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| Perfect. I should make these every weekend. |
But what I DO get today is food from Uzbekistan. The first thing I made was Tashkent Non. I started this by dissolving some yeast and salt in 2 c of warm water. Then I added in a cup of whole wheat flour and mixed until it was smooth. Adding a bit at a time, I added in about 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour until it was all mixed in and started to become a soft dough. I took the dough at this point and turned it onto a floured surface to knead more. It should still be slightly sticky, and that’s ok. Just put it in a clean bowl, cover it, and let it sit in a warm place for about 2 hours. After it rested, I dusted a surface again and divided the dough into four pieces, forming them into rounds. I let these rounds rest for another 20 minutes while I preheated the stove to 425ºF. Just before putting these into the oven, I punched down the center and took a fork to create a 2-in round pattern in the center. Then I brushed them with whole milk (you can also use oil) and sprinkled with poppy seeds (in lieu of nigella seeds) before putting them into the oven to bake for about 15-17 minutes. Maybe because I used milk, but they didn’t brown up, but that’s ok. Because these were fantastic. Absolutely the best part of the meal today. They were firm on the outside, but soft and warm and fluffy on the inside.
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| If you don't burn it, this is the perfect cold weather stew. |
The main meal today is Dimlama, a hearty stew perfect for fall. I added some oil in the bottom of a large pot and sauteed some onion before adding in half of my stew beef. Then I added in a bit more onion with a little salt and pepper. On top of that, I added in some carrots, a can of diced tomatoes, some sliced turnips, followed by a bit more salt, pepper, and cumin. Then I threw in my sliced bell peppers, sliced beets, and finally the last bits of my meat and onions. On top of that, I added in some diced potatoes and minced garlic. As the last layer, I added a layer of cabbage on top of this, plus a little more salt, pepper, cumin, and ground coriander and added 2 cups of water before covering the stew with a lid. I let this simmer for about 2 hours, checking every so often to make sure it has enough water in it. This is where I messed up. Everything was going well until I forgot to check it at the end, and it burnt on the bottom. So, I was so mad that this happened. (I admit that it was because I was watching the Season 2 finale of Downton Abbey.) I was supposed to add in some bay leaves in the last 15 minutes, but once I figured out that it was burning, I added some water and took it off the heat right away. To serve this, I sprinkled some fresh cilantro as a garnish. Outside of the slightly burnt flavor, I thought it was pretty good. The kids insisted that it was good. I don’t even think that they knew it had beets and turnips in it. So, that’s good.
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| Very nice contrast. |
To go with this, I made a salad called Achichuk. I took some tomatoes and sliced them as thin as I could get. Then I sliced some onions thinly and added them to the tomatoes. I mixed those with some minced garlic and some chopped dill, seasoning it with a mixture of olive oil and white wine vinegar with some salt and pepper. I mixed it gently together and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes before serving, to let the flavors meld together. I liked this. I didn’t add as much vinegar as it called for, so it was lighter in flavor.
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| I'd like to try to make some of the other varieties. |
And finally, I made a sauce to dip the bread in that is called Suzma. I started the day before with taking some Greek yogurt with a bit of salt and placing it in a colander over a bowl to let it drain out most of the liquid. I placed it in the fridge overnight. There’s a couple different ways to dress this up, but I made the White Suzma version by stirring in some crushed garlic, a little chopped dill and some salt and pepper. You can also make a green version by adding in some chopped spring onions, cilantro, dill, and parsley into it. There’s also a pink version of adding in some cooked beets with some sugar, salt, and pepper. This was really good, especially with the bread. I thought it was good.
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| Overall, this was a great meal. |
I’ve learned so much about this country, and it’s such a rich and historic land. Now that I know more about Uzbekistan (and the other countries around it), I find Herman Cain’s words about this area just doubly deplorable. But like I mentioned in my very first introduction post, this is the whole point of this blog: to teach my kids and others about these countries so that we can understand each other. Countries are made of people, not governments. I don’t know if people read these and learn something. I just hope that they are.
Up next: Vanuatu
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