Turkmen national cuisine has much in common with the cuisines of other Central Asian peoples, primarily Uzbek and Karakalpak, which is explained by the similarity of natural conditions and ethnic features. The main place in Turkmen cuisine is occupied by meat, dairy and flour dishes. Turkmens prefer lamb to all types of meat; they eat a lot of chicken and do not eat horse meat.

Of the meat dishes, the most common are meat soups: chorba, gaynatma, broth with flatbreads - dograma pilaf (palov), fried meat: govurma, govurdak, shish kebab. A fairly large place among the meat consumed is game: partridges, waterfowl, as well as the meat of hares, goitered gazelles, and fallow deer. It is used mainly for pilaf. The main methods of cooking Turkmen cuisine are boiling and frying, often followed by stewing.

Recipes of Turkmen cuisine. Dishes for the holidays. National New Year's recipes.

Soups:

• Okroshka “Ashkhabadskaya”
• Meat soup with beans
• Soup “Dogroma-chorba”
• Noodle soup with tomato sauce (Jazly Aş)
• Noodle soup with milk
• Unash (bean noodle soup)
• Shurpa-mash (mung bean soup)
• Dogroma-chorba (soup)
• Nokudly chorba (soup with peas and lamb)
• Umpach-zashi (flour soup)
• Kufta-shurpa (soup with meat sausages)
• Etli borek chorbasy (soup with dumplings)

Main dishes:

• Gaplama (fish with vegetables)
• Govurma (fried lamb)
• Govurlan et (lamb fried with tomatoes)
• Govurma with squirrel (lamb with a side dish of dough)
• Chekdirme (fried lamb with potatoes and tomatoes)
• Lula kebab stewed with onions
• Kokmach (langet)
• Shish kebab, steppe
• Yshtykma (stuffed game)
• Ogurjalinsky pilaf
• Balykly yanakhly-ash (fish pilaf)
• Stuffed liver
• Chekdirme (fried lamb with potatoes and tomatoes)
• Kaurma (fried meat)

Salads and appetizers:

• Nokhutly salad
• Salad "Gulistan"

Dough dishes and desserts:

• Ishleki (dough product)
• Balyk berek (Ogurjalin manti)
• Atli unash
• Etli borek (dumplings)
• Šilekli
• Gutap (onion pies)
• Gatlakli (puff pastry)
• Chapadas (dough dumplings)
• Kulche (shortbreads)
• Fitchi (meat pies)
• Pies with persimmon
• Pishme (cookies)

National drinks:

• Green tea "gok chai"
• Local wine varieties: “Dashgala”, “Yasman-Salyk”, “Kopetdag”
• Local mineral water "Berzengi"

In modern Turkmen cuisine, purely meat dishes are increasingly giving way to combined meat-cereals, meat-dough and meat-vegetable dishes, common among other peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, i.e. pilaf, manta, beshbarmak, etc. True, among the Turkmen these dishes have their own names, and often different ones. This leads to the fact that they often think that we are talking about completely different dishes. So, for example, pilaf in Turkmenistan is called ash, manty-berek, beshbarmak, among most Turkmens - gulak, among Tekins - belke, and among northern Yomuds - kurtuk. Already from this example it is clear that Turkmen cuisine combines dishes typical of both Uzbek-Tajik and Cossack-Kyrgyz cuisine. Only a minority of Turkmen second courses are distinguished by original technological techniques and combinations of products not used by neighboring peoples. Such dishes include meat-cereals and meat-dough ogurjvli-ash, yshtykma, etli unash, gatikli unash.

Onions are very popular in Turkmen cuisine. It is eaten raw, served for lunch and used as a seasoning. Black pepper (gara gurch) is common as a seasoning for dishes, and among the inhabitants of the oases - pomegranate (nar) and grape leaves.

Fish is widely used in Turkmen cuisine: sturgeon, beluga, herring. Pilaf is prepared with fish. The presence of national fish dishes among the Turkmens, created by the Caspian Yomu-Ds-Ogurjali people, sharply distinguishes Turkmen cuisine from other Central Asian cuisines. At the same time, it is important to emphasize not only that the product itself is unusual, rare in Central Asia, but also that its preparation technology is special. The Ogurjali Turkmen adapted fish to traditional Central Asian technology (for example, frying on a spit or roasting meat in cauldrons), as well as to traditional Asian plant products - sesame, rice, apricots, raisins, pomegranate juice, which from the point of view of Europeans, They don't go well with fish at all. The result is a bizarre mixture that, thanks to carefully thought out proportions of the main products and a skillful combination of spices and fats, gives new, pleasant and unexpected taste effects. The main condition for preparing Turkmen fish dishes is the presence of completely fresh, preferably freshly caught fish: only with such fish can the sweet and sour range of seasonings be organically combined; in this case, the question of the type of fish is more or less of secondary importance. The Ogurdzhali people themselves use mainly sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, as well as sea and river pike perch, catfish, mullet, carp and kutum.

In addition to meat and fish dishes, various types of porridges made from rice, millet, and mung bean occupy a large place in Turkmen cuisine.

Turkmen cuisine is characterized by a variety of flour products. Chorek, baked in bakeries and rural bakeries, is in great demand everywhere. Various flatbreads made from sour dough, pies (gutap) with various fillings, and meat pie - etli nan - are widespread. Dumplings - borek and noodles - unash, seasoned with sour milk, are prepared from unleavened dough.

At any time of the year, Turkmens drink large quantities of green tea - gok tea. In the West, black tea is common - gara tea, which is drunk mainly in autumn and winter. Each tea drinker is served a porcelain teapot with a bowl.

Turkmen cuisine has absorbed the features of all the peoples who inhabit or have inhabited this country.
There was even an opinion that Turkmen cuisine does not exist. There were significant differences between the culinary preferences of the numerous tribes that inhabited the country. Tribes of nomads were engaged in cattle breeding and lived in desert areas, farmers settled in oases and floodplains of large rivers, and residents of the Caspian coast preferred fishing. Therefore, different habitats influenced the heterogeneity and diversity of Turkmen cuisine as a whole. But, despite this, enthusiasts and culinary experts managed to unite and systematize one of the most original and, undoubtedly, delicious cuisines of the East.

The hallmark of the national cuisine of Turkmenistan, as in many Central Asian countries, is pilaf, or “ash” in Turkmen. There are dozens of ways to prepare it, but the main ingredients have always been rice and meat (usually lamb or poultry), to which vegetables, onions, peppers, dried fruits, and seasonings are added.

Meat dishes:

“govurma” - fried lamb;

"govurlan-et" - lamb with tomatoes";

"chekdirme" - fried lamb, with potatoes and tomatoes;

“kokmach” - dried meat;

“Garyn” - a kind of sausage;

“berek” - Turkmen manti;

“ishlekli” - round pies with meat and onions;

"heygenek" - omelette with meat;

"kebap" - various types of Turkmen shish kebab.

The cuisine of Turkmenistan is rich in first courses. Basically these are soups with meat broth:

“gara-chorba” - soup with tomatoes;

"Dograma" - pea soup;

“umpach-zashi” - flour soup;

“unash” - soup with noodles and beans;

“etli-borek-chorbasy” - soup with dumplings;

"Suitli-unash" - milk soup with noodles;

“nohudly-chorba” - pea soup with lamb;

"Mastava" - rice soup with vegetables.

This is what really distinguishes the national cuisine of Turkmenistan from other Central Asian cuisines - the presence of national fish dishes.
Residents of the Caspian coast fry fish on a spit, boiling oil, cook in special cauldrons, and add rice, apricots, raisins, sesame seeds, and pomegranate juice to their dishes. An amazing shish kebab is prepared from sturgeon - “balyk-shara”. Fish fried and stewed in pots - “balyk gavurdak” - will not leave anyone indifferent. They even add fish to pilaf instead of meat. There are very complex dishes with a large number of components - “balyk-berek”, “cheme”, “gaplama”, “balikly yakhama” and others. It is worth noting that only fresh fish is used for cooking. Particularly popular are dishes made from sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, catfish, mullet, pike perch, kutum, and carp.

Another characteristic feature is the widespread use of milk and fermented milk products. Camel milk, which has a sweet taste and is rich in vitamin C, is used to make yoghurt, ghee and butter. From the remaining whey, a refreshing drink called “ayran” is obtained. From sheep's milk they make curd mass - "teleme", cheese - "sakman", similar to unsalted feta cheese and cheese - "peynir". Cow's milk is also used. It is used to make curdled milk - "gatyk", special cottage cheese - "suzme", cheese - "gurt" and butter. In general, there are a great variety of Turkmen dairy products - garfish, karagurt, agaran, chal, sykman.

The national cuisine of Turkmenistan and sweet tooth lovers were not ignored.
Be sure to try the special Turkmen “halva” prepared from the root of the lily plant - “cheresh”; sweet cakes - “kulche”; fried donuts sprinkled with powdered sugar - “pishme”; Turkmen donuts - “chapadas”. The famous Turkmen melons, local fruits, and watermelons deserve special attention.

The favorite drink of Turkmens is tea. In the western regions and north of the country, black tea is preferred, and in the east, green tea (“gok tea”) is preferred. In winter, tea is most often brewed not with water, but with milk, adding butter and lamb fat. Also popular are Berzengi mineral water and various fruit juices. Very good local wines are Kopetdag, Yasman-Salyk and Dashgala. Strong drinks include Serdar vodka and President cognac.

One hundred years ago, in 1918, surplus appropriation was introduced in the Soviet Union. The fact itself can be treated differently, but in part this event shaped a completely special attitude towards cooking throughout the post-Soviet space. We tend to value food. Don't throw it away. Enjoy.

The heritage of imperial cuisine was not squandered, but was supplemented by original folk gastronomic techniques, tricks and sacraments. And there were countless of them. After all, there were many peoples in the multinational USSR, and they had countless secrets.

Fact in two lines

Turkmenistan - 4th in

world country bystocks

natural gas

So we, my friends, have reached one of the most mysterious countries of the former USSR. That is, once it was not mysterious at all, but over almost 30 years of independence it has become so. We are, of course, talking about Turkmenistan. This state, although formally a member of the “Central Asian nomadic family,” today lives its own closed and separate life. Turkmens do not get along well with their neighbors, they are very reluctant to let anyone into their country and do not really like to tell what is happening there. Even related Kazakhs and Uzbeks know very little about modern Turkmens. This is how dictatorship works.

But, in general, we are not very interested in the current political moment, we are talking about the kitchen here. And we still have information about Turkmen cuisine from Soviet and pre-Soviet times. It is similar to the usual Central Asian one, while having its own characteristic features. For example, in Turkmenistan they do not eat horse meat, considering the horse almost a sacred animal. This makes other Central Asian chefs smile condescendingly. But the Turkmens love fish and game birds, which is not very typical for the Turks.

But the dish we’ll talk about in this article is quite obvious for nomadic peoples. The combination of meat, onions and dough is generally found quite often, and the nomads simply lived on this combination throughout their history. Remember the famous Kyrgyz beshbarmak or Kazakh et - a lot of meat, and onions and dough to go with it. Dograma is a Turkmen version of beshbarmak, but there is one characteristic difference in it, which is why I decided to cook this dish.

Step by step recipe

As already mentioned, Turkmen cuisine does not use horse meat, and beef is not the most favorite product there. Lamb is what we need for the dogram. Several kilograms of fresh lamb. However, you can take less meat, but then you won’t turn out to be much of a nomad. The meat can be either pure pulp or a cut on the bone. Or better yet, both. In the steppe, you know, no one really bothered with detailed cutting. They cut it into pieces and left it to cook.

So we will begin to cook lamb, for which we will take a large saucepan or cauldron and pour tasty drinking water into it. Let's put it on fire. Everyone remembers the golden kitchen rule: if you want to get a tasty broth, add meat to cold water, and if you want to get tasty meat, add it to boiling water. And we need both tasty broth and tasty meat. Therefore, I added a piece with a bone to cold water, brought it to a boil, skimmed off the first foam and then added the pulp. Then I removed the foam again and left everything to simmer little by little for two hours. Usually this time is enough for the lamb to become tender.

Nothing should be salted until the very end of cooking. But there is an unusual feature: half an hour before the meat is ready, Turkmens add slices of tomatoes to the broth. It tastes better this way. This is clearly a later innovation, but they say that it is now used everywhere. A wonderful sourness appears, which greatly enhances the broth.

Read also

Dutar - traditional

two-string plucked

musicaltool

among the peoples of Central and South Asia.

Well, we have two hours until the meat is cooked. Let's leave the yurt, sit on the ground and look around at the endless expanses. Something like this. You can perform something to the sound of a mellifluous dutar, and then we’ll get back to business.

The main feature of the dograma is that no boiled dough is added to it - sochni or noodles. A ready-made Turkmen flatbread called “dograma-churek” is crumbled into dograma. This is a thin, dry cake, but I don’t suggest you bake it because it will be difficult. We can just air dry a regular Asian flatbread. Let's leave it on the table for an hour and it will dry out.

Next, we will peel and finely chop one or two onions and start crumbling our flatbread directly into the onion with our hands. In Turkmenistan, before the meal, the whole family gathers in a circle and collectively crushes a mountain of flatbread. The crushed bread is mixed with onions and left to dry a little and soak in the onion aroma. You can cover it from flies with gauze. This is the preparation.

Turkmen cuisine has not yet been the subject of study. The fact is that, firstly, Turkmen cuisine, both in technology and, to a large extent, in the range of products used, is close to the cuisines of other Central Asian peoples - Uzbeks and Tajiks, therefore for a long time it was believed that there is no Turkmen cuisine at all; secondly, residents of different regions of Turkmenistan have their own ethnographic characteristics, including in the field of nutrition, which made it difficult and still makes it difficult to determine the general characteristics of Turkmen national cuisine.

However, it still differs from Uzbek and Tajik cuisines in a number of features related primarily to the unique natural conditions of Turkmenistan, the unusual distribution of its population and the relative isolation of some Turkmens from others.

The vast desert spaces with rare oases in Turkmenistan led to the practice of cattle breeding and contributed to the fact that for most Turkmen meat and milk became the main food products. Only among some Turkmen, for example among the Murchaly people, who were engaged in agriculture, flour dishes predominated in the past.

Turkmens primarily value lamb meat. However, it is consumed more often by the Tekin Turkmen, and the Yomud Turkmen, Saryks and others use the meat of goitered gazelles (mountain goats), young non-working camels, and game birds (pheasants, partridges, quails). Beef was previously little known in Turkmenistan, and completely unknown among the Balkhan Yomuds.

Turkmen cuisine, more than the cuisines of other Central Asian peoples, is characterized by purely meat dishes, or rather, dishes made from only meat that has undergone heat treatment without the admixture of other products or side dishes.

In most cases, in Turkmenistan there are methods of preparing meat common to all of Central Asia - frying it in its own fat in small pieces, followed by preservation in a clay dish glazed from the inside (the Turkmens call this “govurma” - a dish similar to the Kazakh and Uzbek “kavurdak”), as well as frying the meat of young animals over coals (kebaps or balls). At the same time, the national Turkmen shish kebab (kebap) is “keyikjeren kebap”, i.e. shish kebab made from the meat of a young mountain goat. Finally, in Turkmenistan, as in Tajikistan, meat is often baked in a tandoor (tamdyr).

At the same time, the Turkmens have national methods of cooking and preserving meat that are not found among neighboring peoples and are determined by specific natural conditions: the presence of high air temperatures, dry hot winds and strong heating of the sand. One of these methods, common among the Yomuds, is to dry the meat in the wind under the scorching sun. Very large pieces of meat along with bones are strung on the tip of a high pole and left there for several days. Such dried meat is called “kakmach”. Another method - Tekinsky - is based on a combination of different environments. The stomach of a sheep or goat, prepared in advance (i.e., washed and rubbed with salt and red pepper), is filled with meat and lard cut into small pieces so tightly that there is no air left there. After this, the stomach is sewn up and buried in hot sand for a day, and in the evening it is pulled out and tied to a high pole. This change of conditions is repeated until the stomach dries out. Then the meat enclosed in it acquires a special pleasant taste, and it does not spoil for a long time. This meat is called garyn (stomach meat).

In modern Turkmen cuisine, purely meat dishes are increasingly giving way to combined meat-cereals, meat-dough and meat-vegetable dishes, common among other peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, i.e. pilaf, manta rays, beshbarmak, etc.

True, among the Turkmen these dishes have their own names, and often different ones. This leads to the fact that they often think that we are talking about completely different dishes. For example, pilaf is called ash in Turkmenistan, manti is called börek, beshbarmak is called gulak by most Turkmen, belke by Tekins, and kurtuk by northern Yomuds. Already from this example it is clear that Turkmen cuisine combines dishes typical of both Uzbek-Tajik and Kazakh-Kyrgyz cuisine.

Only a minority of Turkmen second courses are distinguished by original technological techniques and combinations of products not used by neighboring peoples. Such dishes include meat-cereals and meat-dough ogurjali-ash, yshtykma, etli unash, gatikli unash.

As for milk, the most commonly used is camel and sheep, from which various types of dairy products are mainly produced using lactic acid, rennet and alcoholic (yeast) fermentation, followed by straining, churning, squeezing and drying. The Turkmen have a varied dairy table; dairy products undergo complex biochemical and chemical-physical processing. These are, for example, the original Turkmen dairy products agaran, chal, karagurt, teleme, sykman, garfish.

The originality of dairy products of Turkmen cuisine is due not only to the originality of the original product - camel milk, but also to the unique climatic conditions of Turkmenistan - dry subtropics, which create special conditions for lactic acid and yeast fermentation.

Camel milk and products made from it, mainly chal, are more typical for the western and southwestern parts of Turkmenistan, while in the oases in the east and southeast sheep milk is more often consumed.

Unlike Uzbek and Tajik cuisines, Turkmen cuisine uses much fewer vegetables, which is again explained by climatic conditions and, in most cases, the semi-nomadic, rather than agricultural, way of life of the Turkmens in the past. Perhaps, radishes and tomatoes are used more often, pumpkin and carrots are used much less often and less often, and mung beans are even less often used. The lack of vegetables in the diet is partly compensated by greens - sorrel, Turkmen quinoa (gara selme), Turkestan spinach (ysmanak) and goat tubers (skorcenera). The most common fruit is apricot (apricot), used not only in meat and flour dishes, but also in fish dishes. Melons and watermelons are widely used among melons.

The set of spices used is somewhat different from the Uzbek and Tajik ones. Along with the indispensable onion and red pepper among the Yomud-Balkhans, Tekins and Saryks, with black pepper among the Yomud-Ogurjali, most Turkmens widely use mint, wild parsley, azhgon, Tekins - buzhgun (pistachio tree galls) for game dishes; Instead of turmeric, Turkmens use saffron (especially the Ogurjali people) and, finally, asafoetida or its substitute - garlic. Apparently, the Turkmen are the only people within the USSR who use asafoetida (chomuch) as a spice* and even make a special seasoning out of it - alazhu (among the Yomuds).

* Asafoetida is found in the wild in South-East Kazakhstan, but the author has no information about its use in Kazakh cuisine. However, Kazakhs in Xinjiang and Dungans and Uyghurs living in Kazakhstan have used asafoetida in the past. Due to the pungent odor of asafoetida, it is used in minimal doses: it is not put into dishes, but one or two lines are drawn along the bottom of the cauldron with a piece of asafoetida, and then rice, vegetables, meat, etc. are added. This is often enough for the entire dish to acquire a garlicky flavor. onion aroma. One trait is equal to two bulbs in terms of odor strength.

Turkmen cuisine also differs from the cuisines of other Central Asian peoples in the range of fats. Much more widely used in Turkmenistan than melted fat tail fat, which is widespread throughout Central Asia, is melted butter from camel milk (sary yag) and especially sesame oil, which Turkmens use not only in the preparation of meat dishes, but also flour, sweet, and fish dishes. .

The presence of national fish dishes among the Turkmens, created by the Caspian Yomud-Ogurdzhali people, sharply distinguishes Turkmen cuisine as a whole from other Central Asian cuisines. Even among the Karakalpaks living along the banks of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, fish dishes are found more or less sporadically. And among the Ogurdzhali people they occupy a central place in the kitchen. At the same time, it is important to emphasize not only that the product itself is unusual, rare in Central Asia, but also that its preparation technology is special.

The Ogurjali Turkmen adapted fish to traditional Central Asian technology (for example, frying on a spit or in hot oil, in cauldrons), as well as to traditional Asian plant products - sesame, rice, apricots, raisins, pomegranate juice, which from the point of view of Europeans, They don't go well with fish at all. The result is a bizarre mixture that, thanks to carefully thought out proportions of the main products and a skillful combination of spices and fats, gives new, pleasant and unexpected taste effects.

The main condition for preparing Turkmen fish dishes is the presence of completely fresh, preferably freshly caught fish: only with such fish can the sweet and sour range of seasonings be organically combined: in this case, the question of the type of fish is more or less of secondary importance. The Ogurdzhali people themselves use mainly sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, as well as sea and river pike perch, catfish, mullet, carp and kutum.

To prepare Turkmen fish dishes outside Turkmenistan, you can use, in addition to the listed types of fish, cod, hake, macrorus, notothenia, halibut, and all perch and carp fish. In this case, frozen sea fish or fillets do not require preliminary thawing. At the same time, the use of all herrings that have a specific odor incompatible with the sweetish-sour seasoning is absolutely excluded.

Red fish in Turkmen cuisine is especially often used for preparing kebabs (balyk shara), as well as kavurdak (balyk gavurdak). At the same time, the same technology as for meat is completely preserved. For balyk shara, pieces of fish, pre-salted and interspersed on a rod (spit) with onion slices, are fried over coals. For balyk gavurdak, as for ordinary kavurdak, small pieces of fish, freed from bones, are fried in their own fat (specially cut from the abdominal part) in a cauldron, sometimes with a small addition of heated sesame oil, and after placing in clay jugs, they are poured with melted fat tail fat.

The remaining fish dishes - haplama, cheme, balyk b'erek, balykly yanakhly ash - are much more complex combinations of products and processing techniques. Some of them resemble the preparation of pilaf and manti, i.e. products with meat, while others have no analogues among meat dishes, since the speed of cooking fish compared to meat dictates a special technology.

Ogurdzhali residents, as a rule, subject fish to mixed methods of preliminary and thermal processing. For example, fish is dried and then fried; treated with salt and acid, and then simmered or fried; or boiled, and then simmered and treated with acid. The main purpose of these operations is to adapt the fish to the sweetish-sour and sweetish-spicy range of accompanying products and spices.

Thus, fish dishes created by the Turkmens of the southwestern part of the republic stand out from the general Central Asian cuisine and are the original contribution of the Turkmen people to the world culinary art.

That is why, when reviewing the main national dishes of Turkmen cuisine, we will pay attention mainly to the most original dairy products made from camel milk and to the fish dishes of the Ogurdzhali Turkmen.

The overwhelming majority of Turkmen, especially those neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, i.e. in the eastern and central regions of Turkmenistan, are closer in their cuisine to the peoples of these republics.

The differences in traditional dishes and tastes of the Caspian Turkmens and Turkmens from the eastern regions of the republic are visible from the following example. When Tekin people eat beef, if they like it, they say: “What a delight, like lamb!” When the Ogurjali people eat lamb, they praise it in their own way: “What a delight - just like sturgeon!”

It is known that the Turkmen, like the rest of the peoples of Central Asia, drink a lot of tea, but the Tekins, Saryks, and Merens drink green tea, like their immediate neighbors, the Uzbeks, and the Yomuds of the Balkhans and Ogurdzhali drink black tea, like the Kazakhs. At the same time, they drink fresh camel milk with black tea, which is used to “brew” the tea, and then briefly put it on the coals. This use of milk instead of water for brewing tea is largely due to the fact that the water in the areas where the Yomuds live is too salty and hard.

As for sweets, the Turkmens have basically the same ones as the Uzbeks, but their assortment is essentially reduced to nabat and bekmes (doshabs) made from watermelon and, less often, grape juice. The only truly national Turkmen sweet is a special mass of the halva type, prepared from the roots of the lily plant cherry (chyrysh) - Eremurus grandiosa L. - from which the yomuds extract gum tragacanth and boil it from it in combination with plant juices (grape, watermelon, melon, etc. .) and spices into a jam-like mass.

FIRST MEAL

Turkmen cuisine knows two types of soups. One of them is shorba, similar in technology to Uzbek and Tajik shurpa (it is prepared by frying), but more monotonous and poorer in the composition of products. So, black shorba (gara shorba) includes only water, meat and onions; in other cases, tomatoes and pumpkin are also added. At the same time, the cuisine of the Caspian Turkmens includes fish shorba - unknown to other peoples of Central Asia and somewhat different in technology from classic shorbas.
Soups of the second type are prepared without frying. These are three varieties - Gaynatma, Chektyrme and Dograma, which do not differ in technology and vary very little in the composition of the products. They are characterized primarily by the fact that the meat is placed in boiling water, and not in cold water. These soups differ only in the amount of ingredients included and some details in the composition of the products and in the cutting of meat. These soups, especially Gaynatma, are national dishes among the Turkmens.

SHORBA TURKMEN

500-750 g lamb, 50 g ghee, 2-3 onions, 2-3 tomatoes, 300-400 g pumpkin, 2 patyra or kulcha, 0.5-1 teaspoon ground red pepper or 10-12 black peppercorns (crushed), 2 liters of boiling water.

Cut the meat into small cubes of 1 cm, tomatoes and pumpkin - about the same, onions - twice as small. Fry the meat in its own fat, and if it is not enough, then in melted butter, then add vegetables, onions, lightly salt, fry and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Then pour boiling water, add salt, pepper and cook over moderate heat until the meat is cooked.
Before serving, crumble stale patyrs or other flatbreads into plates, first pour broth over them, and then divide the thick part of the shorba among plates.

SHORBA OGURLZHALINSKAYA

For shorba: 500-750 g fish, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 parsley, 3 tbsp. tablespoons sesame oil, 3 bay leaves, 10-15 grains of black pepper, 0.5 teaspoon red pepper, 1 tbsp. spoon of parsley, 1-2 tbsp. spoons of fennel or azhgon greens, 7-8 stamens of saffron, 3-3.5 teaspoons of salt, 2 liters of boiling water
For unash (noodles): 1 cup flour, 1 egg, 2 tbsp. spoons of water, 1 tbsp. spoon of dill.

Preparing the noodles. Beat the egg with water and finely chopped dill and knead the flour into a stiff dough using this mixture, roll into a ball, let lie under a damp towel for 15 minutes, roll into a thin layer, cut into thin noodles or, without rolling, make unash out of the dough, rubbing it through a colander. Use only half of the resulting noodles for shorba.
Preparing the base of the shorba. Heat the oil in a cauldron or metal pan with a thick bottom, add finely chopped onion and thinly sliced ​​carrots, and fry for 10 minutes. then transfer to an enamel bowl.
Cooking shorba. Place the enamel bowl with the base for the shorba on low heat, immediately add the fish, cut into pieces 2.5 cm thick, salt and pepper, add some bay leaf and saffron, pour in boiling water, increase the heat and boil the fish for 7-10 minutes.
Then remove the fish, add noodles to the boiling shorba, add the rest of the spices and cook until the noodles are ready over moderate heat.
When the noodles are cooked, put the fish back into the shorba for 2-3 minutes, then remove the shorba from the heat and let it brew for another 5-7 minutes.

GAYNATMA

3 liters of boiling water, 750 g of lamb (or young camel meat), 3 onions, 2 tomatoes, 1-2 tubers of scorcener (goat) or potatoes, 1 parsley root, 1 head of garlic, 2 tbsp. spoons of azhgon greens or 1 teaspoon of seeds, 2 teaspoons of dry mint, 0.5 teaspoons of red pepper, 4-5 stamens of saffron, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of parsley.

Put fresh meat, cut into large pieces with bones, into boiling water, boil for about 1.5 hours over low heat, add finely chopped onions, tomatoes and scorzener, cut into slices and cubes, lightly salt, continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Then add salt, add pepper, saffron, after 5 minutes - mint, ground into powder, and boil for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat, then add finely chopped garlic, mix well, close with a lid and let steep for 10-15 minutes.

CHEKTIRME

750 g lamb (half brisket), 4 onions, 4 tomatoes, 1 head of garlic, 2 cups quinoa leaves, 2 tbsp. tablespoons parsley, 0.5 cups finely chopped sorrel, 6-7 stamens of saffron, 0.5 teaspoon mint, 1 teaspoon red pepper, 2.5 liters of boiling water.

Chektyrme is prepared in the same way as gaynatma, but only young lamb should be used.
Cut the meat into pieces that are not as large as for gaynatma, but always with a bone.
In Chektyrma, compared to Gaynatma, there should be a higher percentage of vegetable grounds.
Quinoa leaves should be cut very finely and added 10 minutes after the onions and tomatoes.
The remaining operations are exactly the same as for preparing gaynatma (see previous recipe).

DOGRAM

500-750 g lamb, 1-2 carrots, 2-3 scorcenera tubers or 2 potatoes, 3 onions, 1.5 heads of garlic, 1 teaspoon red pepper, 3-4 saffron stamens, 8-10 sour plums (albukhari) , 2 patyrs or kulchas, 3 liters of boiling water.

The technology of dogram is close to gaynatma. But for dograma, you should use the back meat with the bone in one piece. When the meat is half cooked, i.e. after about 1.5 hours, add scorcener and diced carrots, as well as finely chopped onions, to the broth and lightly salt. Place the plums, cut into halves, 10 minutes later. After the vegetables are ready, remove the well-cooked meat, cut it off the bone, chop it into pieces the same size as the vegetables and add it back to the broth. Add pepper and saffron at the same time, add salt and keep on fire for another 3-4 minutes. Then remove from heat, add finely chopped garlic, stir and let simmer for 10 minutes, covered.

SECOND COURSES

MEAT AND CEREAL DISHES

AS (PLOV)

As elsewhere in Central Asia, in Turkmenistan, pilaf (ash) is one of the most favorite and common main courses with meat.
In its technology and composition, Turkmen ash is basically similar to Uzbek pilaf, but in Turkmenistan, game, especially pheasants, is used as meat for pilaf more often than in Uzbekistan. This pilaf is usually prepared with green rice. Carrots are partially or completely replaced with apricots, sesame oil is used for frying and the prepared ash is usually eaten with sour sauce from albuhara (small sour green plum such as mirabelle or tkemali), or with an extract from pomegranate juice - narra, while in Uzbekistan as Guraob or piez-ansur are more often used as seasonings for pilaf.
Only one type of pilaf in Turkmenistan differs in technology from the common Central Asian type. This is Ogurdzhali pilaf, common among the Caspian Turkmens. It draws attention to the separate cooking of meat and the rice part of the pilaf, as well as the boiling of the meat after frying.

ASH OGURDZHALINSKY

750 g lamb, 4 onions, 3-4 carrots, 1.5 cups rice, 0.75-1 cup sesame oil, 1 teaspoon red pepper, 2 teaspoons azhgon (seeds), 1.5 cups apricots, 2 pinches of saffron, 2 tbsp. spoons of parsley and dill, 1 liter of boiling water.

Fry the lamb in pieces of 50-60 g in hot oil, add finely chopped onion and carrots, as in regular pilaf; after 20-25 minutes, remove the meat from the zirvak, transfer it to boiling water, boil until done, put in a separate bowl, and pour the broth into the cauldron with the zirvak, add rice and apricots, spices (azhgon, pepper, saffron) and cook first with open cover until the water evaporates, and then 10-15 minutes on low heat to dry. 3-5 minutes before it’s ready, place the meat on top of the rice, sprinkle it with parsley and dill, and let it simmer for a few minutes.

YSHTYKMA (STEWED POULTRY)

Yshtykma is a dish of the Caspian Turkmens. Most often it is used with waterfowl - wild geese and ducks, but it can also be prepared from poultry.
The cauldron for preparing yshtykma should be of such a size that it is convenient to turn the bird in it and so that it does not crawl out of it.

1 duck*, 1.5 cups rice, 0.75 cups sesame oil, 1-1.5 cups boiling water, 1 pinch of saffron.
For the filling: 4 onions, 1-1.5 cups apricots, 2 tbsp. spoons of raisins, 1 tbsp. spoon of narrow (pomegranate extract) or lemon juice, 0.5 heads of garlic, 1 teaspoon of red pepper, 10 black peppercorns, 0.5-1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of azhgon greens or 1 teaspoon of seeds.
* The set of products is given for the most typical yshtykma - from duck. When using goose or turkey, the volume of products should be increased by half.

Preparing the bird. Clean the bird, singe it, wash it, wipe it dry, and lightly rub the inside with salt.
Preparing the filling. Cut the onion into cubes, fry in 2-3 tbsp. tablespoons of heated sesame oil, add apricots, raisins, add a little salt, simmer for 10-15 minutes until golden brown, remove from the cauldron, cool, add pepper, finely chopped garlic, azhgon, salt, mix with narrov. let stand for 5-7 minutes.
Cooking poultry. Stuff the prepared bird tightly with the filling, dip the carcass in hot sesame oil, fry well on all sides until a dark golden crust forms, simmer for 15-20 minutes, then pour about 0.5 cups of boiling water into the cauldron and continue to simmer the bird over low heat. add a little of the same spices to the resulting sauce as in the filling, and pour this sauce over the bird. When the water has almost evaporated and the bird is ready, transfer the carcass to another bowl.
Cooking rice. In the remaining butter and broth in the cauldron after stewing the poultry, add the remaining filling, pour boiling water, salt, add saffron and add rice, previously washed in cold water and soaked for 30-40 minutes in hot water, then cook over low heat until the rice is ready and completely evaporate the water without stirring.
When the rice is ready, rake it out, put the bird carcass on the bottom of the cauldron so that it is fried again in oil, bury it in the rice and let it simmer and warm over very low heat for several minutes, then let it stand for another 5-10 minutes without heat. closed lid.
When serving, cut the bird into pieces, garnish the filling and rice separately.

MEAT AND DOUGH DISHES

ETLI U NASH (MEAT WITH PRIMEN NOODLES)

500 g lamb, 4 onions, 20-30 pcs. apricots, 1 carrot, 0.75 cups sesame oil or 150 g camel oil (sary yag), 2 tbsp. spoons of azhgon greens or 1.5 teaspoons of seeds, 2 tbsp. tablespoons dill, 1 head of garlic, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 0.5 teaspoon red pepper, 1-2 tbsp. spoons of narrow (pomegranate extract) or 1 tbsp. a spoonful of weak grape vinegar or lemon juice, 1-1.25 liters of boiling water.
For noodles: 0.75-1 cup flour, 2-3 tbsp. spoons of water.

Preparing the noodles. Knead a stiff dough, roll out into a sheet up to 1 mm and cut into strips 0.5 to 1 cm wide, or make umach from this dough through a colander.
Be sure to dry the noodles or umach before eating.
Preparing meat and vegetables. Cut the meat into small pieces (1x1 cm), fry in hot oil for 10-15 minutes, add finely chopped onions, carrots, apricots and continue to fry with the lid open for another 10-15 minutes, adding a little salt, black pepper and a quarter of the garlic.
Cooking unasha. Place the meat and vegetables in an enamel bowl, pour in boiling water, bring to a boil, add salt, add noodles and cook over moderate heat until the water has completely boiled away.
Shortly before the end of cooking, add all the spices, except garlic, and after finishing cooking, immediately add finely chopped garlic to the unash, stir, add vinegar or narrov and, covering with a lid, leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

GATYKLI UNASH

A variation of etli unash is gatykli unash. This dish is prepared in exactly the same way as etli unash and from the same products. But after it is ready, it is seasoned not with vinegar or sour juices, but with one of the fermented milk products: agaran (sour cream from camel milk), gatyk (katyk) or sour whey - turysh-chal.
The filling rate is arbitrary, according to taste. But to maintain the taste proportion, you should take about 1-1.5 cups of sour cream or 2 cups of katyk for the above serving of etli unash. Whey, especially very acidic whey, take from 0.5 to 0.75 cups.
The fermented milk products are seasoned after the unasha has matured, i.e. directly during serving.

FISH DISHES

Fish dishes of Ogurdzhali cuisine are characterized by combined cold and hot processing, which is not typical for other cuisines. Therefore, the recipes for these dishes are given in as much detail as possible.

GAPLAMA

500 g dried mullet fillet (replacement: dried mackerel, fish), 5-6 scorcenera tubers or potatoes, 2-3 tomatoes, 2 onions, 0.5 cups sesame oil, 0.5-0.75 cups water, 3 tbsp. spoons of parsley, 2 tbsp. spoons of azhgon greens, 15 black peppercorns or 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper, 1 tbsp. spoon of pomegranate juice.

Preparing the fish. Gut fresh mullet, salt the inside and lightly dry for 1-2 days. Then fillet it and cut it into approximately equal pieces (2x5 cm).
Preparing scorcenera or potatoes. Peel the tubers, cut into 1-1.5 cm cubes and fry them evenly on all sides in a cauldron until a fairly strong golden crust is formed.
Preparation of haplama. Fry finely chopped onions and tomatoes in hot oil for 10-12 minutes, lightly salt, add half the parsley and a smaller part of the pepper, and then put the pieces of fish fillet in the prepared scorcener and fry them for about 10 minutes over moderate heat. Then, carefully pouring water in small portions (preferably a tablespoon at a time), simmer the haplama, trying to ensure that most of the water (but not all!) evaporates and the fish and scorcener soften. At the same time as the water, you need to introduce the rest of the spices. When serving, you can lightly sprinkle the fish with pomegranate juice.

BALYKLY YANAHLY-ASH (FISH PILAV)

500-750 g fish fillet, 0.75-1 l water, 0.5 cups sesame oil, 4 onions, 2-3 large carrots, 1-1.5 cups rice, 0.5-0.75 cups fatty, thick sour cream or 1 glass of katyk, 20 black peppercorns or 1.5-2 teaspoons of ground pepper, 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds or azhgon, 1 parsley root, 3 tbsp. spoons of parsley, 2 tbsp. tablespoons dill, 1-2 pinches of saffron or 6-8 stamens, 2 bay leaves, 0.5 cups of sour pomegranate juice or 0.5 lemon juice, 1-1.5 teaspoons of salt for adding salt, 1 liter of water, the rest of the salt - taste.

Cooking fish. Boil water, add salt, add a bay leaf, half a finely chopped parsley root, 5 crushed peppercorns, half an onion and boil the fish, cut into pieces, in this broth for 10 minutes over moderate heat. Then remove the fish from the broth, transfer to a clay dish, cover with finely chopped two onions, grated parsley root, half a pepper, parsley and dill, ground fennel and part of the saffron, add salt, pour in sour cream and set to simmer over very low heat or coals, and if they are absent, go to the “steam bath”.
Cooking asha. Heat sesame oil, fry onions and carrots, cut into thin strips, pour in strained fish broth, bring to a boil and immediately add rice, previously washed in cold water and soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, and add salt. In an open cauldron, continue to cook the rice over moderate heat until all the broth has boiled away. After this, season the rice with the remaining spices, stir the rice, close the lid and put on very low heat for 20 minutes.
Serving the dish. Place the ash in a deep plate, pour over sour pomegranate juice. Serve the stewed fish separately. Eat pieces of fish with hashem.

BALYK BOREK (OGURDZHALI MANTY)

Balyk berek - manti stuffed with fish. The dough for them, as well as the general cooking technology, are similar to Uzbek manti. The difference is the filling, which contains minced fish and spices.
Filling for Ogurdzhali manti
1 kg fish fillet, 1 raw egg, 3 onions, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 capsule cardamom (ground into powder), 1 teaspoon red pepper, 2-3 tbsp. spoons of finely chopped dill and parsley, 1 tbsp. spoon of fennel, 2 pinches of saffron.
Cut the fish fillet into pieces the size of beans or chop into 1 cm cubes. Chop the onion finely, mix with ground and crushed spices, combine with minced fish, add salt, pour over a well-beaten egg, mix thoroughly again and immediately fill the manti, taking a full teaspoon (heaped) for each manti.

DAIRY PRODUCTS

Milk and mainly dairy products play a very important role in Turkmen cuisine. They, along with meat, are the main food product of the Turkmens. On average, especially in summer, each Turkmen consumes 4-5 liters of milk per day, and even more if we take into account butter and cheese.

At the same time, it is not so much the milk itself that is consumed, but various products made from it, the assortment of which is much wider among the Turkmens than among their neighbors, the Uzbeks. Therefore, in Turkmen cuisine, we primarily celebrate not dairy dishes, i.e. those made with milk, or where milk is the main component, but dairy products obtained entirely from milk through its ripening, fermentation and other operations.

The special, unique character of Turkmen dairy products is also explained by the use of camel milk. Although the chemical composition of camel milk is close to cow's milk, its taste is sweeter and its smell is specific. Camel milk has a high degree of fat content, but its fat settles more slowly than that of cow's milk, and it is absorbed much better. Compared to cow's milk, camel's milk contains more vitamin C. But the main difference between camel's milk and cow's milk is that with approximately the same amount of proteins, there is a sharp qualitative difference in their protein composition. Camel milk casein produces soft, small flakes that break apart easily when shaken. All this is reflected in the fermentation pattern, and consequently in the consistency, taste and aroma of camel milk products.

It is interesting that when raw camel milk self-fertilizes, a sharp, unpleasant acidity with a bitter aftertaste appears in its taste, since along with lactic acid, a number of fermentation by-products are formed, such as acetic and succinic acids, which worsen the taste of the product. Therefore, camel milk is always fermented using a special method, using special starter cultures and observing certain conditions that guarantee controlled, rather than spontaneous, development of microflora.

Thus, katyk (or, as it is called differently among Turkmens, gatyk, egurt, chekize) is prepared from camel milk according to a method common to all countries of the Near and Middle East. More specific to Turkmen cuisine is chal - a very special dairy product made from camel milk, obtained as a result of not only lactic acid, but also yeast fermentation*. Along with chal (or, as it is also called, due-chal), during its preparation, agaran (or ak-airan) is also obtained, which can be defined as the fatty fraction of chal, a kind of Turkmen “sour cream”, and turysh-chal - spicy, liquid chala serum.
* Chal is also made by Kazakhs in the southwestern regions of Kazakhstan, where camel breeding is also developed, but in Kazakh it is called shubat. This is why chal and shubat are sometimes considered different dairy products or, as they are often incorrectly called, drinks. Chal (shubat) is more correctly called a fermented milk product.

In addition, katyk (yogurt) and its derivatives are obtained from camel and other milk:
mesge yag (butter)- churned from a mixture of katyk and a small amount of water;
sary yag (ghee)- obtained by melting butter;
durda (oil heating waste)- used in some types of dough;
ayran(the buttermilk left over from churning, sometimes still mixed with water, making up a fifth or a quarter of the buttermilk);
kara suzme (black suzma)- obtained by straining buttermilk;
Suzma(strained egurg, katyk, similar to Uzbek suzma);
suzme chalk(corresponding to ayran among other peoples of Central Asia, i.e. a mixture of suzma with water in a 1:1 ratio);
ak edge(corresponding to the Uzbek kurt - dried suzma balls);
Kara Gurt- whey from katyk or buttermilk, boiled for a long time and slowly until a thick mass is formed, with a sour but pleasant taste (not found among other nations).

But that's not all. Turkmen prepare local cheeses from sheep's milk - teleme, sykman (also known as peynir) and garfish.
In terms of the method of production and taste, these cheeses differ from the pickled and jug cheeses of the peoples of the Caucasus, although the principle of their production is the same.

Chal is prepared in several ways: using a special starter or its substitutes, using old chal or combining chal with water and, finally, using pure cultures of lactic acid bacteria.

1. Preparing a special leaven called gora is difficult and time-consuming, so in most cases a new chal is prepared using the previous day’s chal as a starter. If there is none, then katyk (see p. 286), including cow’s and sheep’s (goat’s) milk, can be used as a primary starter. But in this case, the first time the chal turns out to be of lower quality, weakly carbonated, and only after three or four fermentations does it “even out” and acquire all the properties typical of real chal.

2. The most common way to prepare chala is as follows. Be sure to filter fresh camel milk, which retains a fairly high initial temperature (over 37-40C), through a double or triple layer of gauze, and if it has not cooled down, then expect its temperature to drop to 30C, maximum to 32C. At this time, the starter culture is prepared - chal, which should be from a quarter to a third of the volume of fresh milk intended for producing chal. The chal starter is thoroughly stirred and strained and cooled fresh milk is poured onto it, usually into a large clay jug of 6-10 liters, which is again carefully mixed with the starter for 10 minutes or even more. After this, the jug covered with gauze is placed in the shade, where the temperature is at least 25-30 C, or the jug is maintained at this temperature by wrapping it in the cold season. Within half an hour, a fermented head of fattier and lighter fractions—agaran—appears on the surface of the future chal. It can be removed and used like sour cream. After this, fermentation of the chal continues while continuously maintaining the temperature at 30°C. After 4 hours, the milk is basically completely fermented, and after 6-8 hours it acquires the specific properties of full-fledged chal.
During the ripening process, especially after the first four hours, the future chal is kneaded all the time (several times a day), preventing large flakes and clot accumulations from forming. Most often, kneading coincides with the addition of new portions of fresh camel milk to the fermented primary chal (after the first four to six hours) (since camels are milked 4 times a day, new milk is added at least 4-5 times a day). 10 hours after the formation of the chal, the temperature of its further maintenance should be lowered to 20-25°C and maintained at this level for another 8-10 hours. On the second day, the chal should be stored at 5-10C. At this temperature, you can preserve chal for up to 3-4 days, but usually in Turkmenistan they try to use chal within 24 hours, otherwise it becomes harsh, unpleasant, and tasteless (acidity increases, carbonation decreases).
Periodic removal of the agaran, as well as frequent stirring of the chal, gives a drink that is uniform in consistency, but it is still possible for the chal to separate into an upper, thicker, fatty part and a lower, more liquid, whey-like part, called turysh-chal. This is usually due to uneven temperatures, long breaks in stirring and other irregularities in cooking.

3. Since chal as a drink is intended primarily to quench thirst, it is very often prepared with water. Such chal sometimes turns out even more uniform than chal without water. In this case, after filtering the fresh warm camel milk, add water heated to 30-32 C in a 1:1 ratio, knead this mixture, and then add the starter, always in the amount of 1/3 of the total volume of the mixture of water and milk.
Further preparation proceeds according to the scheme described above.

TELEME

Teleme is a young cheese that is a thick, soft, moist mass that looks like cottage cheese. To prepare teleme, you need a special leaven called gonzelik or mayalik. The mass obtained after ripening - mayalik - is stored in a clay jug for 1 month. To receive teleme 1 tbsp. a spoonful of mayalyk is dissolved in 1 bucket of fresh, still warm sheep’s milk, which begins to ferment within a few hours. Fermentation can take place in an earthenware vessel or leather wineskin. After 16-20 hours, a thick mass is obtained - teleme, which can be eaten by the end of the day.
You can prepare mayalyk in the same way as sourdough mayek (see p. 232).

SYKMAN

To obtain sykman, or paynir. young teleme cheese is strained in a bag made of thin cotton fabric, and 10-12 hours after straining it is placed under a not too heavy press: covered with a board on which a stone weighing about 5-6 kg is placed (on a teleme bucket). After a day, you get sykman, which means “squeezed out.” This is the so-called cold method of processing teleme.

GARFISH

To obtain garfish, the curd mass of teleme is processed in a hot way: boiled over low heat until the liquid - whey - evaporates. The result is a different kind of cheese - crispy, sweetish garfish.

FLOUR PRODUCTS

Flour products of Turkmen cuisine actually repeat the flour products of Uzbeks and Tajiks, but the range is not as diverse as the latter. In addition, they are usually simpler in composition. However, the technology of their preparation and baking in the tandoor is the same as that of the Uzbeks. Sometimes even more simplified baking is used - in ash. This is how the national Turkmen bread er churek is baked. The main oil used in flour products is sesame. The most common types of simple flatbreads are gatlama (a complete analogy of the Uzbek katlama), pishme (replicating the Uzbek samsa), ekmek (reminiscent of the Uzbek talpik) and chapada (chevati in Uzbek). The last two types of simple thin flatbreads are even more characteristic of Turkmen cuisine than of Uzbek cuisine, with its tendency towards less dry and richer dough. That is why the recipes for these types of flatbreads are given here.
These flatbreads are baked from unleavened dough, the proportions of components and methods of preparation of which are indicated on p. 194.

CHAPADY (THIN FLAT BAKED IN TANDIR)

Knead the dough, let stand for 15-20 minutes, cut into pieces of about 100 g, roll each into thin flat cakes up to 2 mm thick, prick with a fork and bake in the tandoor, after moistening with water the side of the flat cake that sticks to the walls of the tandoor.
Remove from the tandoor as soon as the chickpeas are dry, without waiting for them to brown.

EKMEK (THIN FLAT BREAD FRIED IN OIL IN A Kettle)

Knead a simple dough in the same proportion and in the same way as for chapada, but cut it into pieces half the size (50-60 g each) and roll them into thin flat cakes up to 1-2 mm, grease each top with thick agaran, fatty pellet or sour cream, stick the greased sides one on top of the other and fry these double cakes until golden brown in a hot cauldron, greased (not too much) with sesame oil.

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Turkmen cuisine and its features

Turkmen cuisine has much in common with the cuisines of other Central Asian peoples, primarily the Uzbeks and Karakalpaks, which is explained by the similarity of natural conditions and ethnic traits.
At the same time, Turkmen cuisine has retained its national identity, which is manifested both in the range of dishes and methods of their preparation, and in the ritual of serving food.
Turkmen cuisine is characterized by original ways of preparing various traditional national dishes, which is due to the peculiarities of farming or the influence of neighboring peoples.

During the years when Turkmenistan was part of the USSR, great changes occurred in Turkmen cuisine. If earlier vegetables (beets, onions, etc.) were only occasionally added to meat soups, now chorba with vegetables, especially potatoes and tomatoes, is everyday food in all regions of Turkmenistan. Onions are especially popular in Turkmen cuisine. It is eaten raw, served for lunch and used as a seasoning. Black pepper (gara burch) is common as a seasoning for dishes, and among the inhabitants of the oases - pomegranate (nar) and grape leaves.

The main place in Turkmen cuisine is occupied by meat, dairy and flour dishes. Turkmens prefer lamb to all types of meat; they also consume a lot of chicken. Turkmens do not eat horse meat. In Turkmen cuisine, the most common dishes are meat - chorba, gaynatma, broth with flatbread - dogroma, (palov), fried meat - govurma, govurdak, shash. A fairly large place among the meat consumed is occupied by game - partridges, waterfowl, as well as hares, goitered gazelles, and fallow deer.

Meat in Turkmen cuisine is used mainly for pilaf. The main methods of heat treatment of Turkmen cuisine are boiling and frying, often followed by stewing.

Govurma (kovurma) is especially common in Turkmen cuisine, which is used for storing meat for future use and preparing various dishes. The meat, chopped into small pieces, is fried in the fat of the same animal. Govurma preserved in this way is considered one of the main dishes; it is consumed both cold and hot. A soup called gara chorba is made from gowurma.

Fish such as sturgeon, beluga, and herring are widespread in the coastal regions of Turkmenistan. In Turkmen cuisine, a traditional dish - pilaf - is prepared with fish.

In addition to meat and fish dishes, various types of porridges made from millet and mung bean occupy a large place in Turkmen cuisine.

Turkmens use cow, goat, and camel milk to produce various types of dairy products and dishes. From cow's milk, they prepare butter and ghee, yogurt - gatyk, a special type of cottage cheese - suzme, as well as cheese - gurt. Peynir cheese is made from goat and sheep milk. Camel milk is used to prepare a favorite soft drink - chala.

Finally, another characteristic feature of Turkmen cuisine is a variety of flour products. Churek baked in bakeries is in great demand everywhere, and various sour dough flatbreads baked in lard and vegetable oil are widespread in rural bakeries.

The favorite drink in Turkmen cuisine is tea. At any time of the year, Turkmens drink large quantities of green tea - gok tea. In the west of the republic, black tea is widespread - gara tea, which is drunk mainly in autumn and winter. Each tea drinker, unlike the Uzbeks, is served a porcelain teapot with a bowl separately.

Turkmen cuisine strictly observes its traditions.
National dishes and utensils are firmly preserved in everyday life. Liquid foods are served, for example, in locally produced enamel bowls - tobacco, roasts and porridge - in flat wooden bowls.
In many regions of Turkmenistan, food is cooked in a hemispherical cast iron cauldron - gazan. Even city dwellers use gazan to prepare pilaf, since pilaf cooked in a pan is considered less tasty.

The national cuisine of Turkmenistan is as unusual and interesting as the entire history of the Turkmen people. There was even an opinion that Turkmen cuisine does not exist. There were significant differences between the culinary preferences of the numerous tribes that inhabited the country. Tribes of nomads were engaged in cattle breeding and lived in desert areas, farmers settled in oases and floodplains of large rivers, and residents of the Caspian coast preferred fishing. Therefore, different habitats influenced the heterogeneity and diversity of Turkmen cuisine as a whole. But, despite this, enthusiasts and culinary experts managed to unite and systematize one of the most original and, undoubtedly, delicious cuisines of the East.

The hallmark of the national cuisine of Turkmenistan, as in many Central Asian countries, is pilaf, or “ash” in Turkmen. There are dozens of ways to prepare it, but the main ingredients have always been rice and meat (usually lamb or poultry), to which vegetables, onions, peppers, dried fruits, and seasonings are added. No less tasty meat dishes that are worth trying in this country:

• “govurma” - fried lamb;
• “govurlan-et” - lamb with tomatoes”;
• “chekdirme” - fried lamb, with potatoes and tomatoes;
• “kokmach” - dried meat;
• “Garyn” is a kind of sausage;
• “Börek” - Turkmen manti;
• “ishlekli” - round pies with meat and onions;
• “Heygenek” - omelette with meat;
• "kebap" - various types of Turkmen shish kebab.

The cuisine of Turkmenistan is rich in first courses. Basically, these are soups made with meat broth. Be sure to try:

• “gara-chorba” - soup with tomatoes;
• “Dograma” - pea soup;
• “umpach-zashi” - flour soup;
• “unash” - soup with noodles and beans;
• « etli-borek-chorbasy» — soup with dumplings;
• “Suitli-unash” - milk soup with noodles;
• “nohudly-chorba” - pea soup with lamb;
• "Mastava" - rice soup with vegetables.

This is what really distinguishes the national cuisine of Turkmenistan from other Central Asian cuisines - the presence of national fish dishes. Residents of the Caspian coast (Ogurjali Turkmens) fry fish on spits, boiling oil, cook in special cauldrons... and add rice, apricots, raisins, sesame seeds, and pomegranate juice to their dishes. An amazing kebab is prepared from sturgeon - “balyk-shara”. Fish fried and stewed in pots - “balyk gavurdak”, will not leave anyone indifferent. They even add fish to pilaf instead of meat. There are very complex dishes, with a large number of components - “ balyk-berek", "cheme", "haplama", "balikly yahama" and others. It is worth noting that only fresh fish is used for cooking. Particularly popular are dishes from sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, catfish, mullet, pike perch, kutum, carp.

Another characteristic feature of Turkmen cuisine is the widespread use of milk and fermented milk products. Camel milk, which has a sweet taste and is rich in vitamin C, is used to make yoghurt, ghee and butter. From the remaining whey, a refreshing drink “ayran” is obtained. From sheep's milk they make curd mass - "teleme", cheese - "sakman", similar to unsalted feta cheese and cheese - "peynir". Cow's milk is also used. It is used to make curdled milk - "gatyk", special cottage cheese - "suzme", cheese - "gurt" and butter. In general, there are a great variety of Turkmen dairy products - garfish, karagurt, agaran, chal, sykman…

The national cuisine of Turkmenistan and sweet tooth lovers were not ignored. Be sure to try the special Turkmen “halva” prepared from the root of the lily plant - “cheresh”; sweet cakes - “kulche”; fried donuts sprinkled with powdered sugar - “pishme”; Turkmen donuts - “chapadas”. The famous Turkmen melons, local fruits, and watermelons deserve special attention.

The favorite drink of Turkmens is tea. In the western regions and north of the country they prefer black tea, and in the east green tea (“gok-tea”). In winter, tea is most often brewed not with water, but with milk, adding butter and lamb fat. Also popular are Berzengi mineral water and various fruit juices. Very good local wines are Kopetdag, Yasman-Salyk and Dashgala. Strong drinks include Serdar vodka and President cognac.
Welcome to hospitable Turkmenistan and bon appetit everyone!