this soup. The smoke of fire wood gives amazing taste to this soup and once you try it you will never forget it. Never none of the guests rejected eating my moms "mohora", bowls always returned so clean:) I miss moms "Mohora":(
Don't forget to soak garbanzo beans for 6 hours. Don't use canned beans as if you use them, your soup will not be clear.
Ingredients:
70 gr of vegetable oil
350 gr meat (beef or lamb) cut in medium sized cubes
2 onions, peeled and sliced thinly
2 medium sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 small capsicum, chopped
3 baby carrots, peeled and sliced
1 turnip, peeled and cut in big cubes
2 liters of cold drinking water
300 gr of soaked garbanzo beans
1 tbsp of ground coriander
Salt to taste
Some fresh chopped greens
Heat the oil and fry meat until brown, then add in onions, continue frying until onions are golden, add in tomatoes and capsicum fry until clear in color. Add in ground coriander in this stage. Now add in carrots and turnip fry for 5-6 min. Add in water and garbanzo beans together. Bring water to boil on a hight heat and then scoop out all the foam and reduce the heat. Let it simmer for 1.5 hours. Stir occasionally. Add in salt at the end and simmer for 5 min more, then take from the heat and serve in bowls sprinkling fresh chopped greens on top of it. Enjoy this tasty soup with your loved ones.
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!