Happy Navruz!!!

Hi everybody! Happy "Navruz" to everybody!!! I wish you strong health, happiness and luck!!! May all your dreams come true!!!
I am so sorry that I am inactive in these days:) I am busy with my other works, especially with my "Sumalak". This is the ancient and one of the truly national dish of Uzbek's that is cooked only for "Navruz"! It takes exactly one week for preparing it! 6 days for growing wheat and 1 day yes one whole day for cooking! It took us 16 hours to prepare this dish with my husband. But it's worth it, it is so yummy, better then any quality chocolate!!! And very useful too. So yesterday I was busy with cooking it and of course celebrating "Navruz" our national holiday! "Navruz" means new day, it is believed that it brings, new life, happiness and joy to our lives. It is very long history to tell why and how it was and it is celebrated, so I am giving you just a look for it:) I promise that I will write about it detailed:) later in my book:) Today I am posting only the picture of "Sumalak" and later the recipe and technique:) Today I will post the recipe of another "Shashlik,kabob". So here is my "Sumalak"

Usually "Sumalak" is eaten with fresh hot bread, but I also like it with strawberries:) I wish I could give you some of it, so you can try it:) Any way you can enjoy it if you try to cook it:)

Qiyma kabob (Kebabs with minced meat)

"Qiyma kabob" is good for children, as it is soft to bite. You don't have to marinade the meat for "Qiyma kabob" too long, after combining ingredients let it rest in fridge for 1 hour. Always buy new, fresh and juicy meat. If you don't have food processor at home, buy minced meat. But it would be better if you mince it at home together with all ingredients. I love different kind of "Kabob"s, they are very very tasty and you will really enjoy eating them. Besides, it's a nice family activity, where we all participated, my husband's cooking, me preparing ingredients and my daughter tasting it:)
Ingredients:
1 kg of meat (or minced meat, beef or lamb)
2 slices of bread soaked in 100 gr of milk
1 egg
Salt to taste
1 tbsp of coriander seeds
1tbsp of cumin seeds
150 gr of fat of lamb's tail
Grind meat all along with the rest of ingredients until smooth. Cover and put into the fridge for 1 hour. Then take it out and form medium sized logs and pinch kebab sticks through them. Cook over heated coals until browned and enjoy with sliced and mashed onions:) Don;t forget to put some vinegar on onions. Make sure to drink hot green tea before and after eating this heavenly tasty meat, as it contains lamb's tail fat. Tea will help to digest it.
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Piyozli patir non (Layered bread with onions)

Once you will try this heavenly tasty bread, you will be dependent on it:) Surely try it and you will never forget the taste! It not so difficult to make and it goes good with soups and stews. I love the smell of this bread while cooking it!
Ingredients:
500 ml of milk
50 gr of butter
1 egg
1 tbsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
Plain flour as needed
150 gr of butter for greasing (you can use more or less)
6 medium sized onions, peeled ans sliced
1 egg for brushing
Sesame seeds or any other your favorite seed for sprinkling
Heat up milk and add in butter, salt, sugar. Mix well and let it cool a bit. Slightly beat an egg and add in milk mixture. Gradually add in flour and make the dough. It must be not so hard but not so soft. Cover it and let it rest for 1 hour. Don't skip waiting! After one hour, take the dough, knead it well for 5-6 min. Divide in to 3 equal pieces. Roll out each the dough in thin flat circle.

Finely grease with butter, then layer onions evenly on the surface.

Roll out around itself, forming long log. Roll again around forming snail. Put on your baking sheet and press it well with hands, trying to flatten it. Punch it well with "chakich" or a fork and brush with beaten egg, then sprinkle with some sesame seeds or any other seed you like.

Bake in preheated oven until golden in color. Serve while hot with hot soup or stew or just with hot tea with honey and butter, yum!
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

Garmdori va suzmalik gazak (Dip with chili yogurt)

In Uzbekistan it's a salad, but you can also use it as dip. in Uzbekistan usually it is eaten with main dishes dipping bread in it. I usually cut some vegetables and love to dip them in this yummy salad. It is hot and refreshing. Use fresh yogurt and cottage cheese (tvorog).
Ingredients:
200 gr of plain yogurt
1 tbsp of chili powder
100 gr of cottage cheese
2 cloves of garlic
Half a tsp of salt (optional)
Mash garlic, grate the cottage cheese. Mix garlic, grated cheese, chili powder and yogurt. Mix vigorously. It must be smooth and without crumbs. Serve and enjoy!
Yoqimli ishtaha!!!

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!!!