Uzbek Recipes

Uzbek cooking grew up along the Silk Road, where farmers, herders and traders shared ovens, markets and tea houses. Lamb, beef and rice sit at the center, joined by carrots, onions, grapes, melons and apricots from the hot, dry summers. Bread is treated with respect: round non is baked against the wall of a clay oven called a tandir, torn by hand and never set down upside down. Spicing is light, mostly cumin, coriander seed, black pepper and dried barberries. Men often cook the big cauldron dishes, especially plov, while women make dumplings, noodles and soups at home. A meal opens with tea, bread, fruit and salads, then moves to soup and a main dish. Weddings, memorials and neighborhood gatherings call for huge pots of plov, and spring brings sumalak, a sweet wheat-sprout pudding stirred overnight for the Navruz holiday.

Staple ingredients

• rice
• lamb and beef
• carrots
• onions
• cumin
• wheat flour
• yogurt (qatiq)
• green tea

• Soups 5
• Salads 1
• Main Dishes 5
• Breads 1
• Desserts 1
• Snacks 1

Soups

• Lag'mon (Uzbek Hand-Pulled Noodle Soup)UZ2 h 20 minMedium
• Chuchvara (Uzbek Small Dumplings in Broth)UZ1 h 50 minMedium
• Mastava (Uzbek Rice and Lamb Soup)UZ1 h 50 minEasy
• Sho'rva (Uzbek Lamb and Vegetable Soup)UZ2 h 25 minEasy
• Mashkichiri (Uzbek Mung Bean and Rice Soup)UZ1 h 45 minEasy

Salads

• Achichuk (Uzbek Tomato and Onion Salad)UZ15 minEasy

Main Dishes

• Manti (Uzbek Steamed Lamb Dumplings)UZ1 h 40 minMedium
• Palov (Uzbek Plov)UZ2 h 20 minMedium
• Shashlik (Uzbek Charcoal-Grilled Lamb Skewers)UZ45 minEasy
• Dimlama (Uzbek Layered Lamb and Vegetable Stew)UZ2 h 20 minEasy
• Shivit Oshi (Khorezm Green Dill Noodles with Beef Stew)UZ2 h 30 minMedium

Breads

• Non (Uzbek Round Bread)UZ1 h 6 minMedium

Desserts

• Sumalak (Uzbek Wheat Sprout Pudding)UZ4 h 40 minChallenging

Snacks

• Somsa (Uzbek Flaky Lamb Pies)UZ1 h 30 minMedium