Tatar cuisine it means not just a banal list of dishes that have been prepared from time immemorial, but a real treasure of Tatar culture, because it has reached us almost unchanged to this day. Throughout the history of its existence, the cuisine of this eastern people has been subject to the influence of many nationalities: Arabs, Chinese, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Kazakhs, and in some ways even Russians. However, despite this, the Tatar national cuisine was able to maintain its originality.
How does Tatar cuisine stand out from other cuisines of the world? The answer is quite simple. The thing is that the majority of Tatars profess Islam, which means that it is forbidden for them to eat pork, some game (for example, falcons and swans), as well as alcohol. However, this did not impoverish Tatar cooking at all!
Tatars love meat and use it in many recipes. The most popular is lamb, followed by beef, horse meat and chicken. For example, it is simply impossible to imagine the traditional cuisine of the Tatar people without a thick and satisfying soup made with strong meat broth. An example of such a dish is Shurpa or Lagman, which you will see in both the festive and everyday diet of the Tatars.
Traditional main courses are quite varied. Among them are the following most notable dishes:
As you can see, baking occupies a central place in the Tatar diet. In addition, we would like to note that side dishes are also common, which are most often prepared from all kinds of cereals and legumes. Salads are also very popular, which, however, you most likely will not see on the menu of a national restaurant, because, as a rule, the dishes are homemade.
By the way, a characteristic feature of the national cuisine of the Tatar people is the constant use of large amounts of animal fat in cooking. This “culinary secret” makes them very, very tasty. There is no need to talk about the satiety of such dishes!
Speaking about Tatar cuisine, one cannot fail to note the great passion of this people for milk and dairy products. The milk itself, as a rule, was intended for children, and adults made all kinds of fermented milk products: ayran, katyk, eremchek (cottage cheese), kort (Tatar cheese) and many others.
By the way, Tatar cuisine is most famous for its desserts. It is probably impossible to find a person who has not heard of such a dish as “Chak Chuck”. It consists of balls or strips made from butter dough, which are generously poured with honey. Another traditional Tatar dessert is baursak. It consists of donuts, which are usually served with tea. Another very tasty dessert of Tatar cuisine is Kosh tele, which literally means the tongues of birds. In our understanding, this sweet dish is nothing more than Brushwood, which you are probably familiar with.
And to top it off, we would like to draw your attention to one interesting feature. The cuisine of the Crimean Tatars, and especially those who live near the coast, is somewhat different from the cuisine of the steppe Tatars. So, for example, the former introduce more fruits and vegetables into their diet, while the latter more often feast on meat in a variety of culinary preparations and dairy products. Although the list of dishes traditional for this eastern people is almost identical, that is, it does not undergo any special changes depending on the particular area where the Tatars live.
Recipes for preparing traditional Tatar dishes are not so complicated, although, of course, they have their secrets. We will tell you about them on the pages of this section. All the recipes given here can be safely called full-fledged master classes, because they not only contain detailed instructions, but also step-by-step photos. We hope that thanks to them you will easily master Tatar cuisine and delight your loved ones with culinary masterpieces that are completely unusual for them!
The features of Tatar cuisine are known throughout Eastern Europe. It is difficult to find such original dishes anywhere else. The fact is that the culinary traditions of Tatar cuisine have developed over many centuries, so people treat them very reverently and carefully, and the secrets of national dishes are passed on from generation to generation.
The basis of Tatar cuisine is liquid hot dishes, such as soups and broths. Depending on the broth (shulpa) in which they are prepared, soups are divided into meat, dairy and lean, vegetarian, and according to the set of products that serve as a dressing, one can distinguish flour, flour-vegetable, cereal, cereal-vegetable and vegetable soups. The most popular first course is noodle soup (tokmach), the second is often served with meat boiled in broth and cut into large pieces, or chicken, as well as boiled potatoes.
A variety of porridges often appear in Tatar cuisine: buckwheat, millet, rice, oatmeal, and peas. As you can see, there are more than enough options. Today we will teach you how to cook some Tatar dishes. Believe me, you have never tasted such deliciousness.
1.Dumplings with hemp grain
Products:
1. Dough - 75 gr.
2. Minced meat - 100 gr.
3. Sour cream - 50 gr. (or 20 grams of melted butter)
4. Egg – 1 pc.
How to cook dumplings with hemp grain:
I option. Place the peeled hemp grains on the stove for several hours to dry them. Next, grind them in a mortar and sift through a sieve. Mix hemp flour with mashed potatoes and eggs. If the filling turns out too hard, it must be diluted with a small amount of hot milk. We prepare the dough in the same way as for other dumplings. Cook the dumplings in salted water, place on a plate, season with sour cream or melted butter. Serve hot.
Option II. Grind hemp grains in a wooden mortar, squeeze out excess fat, add salt, sugar, mix thoroughly until we get a thick, homogeneous mass. The prepared mass will be used as minced meat for dumplings. Prepare the dough in the same way as the option proposed above.
2. Jumper
Products:
For minced meat:
1. Meat - 500 grams
2. Onions - 3 pieces
3. Salt - to taste
4. Pepper - to taste
5. Fat (for frying)
How to prepare peremyach:
Make balls of 50 grams each from yeast or unleavened dough, roll them in flour and roll them into flat cakes. Place the minced meat in the middle of the flatbread and press lightly. Next, lift the edges of the dough and gather it nicely into an assembly. Remember that there should be a hole in the middle of the ball. The peremyachi must be semi-deep-fried: first with the hole down, and when browned, turn over with the hole up. The finished peremyachs have a light brown tint. The shape of the balls is round and flattened. The dish is served hot. You can also make the dough small, and you will save about half the required ingredients.
How to prepare minced meat: finely chop the washed meat (beef or lamb) and pass it through a meat grinder along with onions and peppers. Then add salt and mix well. If the minced meat turns out to be thick, you should add cold milk or water, and then mix again.
3.Tunterma (omelet)
Products:
1. Egg - 5-6 pcs.
2. Milk - 200-300 gr.
3. Semolina or flour - 60-80 gr.
4. Butter - 100 grams
5. Salt - to taste.
How to cook tunterma (omelet):
Place the eggs in a deep container and then beat thoroughly until smooth. After this, add milk, melted butter and salt. Mix thoroughly. Add semolina or flour and mix again until you get a thick mass. After this, pour the mixture into a greased frying pan and place on the stove. As soon as the dish thickens, put it in the oven for 4-5 minutes. Grease the top of the prepared tunterma with fat and serve. The dish can be cut into diamonds into portions.
4. Stuffed lamb (tutyrgan teke)
Products:
1. Lamb (pulp)
2. Egg - 10 pieces
3. Milk – 150 grams
4. Onion (fried) – 150 grams
5. Butter – 100 grams
6. Salt - to taste
7. Pepper - to taste.
How to cook stuffed lamb:
We take young lamb brisket or the pulp of the back of the ham. Separate the rib bone from the breast meat. We, in turn, trim the pulp from the back so that we get a kind of bag. Take a deep container. Beat eggs into it, add pepper, salt, melted and cooled butter. Mix the resulting mixture thoroughly. Pour the filling into pre-cooked lamb brisket or ham. We sew up the hole. Place the finished semi-finished product in a shallow bowl, fill it with broth and sprinkle with carrots and chopped onions. Place on the fire and cook until done.
Place the prepared tutyrgan teke in a greased frying pan, grease the top with oil and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes. After the specified time has passed, the stuffed lamb must be cut into portions. Serve hot.
5. Tatar pilaf
Products:
for 1 serving
1. Lamb (low-fat) - 100 gr.
2. Table margarine – 15 grams
3. Tomato paste - 15 grams
4. Water - 150 gr.
5. Rice - 70 gr.
6. Onions - 15 gr.
7. Bay leaf
8. Pepper - to taste
9. Salt - to taste.
How to cook Tatar pilaf:
Cut the meat into pieces, about 35-40 grams each, sprinkle with salt and pepper, fry, place in a saucepan and pour in tomatoes sautéed in fat and heated water. Bring to a boil, and then add the washed rice. We cut the onion. We also add the onion and bay leaf to the dish, cook over low heat, stirring gently, until the rice absorbs the liquid. Cover with a lid and let it brew. Traditional Tatar pilaf can be prepared without tomato. In this case, you need to add any chopped vegetables or even fruits instead (then the pilaf will turn out sweet).
6. Balish with duck
Products:
1. Dough - 1.5 kg.
2. Duck - 1 pc.
3. Rice - 300-400 gr.
4. Butter – 200 gr.
5. Onions - 3-4 pcs.
6. Broth - 1 glass
7. Pepper - to taste
8. Salt - to taste.
How to cook belish with duck:
Rice is traditionally added to belish with duck. First you need to cook the duck itself. After that, we cut it, cutting the pulp into small pieces. We sort the rice, rinse it in hot water, add it to salted water and boil it. Pass the cooked rice through a sieve and rinse with hot water. Any remaining rice should be dry. Add oil, salt, pepper to the rice, finely chop the onion. Mix all this thoroughly with duck pieces and make belish. The dough needs to be kneaded in the same way as for other belishes. Duck belish is made a little thinner than belish with broth. The dish needs to be baked for 2-2.5 hours. Half an hour before cooking, fill the dish with broth.
Remember that belish with duck is served in the same frying pan. The filling is placed on plates, and then the bottom of the belish is cut into portions.
7. Gubadiya with meat (Tatar wedding pie)
Products:
(for one pan of gubadia)
1. Dough - 1000-1200 gr.
2. Meat - 800-1000 gr.
3. Ready-made kort (red dry cottage cheese) - 250 gr.
4. Rice - 300-400 gr.
5. Raisins - 250 gr.
6. Egg - 6-8 pcs.
7. Ghee - 300-400 gr.
8. Salt, pepper - to taste
9. Onions
How to cook gubadia with meat:
Roll out the dough so that it is larger in size than the pan. Place it in an oil pan and grease the top with oil too. Place the finished court on the dough. On top of it we put rice in an even layer, fried meat minced with onions, another layer of rice on the meat, hard-boiled, finely chopped eggs on top of the rice. We finish again with a layer of rice. Place a layer of steamed apricots, raisins or prunes on top. Drizzle a decent amount of melted butter over the entire filling. Cover the filling with a thin layer of rolled out dough, pinch the edges and seal with cloves. Before placing the dish in the oven, the gubadia must be greased with oil on top again and sprinkled with crumbs. At medium temperature, gubadia should be baked for about 40-50 minutes. The prepared gubadia should be cut into pieces and served hot. When cut, the dish should demonstrate distinct layers of different products. They go well together not only in taste, but also in color.
How to prepare soft cork for gubadia: grind the dry cork and sift it through a sieve. For 500 grams of cort, add 200 grams of granulated sugar and 200 grams of milk. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and cook for 10-15 minutes until we get a homogeneous mass. Cool the mass and place it on the bottom of the gubadiya in an even layer.
How to prepare crumbs for gubadia: mix 250 grams of butter with 500 grams of sifted wheat flour, add 20-30 grams of granulated sugar and rub thoroughly with your hands. As you grind, the butter should gradually mix with the flour. This way you will get fine crumbs. Before placing the gubadia in the oven, sprinkle the prepared crumbs on top.
8. Tutyrma with offal (homemade sausage)
Products:
1. By-products – 1 kilogram
2. Rice – 100 gr. (or 120 grams of buckwheat)
3. Egg - 1 pc.
4. Onions - 1.5 pcs.
5. Milk or broth - 300-400 gr.
6. Salt - to taste
7. Pepper - to taste.
How to cook tutyrma with offal:
We process the available offal (heart, liver, lungs), and then finely chop them. Take the onion and pass it through a meat grinder, or chop it. Add it to offal. Add salt, pepper, add egg and mix everything well. Dilute the resulting mixture with milk or cooled broth, add rice or buckwheat. Mix and fill the intestine with the mixture. Let's tie it up. Make sure that the filling for tutyrma is liquid. The dish should be cooked in the same way as tutyrma with beef. Also, tutyrma can be cooked with only one liver and cereal.
Tutyrma made from offal is considered a delicacy and is served as a second course. Traditionally, it is cut into circles and carefully placed on a plate. Tutyrma is served hot.
9. Kazan-style fried peas
Products:
1. Peas
2. Salt
3. Oil
4. Onion
How to cook fried peas in Kazan style:
Fried peas are considered one of the most favorite dishes among the Tatars. Before cooking, the peas must be sorted, rinsed with cold water, and then filled with warm water. After this, you need to leave the peas for 3-4 hours so that they swell. Make sure that it does not swell too much, as during frying the grains may simply fall apart in half. When the peas are soaked, strain them through a colander and only then start frying. There are several ways to prepare fried peas:
Method 1 (dry frying) – place the peas in a dry frying pan and fry, stirring.
Method 2 - pour a small amount of vegetable oil into a hot frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the peas and fry, stirring. Don't forget to add salt during frying.
3rd method - fry with cracklings that remain after melting the internal beef fat. Place the peas in the frying pan with the cracklings, stir and fry. During frying, add salt and pepper to taste.
10.Chuck-chuck
Products
(per 1 kilogram of wheat flour):
1. Egg - 10 pieces
2. Milk - 100 gr.
3. Sugar - 20-30 gr.
4. Salt - to taste
5. Oil for frying - 500-550 gr.
6. Honey - 900-1000 grams
7. Sugar for finishing - 150-200 gr.
8. Montpensier - 100-150 gr.
How to cook chak-chak:
Chak-chak is made from premium flour. Place raw eggs into a container, add milk, salt and sugar. Mix everything. Add flour and knead soft dough. Divide the prepared dough into pieces, approximately 100 grams each, and roll out into flagella about 1 centimeter thick. Cut the flagella into balls the size of pine nuts and fry, stirring, preferably deep-frying. When the balls are close to being ready, they begin to take on a yellowish tint.
Pour granulated sugar into the honey and bring to a boil in a separate container. A way to find out if the honey is ready: take a drop of honey on a match, and if the stream flowing from the match becomes brittle after cooling, then the boiling should be stopped. Remember that honey should not be boiled for too long, as it may burn. Then, of course, the taste of the dish will be spoiled. Place the fried balls in a wide bowl, pour over honey and mix thoroughly. At the end, you need to transfer the chak-chak onto a tray or plate and, with your hands dipped in cold water, give it any shape of your choice. In addition, chak-chak is often decorated with small candies (monpensiers).
"Super Chef" wishes you bon appetit!
Tatar national cuisine embodies the centuries-old cultural traditions of the people, their history and ethnic customs. It is rightfully considered one of the most delicious cuisines in the world. Its dishes have specific and original shades of tastes and aromas that have come from the distant past to the present day, preserving their characteristic features and features almost in their original form.
The specificity and originality of Tatar cuisine is very closely intertwined with the natural and socio-economic conditions of life of the Tatar people, with their history and culture.
The history of Tatar cuisine
Modern Tatars descended from Turkic tribes who lived on the territory of the state called Volga Bulgaria long before the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. Even in those ancient times, it was a highly developed and enlightened state, uniting people of different religions and diverse cultures. It is no wonder that the formation of the national cuisine of the Tatars was significantly influenced by the proximity of neighboring peoples, as well as the Great Silk Road that passed through their territory and connected the East with the West.
The Golden Horde period also contributed to the development of the culinary traditions of the Tatars, but the main ethnic roots of the Turkic peoples still prevailed in their national cuisine.
If the ancient Tatars were nomads, considering meat and dairy products their main food, then over time they increasingly switched to a sedentary lifestyle, began to engage in agriculture and cattle breeding, growing grain products, vegetables and fruits.
The most valuable traditional types of meat among the Tatars were and, to a lesser extent, were widespread. The meat was salted, smoked, dried, dried, boiled, stewed and fried, in a word, it was eaten in all kinds of forms.
The Tatars began breeding birds much later than grain or animals. However, this contributed significantly to the variety of their dishes. Also, the Tatar peoples have long mastered beekeeping, so they were provided for for a long time. In addition, they received a decent profit from the sale of wax and honey.
Features of Tatar cuisine and traditions of Tatar etiquette
Tatar cuisine is very interesting and varied. It was formed thanks to its ethnic traditions, rooted in the distant past. Its development was largely influenced by neighboring nations, introducing certain nuances to the foundations laid long ago.
The ancient Bulgars gave the Tatars bal-mai, katyk and kabartma, they also inherited dumplings from the Chinese, supplemented the Tatar with pilaf, and the Tajik with sugar baklava. And all this is in addition to the national echpochmak and chak-chak. Tatar cuisine was both simple and luxurious, quite satisfying and varied, amazing with the abundance of delicious dishes and the combination of products that at first glance seemed completely incompatible.
But the Tatars were famous not only for their hearty and plentiful dishes, but also for their generous hospitality. According to the custom of our ancestors, only the best dishes that meet the most demanding tastes were always presented to the guests. The hospitable hosts put on the table exquisite sherbet, sugar chak-chak, hearty baursak, exquisite kosh-tele, sweet kaltysh-kaleve, linden honey and aromatic tea.
Among Eastern people, hospitality has always been at its best. It was believed that a person who does not love and cannot receive guests is unhealthy and inferior. It was the norm among Muslims to present rich gifts to a person who came to the house, not to mention a modest meal. Usually the guest also did not remain in debt and never came empty-handed.
In the East, the prevailing phrase was: “Kunak ashy - kara karshi,” which translated meant “Guest treats are mutual.” Hospitality was absorbed by the eastern peoples with mother's milk. Even in ancient times it was honored by the Tatars. This especially struck the Baghdad caliph, who arrived at the invitation of the Bulgarian king Almush to help in accepting Volga Bulgaria into the Islamic faith.
The king's sons warmly greeted the guests on the way, treating them to bread, millet and meat. And in the royal yurt the tables were literally bursting with an abundance of dishes and snacks. But what struck the ambassador most of all was the offer for the guests to take the remaining food with them after the meal.
Peter the Great was also amazed by the scope of Tatar hospitality when in May 1722, on his way to a campaign against Prussia, he stayed in the house of a wealthy Eastern merchant Ivan Mikhlyaev, where he celebrated his fiftieth anniversary. The servants, bowing to the floor to the sovereign, served cold appetizers, hot dishes, roasts, cakes and sweets, as well as numerous pies with excellent fillings.
The Muslim religion has also made significant adjustments to the rules of food intake. The Koran forbade the use of it as an unclean animal, and the falcon and swan, on the contrary, were considered sacred birds, which also made them inviolable.
During the holy month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan, Muslims aged twelve years and older were required to abstain from drinking and eating during the day for thirty days.
Sharia also prohibited the consumption of alcoholic beverages. According to the Koran, it was believed that both good and bad were contained in it, but the content of the first was many times greater. The Prophet Muhammad said that wine is a source of sinful pleasure, and that it takes away the mind of the one who drinks it.
According to Islamic etiquette, the meal had to begin with the obligatory washing of hands. The meal began and ended with a prayer glorifying Allah. Men and women ate separately from each other.
The famous Tatar educator Kayum Nasyri described the rules of Tatar etiquette in one of his books:
- you had to sit down at the table without keeping yourself waiting;
- you need to eat only with your right hand;
- It was considered bad form to take food before respectable people at the same table;
- Moderation in food was encouraged.
Main dishes of Tatar cuisine
The basis of Tatar cuisine, as in ancient times, is meat and plant foods, as well as dairy products. Horse meat, lamb and poultry were highly valued, and the most popular meat dishes were dumplings and pilaf.
Milk was mainly used as a basis for the production of katyk - the national Tatar drink, syuzma, kort or eremchek - cottage cheese, as well as butter.
All dishes of Tatar cuisine can be divided into:
- hot liquid dishes;
- second courses;
- baked goods with savory filling;
- baked goods with sweet filling;
- treats for tea;
- beverages.
The first category certainly includes broths and soups. One of the most popular Tatar first courses is shulpa or shurpa. And also a unique highlight of oriental cuisine is tokmach - Tatar noodle soup.
A special place among the Tatars is occupied by dumplings, which are traditionally served with broth. Moreover, dumplings in the East are also called dumplings with various fillings, including cottage cheese, and hemp seeds. Dumplings are traditionally treated to a freshly baked son-in-law and his friends.
Second courses in Tatar cuisine include: meat and cereal dishes. The meat is most often boiled in broth and served as a separate dish, cut into thin slices and slightly stewed with onions, butter, etc.
Sometimes the main dish is boiled, also cut into small pieces. The most common side dish is potatoes. An indispensable attribute of second courses is served in a separate bowl.
The Tatars' national holiday dish is tutyrgan tavyk - chicken stuffed with eggs.
A special place is occupied by traditional Tatar pilaf, as well as bishbarmak, a national product made from meat and dough. Second courses also include tutyrma - lamb or beef intestine stuffed with and. Sausages made from horse meat - kazylyk and makhan - are considered delicious. Another Tatar delicacy is considered dried and - kaklagan urdek or kaklagan kaz.
Popular dishes in Tatar cuisine are prepared in various ways, as well as a variety of porridges: rice, millet, oatmeal, buckwheat, peas and others.
Flour products of various shapes and types are considered traditional and characteristic of the oriental table. The dough for them is used as sour yeast dough, as well as butter dough and simple dough.
The most typical for Tatar cuisine are products made from sour dough. First of all, this is bread. Among the Tatars it is called ikmek and is considered sacred food. From childhood, adults teach children to be careful with bread. It was always the eldest member of the family who cut the bread during meals. They baked mainly from, and only the wealthiest, in quite rare cases, could afford bread from.
And how many stuffed dough products they have! One of the oldest is considered to be kystyby, or kuzikmyak - a flatbread made from unleavened dough, filled with millet porridge. Later they started filling it with mashed potatoes.
Another ancient dish is belish - a pie made from yeast or unleavened dough filled with fatty meat and potatoes or any cereal. Such a pie was made in small and large sizes, and on holidays - in a shape resembling a low truncated cone.
The national Tatar dish is echpochmak, which translated means “triangle” stuffed with pieces of fatty meat and onions. Also popular among them are peremyachi - products made from yeast dough stuffed with finely chopped boiled meat. Afterwards they were fried in cauldrons in a large amount of oil and served with broth, usually for the morning meal.
In villages, the so-called teke or bekken - large oval pies with vegetable filling - were especially popular. The most delicious were the bekkens with pumpkin filling. Similar pies with meat filling were called sumsa.
An interesting Tatar product is gubadia - a tall round pie with several layers of filling, usually including rice, Tatar cottage cheese kort, and dried fruits. Gubadiya is considered a mandatory dish at ceremonial receptions.
And of course, it is impossible to ignore the mass of sweet and rich products in Tatar cuisine: kosh-tele, pate, lavash, katlama, helpek and others. Such dishes are traditionally served with tea. Some of them have undergone significant changes, differing markedly from their Turkic predecessors, but at the same time they have acquired a certain zest and become exclusive national dishes of oriental cuisine.
These include: baursak - small honey dough balls; chak-chak – pieces of dough covered with honey syrup.
These two dishes are traditionally served at weddings. Chak-chak is always brought by the bride or her parents to her husband’s house, and such a treat is considered especially honorable at a wedding.
Other original sweet products are:
- kosh-tele – small airy donuts generously sprinkled with powdered sugar;
- talkysh-kaleve - a treat somewhat reminiscent of cotton candy, but a little denser.
Tatar cuisine always uses a large amount of fat. The most common of them are butter and melted lard.
Honey is also considered popular, which is served as a separate dish for tea, or various sweets are made from it.
The most famous Tatar drinks are rye kvass and dried fruits. Tatars are very fond of strong tea. It is believed that a hospitable host is obliged to give his guest tea. It must be drunk hot and strong, diluted with milk.
Another significant Tatar non-alcoholic drink is sherbet, which is a sweet honey drink. One of the wedding rituals was associated with it: in the groom’s house, guests were treated to such a drink, after drinking which the guests put money for the newlyweds on a tray.
Even taking into account the fact that Tatar cuisine is replete with fatty and rich foods, it is still considered useful and healthy. The thing is that it attaches special importance to liquid hot dishes, various cereals and fermented milk products. In addition, the Tatars widely use stewed and boiled food, where much more valuable substances are preserved.
Modern Tatar cuisine, of course, does not look the same as before, but national dishes are still in great demand. In addition to them, mushrooms and various types of pickles, tomatoes and other vegetable crops came into Tatar everyday life; exotic fruits, previously completely inaccessible, appeared on the tables.
Instead of conclusions
Tatar cuisine is one of the most colorful, nutritious, but at the same time healthy and healthy cuisines in the world. Its highlight is not only the abundance of various delicious dishes, but also the traditions of table etiquette, which make every guest feel like the king of the world. Tatar cuisine is distinguished by its simplicity and sophistication, the variety of dishes, their extraordinary taste and satiety.
In Tatar cuisine you can find a wide variety of dishes. This is due to the fact that it is inextricably linked with the culture, traditions of the people and their way of life. Tatar dishes are hearty and based on an interesting combination of ingredients. They are easy to prepare and delicious in taste. In this article we will look at the best Tatar dishes (recipes with photos will be included).
The formation of cooking in Tatarstan
Culinary traditions have evolved over centuries. Most of the dishes are borrowed from nearby neighboring countries. The Tatars inherited recipes for preparing foods from flour and dairy products (for example, kabartma) from the Turkic tribes. Pilaf, sherbet, and halva were borrowed from; from Chinese - dumplings, as well as methods of brewing tea; from Tajik - baklava.
The Tatars have long been engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, which contributed to the predominance of flour, meat, dairy products, grains, legumes and various cereals in national dishes.
Tatars have their own food prohibitions. For example, according to Sharia it is forbidden to eat pork. The most commonly used meat in cooking is lamb. You can also eat young beef. The Tatars also breed horses, not only for agricultural needs, but also for making sausages (kazylyk). Horse meat is consumed dried, boiled and salted.
The most common Tatar broths and soups (ashlar, shurpa), meat, lean and dairy dishes. Their names are determined by the name of the seasoned products (vegetables, flour products, cereals).
Drinks include katyk, ayran and tea. In the national culture of the Tatars, there is the following tradition: when a person comes to visit, to show his respect, he is offered hot, strong black tea with sweets and fresh pastries.
It is worth noting this feature of this cuisine - all dishes can be divided into hot liquids and dough products and delicacies that are served with tea. Hot soups or broths are of primary importance. They are a mandatory part of meals at home. Depending on the broth in which these Tatar dishes are prepared, soups are divided into meat, dairy and vegetarian, and also according to the products with which they are seasoned, into vegetable, flour, and cereal.
Soup with flour dressing, namely noodles (tokmach), is very famous in Tatarstan.
Azu in Tatar
Ingredients:
Wash and dry the beef. Cut into cubes two centimeters wide and four centimeters long. Fry in a well-heated frying pan. Then put the meat in a pan, add salt and pepper. Add fried onions and tomato paste (you can use fresh tomatoes). Pour in the broth and boil for thirty minutes. Cut the potatoes into large cubes. Fry until half cooked. Place in a saucepan with meat, add finely chopped pickles. Simmer everything until fully cooked. Serve this first dish sprinkled with finely chopped garlic and fresh herbs.
Kazan pilaf
This dish is served during dinner parties.
Ingredients:
Sort the rice and rinse with water several times. Pour into a saucepan and fill with tap water. Cook until half cooked. Melt lard in a cauldron, add boiled meat cut into small pieces. Use lamb, beef or young horse meat, at your discretion. Then place carrots cut into slices and finely chopped onions on the meat. Place half-cooked rice on the vegetables, add a little broth and, without stirring, place on low heat. Simmer for no more than two hours. Before serving, add raisins to the pilaf, which must first be steamed in boiling water.
Tatar dough dishes (cooking recipes)
Tatarstan is famous for its baked goods made from yeast, sweet, butter and sour). The most famous Tatar dishes are kystyby, balesh, echpochmak, gubadia, dumplings, baursak and much more.
Not a single wedding, reception or holiday among the Tatars is complete without a national delicacy called chak-chak. This sweet dish is prepared from small strips made from butter dough. They are molded with honey. This dish is the “calling card” of Tatarstan.
Among the Tatars, bread is considered a sacred product; not a single festive or everyday meal is complete without it.
Also on the table you can see a huge variety of unleavened dough products. It is used to bake buns, flatbreads, pies, tea treats and other Tatar dishes.
Kystyby - fragrant flatbreads
Ingredients:
Peel the potatoes well and cut into large cubes. Place in a saucepan, add water and add salt. Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked. Then drain the water and mash with a masher. Peel the onion and chop finely. Heat a frying pan and fry the onion until golden brown. Add hot milk, remaining butter and fried onions to the potatoes. Mix everything well.
Dust the counter with flour and turn out the dough. Roll into a sausage shape and cut into thick slices with a knife, which you then roll out into large flat cakes. Fry them in a hot frying pan on both sides (about three minutes).
Place potato filling on one half of the tortilla and cover with the other half. They should be filled while still hot. Be careful not to get burned! Before serving, brush the surface of the dish with butter.
Preparing the dough
You will need:
- kefir - half a glass;
- salt - a pinch;
- baking powder - one tsp;
- margarine - 50 grams;
- sugar - one tsp;
- flour - five hundred grams.
Start kneading the dough. Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl except flour. Sift it. Then add flour gradually. Knead the dough until it stops sticking to your hands. Cover with a towel and let stand for twenty minutes.
How to cook the oldest dish of Tatarstan - balish
The main ingredient is meat. As described above, Muslims do not add pork to Tatar dishes. Balish is prepared with lamb.
Ingredients:
Cooking method
First, knead the dough and separate a quarter of it. Roll out the remaining piece (thickness - no more than five millimeters). Prepare the meat: rinse, remove from the bone and cut into medium cubes. Peel the potatoes and cut them into the same pieces. Mix meat and potatoes, add finely chopped onion, salt and pepper according to your taste. Add the oil and mix everything. Place the prepared filling into the pan on top of the dough. Form into a mound and gather the edges of the dough. Roll out a smaller piece of dough and cover the balish with it. Seal the edges, make a hole in the middle of the pie and plug it with a dough plug. Brush the top of the balish with oil. Bake for an hour and a half in a preheated oven. After the time has passed, remove the pie, open the cork, and pour in the broth. Plug the cork and place the balish in the oven to bake for another half hour. After the time is up, remove and serve with strong tea.
Treat yourself and your loved ones with dishes of Tatar cuisine. Bon appetit!
In the process of centuries-old history, an original national cuisine has developed on the territory of Tatarstan, which has formed its own distinctive features. The cuisine of this eastern people has been influenced over the centuries by many nationalities: Arabs, Chinese, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Kazakhs, Russians. However, despite this, Tatar national cuisine retains its originality.
Traditional main courses are quite varied. Among them are the following most notable dishes:
Chuck-chuck
Chuck-chuck- one of the symbols of Tatar cuisine, an oriental sweetness. Chak-chak is made from soft dough made from premium wheat flour and raw eggs. The softer the dough, the more tender and airy the chak-chak will be. The dough is formed into thin short sticks, shaped like spaghetti, or balls the size of a nut, deep-fried, and then poured over a hot mass prepared with honey. The dish is given the desired shape (often in the form of a slide). This is a dessert dish, consumed with tea or coffee.
– a triangular pie filled with fatty meat, onions, and potatoes. Most often, fatty meat (lamb, lean beef, chicken or goose) in combination with potatoes and onions is used as a filling for echpochmak.
Kastyby with millet porridge- a Tatar and Bashkir dish made from stuffed dough, which is a fried unleavened flatbread stuffed with porridge (usually millet) or stew, and more recently with mashed potatoes.
- national Tatar round butter pie, the main feature of which is a multi-layer (usually 4-6 layers) sweet or meat filling. The composition of the filling of Tatar Gubadiya may vary, but it always uses kort - dried cottage cheese prepared in a special way on the stove.
Kosh tele
Kosh tele- a dish of Tatar national cuisine, better known as “ brushwood“. Kosh tele means “bird tongues”. The dessert received this name because of its peculiar elongated shape, although in fact the Tatar kosh tele looks different from different housewives. The only thing that remains unchanged is its wonderful taste, which children especially like.
- one of the heartiest soups. It can be an independent dish - just a rich soup, or can be used as a sauce for various porridges or noodles. This soup has a particularly high fat content, as well as the addition of spices and herbs. Traditional shurpa consists of lamb broth, unfried onions, finely chopped potatoes, thinly sliced noodles, as well as herbs and black pepper.
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