The Novruz holiday is approaching, which is loved from young to old in Azerbaijan. Housewives greet spring with the most delicious national sweets, and preparations for the holiday begin several weeks in advance.
As Day.Az reports, “Moscow-Baku” decided to compile a list of the most popular recipes for flour products that will certainly appear on every holiday table. In fact, preparing them is not that difficult, the main thing is to believe in your culinary abilities.
Shakerbura
This delicious delicacy is made from yeast dough filled with hazelnuts and sugar. The name comes from the Turkic “Sheker-borek”, which means “sweet pie”. The shape of the shakerbura resembles the moon and is decorated with a pattern in the form of ears of wheat using a special “maggash” tool.
Recipe:
1 kg of hazelnuts and granulated sugar, 2 kg of flour, 10 eggs, 800 g of sour cream, 750 g of butter, 1 glass of milk, 10 g of yeast, 8-10 pieces of cardamom.
Soak yeast in 1/3 cup milk, add 1 tbsp. pour a spoonful of granulated sugar into the flour, then add the remaining milk and softened butter. Knead the dough and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. Grind nuts and cardamom, mix with granulated sugar. Make round cakes from the dough the size of a tea saucer, put the filling in them, make a curly seam, decorate the top with patterns, bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes.
Baklava
The name of baklava is associated with its appearance - rhombuses, symbols of fire, which are called “bakhla” on Azerbaijani carpet patterns. Baklava is prepared in each region of Azerbaijan according to its own recipe and therefore there are various versions of it: Baku, Nakhchivan, Ganja, Sheki, Guba, etc. In addition, baklava has different fillings - walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and peanuts.
Recipe:
1.5 kg of nuts and granulated sugar, 500 g of butter, 2 eggs, 800 g of flour,
2 g saffron, 600 g water.
Knead the dough from flour, eggs and butter, divide into 10 parts. Grind the nuts and mix with granulated sugar, divide the filling into 7 parts. Roll out one part of the dough into a thin layer, spread it over the entire bottom of the baking sheet, grease with oil, add a layer of nuts and repeat. Cut the compacted baklava into diamonds. Brush the entire surface with saffron infusion and press half a nut into the middle of each. Bake in the oven at 180°C for an hour. Prepare syrup from granulated sugar and water, boil it and immediately pour it over the finished baklava.
Shor gogal
Shor gogal is a round, bright yellow bun that resembles the sun. Gogal is baked with a savory filling consisting of various oriental spices. This salty, crumbly pastry is traditionally eaten with sweet tea.
Recipe:
Dough - 1.5 kg flour, 30 g yeast, 500 g milk, 100 g butter, 6 eggs, salt to taste. Filling - 500 g flour, 1 teaspoon each of anise, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, turmeric and salt, 3 tablespoons of ghee. Separately - 1 kg of butter, 1 egg and 100 g of poppy seeds or caraway seeds.
Make a dough (dissolve yeast in warm milk and add flour), place in a warm place. As soon as the dough increases in size, add butter and the remaining flour. Mix well until smooth and place in a warm place for another hour. For the filling, crush the spices and add butter. Divide the risen dough into 10 parts, roll out each part thinly, generously grease with melted butter, and place on top of each other. Cut the multi-layer dough into strips 6-7 cm wide, then divide into parts of 10 cm. Twist each part into a spiral, flatten on both sides, make a funnel in the center, put 1 teaspoon of filling, seal the funnel, flatten again into a flat cake the size of your palm , brush with beaten egg and bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes.
Mutaki
These cookies are shaped like regular bagels, but have a very special taste. It's all about the combination of a unique crumbly dough with oriental filling. By the way, in Baku these tubes are prepared with nut filling, and in Shamakhi - with apricot jam.
Recipe:
Dough - 500 g flour, 100 g butter, 2 eggs, 200 g milk, 10 g yeast. Filling - 200 g ground walnuts and 1 glass of sugar or apricot jam.
Dissolve the yeast in warm milk, beat in the egg, add salt, sugar, melted butter and mix. Add sifted flour to the mixture in parts and knead the dough. Cover the dough and place in a warm place for 1-1.5 hours. Prepare the filling: mix crushed nuts, sugar and cardamom or take apricot jam. Divide the risen dough into 4 parts, roll it out, cut it into squares, add the filling, and wrap it in the form of a roll. Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes.
Kurabye Baku
"Kurabiye Bakinskoye" was a popular cookie in the USSR, and its recipe has remained almost unchanged since then. The main thing when baking cookies is not to overcook them in the oven, they will be dry. The correct kurabye is golden yellow in color.
Recipe:
2 cups flour, 200 g butter, 1 egg white, powdered sugar, apricot jam.
Beat softened butter with powdered sugar and vanilla sugar until fluffy. Add protein, mix, add flour and knead into a homogeneous dough. Place the dough in a depositing bag and squeeze the cookies onto the baking sheet through a serrated tube. Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes at 200°C. When the cookies have cooled, put some jam in the middle.
Badambura
Badambura resembles a pie with nuts, but in a very beautiful puff shape, sprinkled with powdered sugar. This is a very delicate, soft pastry, with a nutty taste and an unforgettable note of cardamom.
Recipe:
Dough - 150 g butter, 1 glass of milk, half a tablespoon of yeast, 4 glasses of flour. Filling - 300 g chopped almonds, 250 g sugar.
Beat the yolks with a pinch of salt, add butter, yeast diluted in warm milk, flour and knead the dough. Send to a warm place for 30 minutes. While the dough is rising, prepare the filling: grind almonds with sugar and stir. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal parts, roll them into a thin layer, grease each of them with softened butter and stack them on top of each other. Roll into a roll and cut into pieces 3 cm thick. Press each piece with your fingers - you get something like a bowl. Place the filling in the cavity and pinch the edges well. Bake in the oven at 170°C for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the cooled badambura with powdered sugar.
Kyata Baku
Azerbaijani cuisine has several types of kyata, among them the most popular are Baku, Karabakh and Nakhchivan. They differ in their preparation recipe, shapes and soft filling that literally melts in your mouth.
Recipe:
Dough - 3 cups flour, 1 egg, 1 cup sour cream, 150 g butter, 1 tsp. yeast. Filling - 1 cup sugar, 0.5 cups flour and 100 g butter.
Knead the dough, cover it with cling film and leave it in the refrigerator for half an hour. During this time we prepare the filling. Grate the butter from the freezer, add flour and sugar here. Grind the mass into crumbs. Divide the dough into 3 parts, roll each into a layer onto which we spread the filling. Carefully roll it up and cut it into portions. Place everything on a baking sheet and brush the top of the kyata with yolk. Prepare in an oven preheated to 180°C for 30 minutes.
Sheker cherek
Sheker churek cookies occupy one of the honorable places in Azerbaijani cuisine. Easy to prepare, very tasty and tender cookies you just can’t help but like. Despite the fact that sheker churek translated from Azerbaijani means “sweet bread”, it is not bread at all, but a very tasty, crumbly cookie with the aroma of melted butter and very easy to prepare.
Recipe:
1 cup butter and sugar, 2 eggs, 4 cups flour.
Mix granulated sugar with lukewarm melted butter, add eggs, gradually add flour. Roll the dough into small balls, place them on a baking sheet, and press down slightly on top. Make a small depression in the middle of each cookie and brush it with yolk. The sheker churek is baked in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
Cookies "Fruits of Azerbaijan"
These are probably the most colorful cookies baked by Azerbaijani housewives. They are prepared in the form of apples, pears, and peaches, each “fruit” being colored yellow-red with natural dyes.
Recipe:
5 cups flour, 2 cups granulated sugar, 4 eggs, 200 g sour cream and butter, 1 tsp. soda For decoration - cloves, saffron, beets and granulated sugar.
Eggs are beaten with sugar and butter is added, while soda is mixed with sour cream and added to the whipped mass. Then add flour in small portions and mix the whole mass. The dough is made into round and egg-shaped balls of different sizes and baked at a temperature of 190-210°C for 10 minutes. Hot cookies are glued together in pairs using beaten egg whites, and the top is colored with saffron infusion (peaches and apricots), beet juice (plums and peaches) and breaded in granulated sugar. To form pear sepals, stick one clove at a time into the dough before baking. Pears are colored on one side with saffron infusion, and on the other with beet juice and breaded in granulated sugar.
Koke Nakhchivan
Keke is a delicious pie that is prepared for Novruz Bayram in Nakhchivan. It is not sweet at all, the filling looks like meat, but in fact it is onions prepared using a special technology.
Recipe:
Dough - 1 kg flour, 350 g butter, 2 eggs, 2 tsp. yeast and granulated sugar, 1.5 cups of milk, salt. Filling - 450 g walnuts, 2 onions, salt, pepper, turmeric.
Mix half a glass of warm milk with sugar and yeast, after 15 minutes add melted butter, eggs, remaining milk and flour. Knead the dough and leave it for 2 hours in a warm place. Meanwhile, prepare the filling - fry the onion in butter until golden brown, add turmeric, pepper, salt and nuts. Form the dough into 50 flatbreads, roll out, add filling to each and wrap in the shape of a Shakerbura. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.
Azerbaijanis, like all Caucasians, are very hospitable. They always welcome even late and uninvited guests cordially, treating them with all their hearts. Their cuisine is original and extremely interesting, with a truly oriental flavor.
FEATURES OF AZERBAIJANI CUISINE
The range of dishes here is so wide that it will delight even the most fastidious gourmets. More than two thousand hot dishes, many snacks, meat dishes, about two hundred varieties of pilaf - this is only a small part of what the residents of Azerbaijan can offer to guests. But this region is famous not only for its abundance of food. According to Muslim traditions, it should also please the eye and bring aesthetic pleasure, so the table is always bursting with a large number of different goodies.
If we briefly characterize the culinary traditions of this people, then certain features are important. Let's start with the fact that in Azerbaijani cuisine preference is given to meat dishes prepared from lamb, beef or various types of poultry. Particular attention is paid to fish dishes - they are grilled, baked in a tandoor or smoked. Each dish here has its own unique taste, which is achieved through the use of many herbs and spices.
To prepare food, residents of this Transcaucasian state necessarily use a lot of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Preference is given mainly to chestnuts, grapes, dogwood, quince and cherry plum. Carrots, beets, and potatoes are used less often. An integral part of any dish is greens. Cilantro, onions, parsley, basil are the main companions of every cook. As a rule, there is a lot of greenery in a serving - it takes up 2/3 of the plate, it is served fresh, sometimes even separately from the main dish.
Azerbaijanis also reverence and madly love spicy herbs. They give food a special piquancy and sophistication. Tarragon, saffron, coriander and mint are frequent guests on the local table. They have also found use for knotweed - it is always added to pilaf and meat dishes. Rose oil is also popular here, which is often used in making sweets, in particular jam.
POPULAR DISHES OF AZERBAIJANI CUISINE
Although the cuisine of Azerbaijan is very diverse, you can try to highlight the most famous culinary masterpieces prepared here. Although it will be difficult to do this, because literally everything here deserves attention!
Snacks
Considerable attention is paid to light dishes based on vegetables and herbs. One of the simplest snacks made from these ingredients is kyukyu. Essentially, this is an ordinary scrambled egg, cooked with the addition of herbs, walnuts, barberries, saffron, herbs and many aromatic spices. To prepare kyukyu, fresh milk or cream is also used, which makes it even more fluffy and tender. The dish is usually served with fermented baked milk or other fermented milk products.
Adjapsandal, a vegetarian dish that is common not only in the East, but also in European countries, also falls into the category of cold appetizers. The self-name is quite exotic; translated from the Turkic language it means “how amazing you are.” It is prepared from fresh vegetables, using eggplants, sweet bell peppers and tomatoes. In some versions, hot pepper and some potatoes are added. A mandatory ingredient is greens - cilantro, basil, onions or garlic. In terms of taste and the set of main components, ajapsandal resembles the European version of vegetable sauté.
Vegetable appetizers that go well with meat include hafta bejar - an assortment of pickled eggplants, white cabbage, carrots and tomatoes. As in any Azerbaijani dish, there are many spices and herbs.
Vegetable salads occupy a place of honor in Azerbaijani cuisine - as a rule, they are served with meat. Vegetables for them are cut into large cubes, after which they are seasoned with fermented milk sauces or olive oil. One of the most famous salads is beet fisinjang; it is perfect for any holiday. The harmonious combination of beets, cilantro, walnuts and pomegranate seeds makes it very tasty and tender. In some regions of the country you can find fisinjan made from lobio and beans.
First meal
There are about 30 types of first courses in traditional Azerbaijani cuisine. Hot ones are represented mainly by meat soups; they are very filling and high in calories. Unlike regular soups, they have a thicker consistency, which is achieved by using a small amount of broth. 
One of the most common first dishes is bozbash - a fatty, rich soup with vegetables and fruits, prepared on the basis of lamb broth. Translated from Azerbaijani it means “gray head”. This name was most likely borrowed from Iranian tribes. Bozbash is multi-component; for its preparation it is necessary to use Turkish (lamb) peas, chestnuts (sometimes replaced with regular potatoes) and lamb. To make the soup thicker and richer, a lot of vegetables are added to it; onions, sweet peppers, zucchini, eggplants, carrots and tomatoes are often used. Many spices and seasonings, in particular basil, mint and saffron, make it even more aromatic, and the addition of apples and cherry plums gives it freshness and a barely noticeable sour taste.
In local cuisine, there are several varieties of bozbash, differing in the set of main ingredients. Interesting are kufta-bozbash - pea soup with lamb meatballs, as well as brocade-bozbash - with chestnuts and young lamb meat. Balyk-bozbash is also popular; instead of lamb, fish fillets, mainly stellate sturgeon, are used to prepare it. Pomegranate juice, used for marinating fish, and cherry plum fruits add piquancy to the dish.
Depending on the regions of the country, there are several more varieties of bozbash: Yerevan, Etchmiadzin and Sisian. It is served in deep plates. It comes with traditional lavash and sour-milk Caucasian sauce. The dish is decorated with parsley, mint or any other herbs.
Kelle pacha is another famous dish found on the tables of hospitable Azerbaijanis. It is also widespread in Iran and Turkey. It is a hearty, rich broth made from lamb legs and tripe, seasoned with spices and a lot of herbs.
Locals call the national dish of Azerbaijani cuisine piti - a traditional soup made from lamb brisket with the addition of chestnuts, peas, onions, peppers and garlic. Unlike other hot dishes, it is cooked in the oven. All ingredients are pre-heat treated and then baked in a clay pot in the oven. The soup has a thick consistency, delicate taste and pleasant aroma.
Among the peoples of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, there are several well-known dishes that use beef. The first place in this list belongs to a soup called khash. According to researchers, this is one of the oldest Azerbaijani dishes, which previously had a ritual character. Beef tripe is used to prepare it; in some regions there is a tradition of adding the legs, head and tail of great horned cattle. Khash is a light soup that is usually eaten only for breakfast. It must be served hot. The peculiarity is that it is prepared without salt and spices, and these ingredients are presented to guests in a separate plate. In some cases, it can be decorated with finely chopped parsley and cilantro.
Specific dishes of Azerbaijan include umach - onion soup with small flour balls in the form of small crumbs. Before serving, it must be seasoned with saffron and garnished with dried mint. You should also try ovdukh - a cold soup reminiscent of traditional Russian okroshka, as well as balva - rice soup with the addition of herbs and finely chopped boiled eggs.
The local soups are very high in calories and filling, so they are often used as full-fledged main courses. This is also the case with Sulu Khingal. Prepared on the basis of meat broth with the addition of young lamb meat and a variety of vegetables, it will delight the most sophisticated gourmets. It is also served with several pieces of bread and vinegar. Shchorba is another famous Azerbaijani dish. It is a rice soup with the addition of chickpeas and fruits (apples, plums and cherry plums).
You can also find “light” soups in Azerbaijani cuisine. For example, hamrashi - with beans and noodles, sujuk - sweet soup, with walnuts and butter, seasoned with saffron tincture. The broth with boiled lamb dumplings with the addition of fat tail fat, onions and spices is also interesting - it is called kurza. Azerbaijani dumpling soup - dushbara - is also popular. It consists of small-shaped dumplings (from 8 to 10 pieces fit on one spoon). They are boiled in lamb broth, dried mint or cilantro is added. The dish is served with wine vinegar and garlic.
Dishes made from sour milk have also become widespread. Among them, dovga has a special taste - it is an aromatic fermented milk rice soup with meatballs, seasoned with mint, cilantro and spinach. It is truly versatile and can be served both cold and hot. Meatballs are cooked separately and added to the soup immediately before serving. Syudlu-syyig - milk rice soup with the addition of sweet, sugar syrup, saffron, butter and cinnamon - also has a delicate taste and pleasant aroma.
Second courses
In Azerbaijani cuisine, preference is given to dishes made from lamb and poultry. Due to their religious beliefs - the local residents are predominantly Muslim - they do not eat pork. Particular attention is paid to the freshness of the meat, since most dishes are cooked over an open fire.
Many people call pilaf one of the national dishes without which it is impossible to imagine Caucasian cuisine. It is very ancient and it is hardly possible to establish the exact place of its origin. The cooking recipe first appeared in the countries of the Middle East around the 2nd-3rd centuries. BC. There are many options and techniques for preparing it. In Azerbaijan alone there are about 30 options. According to local culinary traditions, pilaf consists of two parts: the first is rice porridge (it is possible to use other cereals, but this is extremely rare), the second is gara (a combination of meat, vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, herbs and spices). When cooking, pay special attention to the choice of utensils. As a rule, cast iron or copper cauldrons are used. 
Azerbaijanis have their own original technology for preparing pilaf. Its essence lies in the fact that rice and gara are prepared separately and combined on a plate only before serving, while the ingredients should never be mixed. There are regions where rice and pilaf filling are served on separate plates. Gara options can also be varied. To prepare it, they use meat, fish fillets and vegetables, to which they necessarily add fruits, mainly cherry plums, sour plums and pomegranate.
The taste of Azerbaijani pilaf depends on the correct technology for preparing rice. To ensure that the cereal is not overcooked, but remains whole and crumbly, it is steamed using metal stands and adding a little lamb fat or butter. Pilaf is presented to guests, observing certain traditions that have developed over many centuries. When serving, the dish is divided into three parts: the first is rice, the filling is served on the second plate, greens, herbs (basil, onions, cilantro) and kazmag (unleavened dough flatbread), which plays the role of an appetizer, are brought separately. Asians usually serve pilaf warm and wash it down with sorbet.
It's hard to imagine local cuisine without aromatic kebab. Shish kebab is an integral part of many national cuisines, although the tradition of its preparation originated in the Middle East. Juicy and aromatic Azerbaijani kebab is made from lamb, although other types of meat are often used - beef, veal, chicken, fish fillet and even seafood.
Among the fried meat dishes, one can also highlight lula-kebab (chopped minced lamb, fried on a grill, served with herbs and pita bread) and tandoor kavap (fried meat baked in a tandoor, that is, in a jug-shaped grill). Dener kebab, or shawarma, is also popular among Asian people - this dish has Arabic roots and is common in many countries of the Middle East. It is pita bread stuffed with pre-grilled lamb or beef. Along with the meat, finely chopped fresh vegetables seasoned with garlic or tomato sauce are added to the shawarma.
In Azerbaijan, food is treated with respect, so even animal entrails are used. All these ingredients combine well in a national dish called chyz-byz - a roast based on a broth made from lamb bones and ribs. Lamb lungs, liver and heart are added to it, simmering everything with a small amount of vegetables, mainly potatoes and onions.
Dolma is another national dish, common among the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia. This is a kind of variation on the theme of Ukrainian cabbage rolls, only instead of cabbage leaves they use grape, quince and fig leaves. For the filling, lamb with stewed vegetables or sturgeon or stellate sturgeon fillet is used.
There are many options for preparing dolma in Azerbaijan. In the summer, badimdzhan dolmasy is often served - this is a vegetable dalma. Eggplants, sweet peppers and tomatoes are used to prepare it. The dish is served with fermented milk sauce and chopped garlic. Delhi dolma is also very popular. It is made from eggplants, and rice and peas are used as a filling, seasoning everything with mint and other herbs. Depending on the main ingredients, there are several more variations of Azerbaijani cabbage rolls: sogan-dolmasy (from onions), khiyar-dolmasy (from fresh cucumbers), pib dolmasy (from linden leaves) and alma-dolmasy (from apples).
A traditional meat dish among the peoples of the Caucasus is kufta - these are large meatballs made from lamb with the addition of saffron and other aromatic herbs. There are several varieties of this dish: arzuman-kufta (meatballs stuffed with boiled eggs, onions and herbs), riza-kufta (meat balls stewed in tomato sauce), tava-kuftasi (beef meatballs fried in a frying pan). No less popular is Tabriz kyofta - meatballs stuffed with rice with the addition of dried apricots, raw eggs and chickpeas. A lot of herbs and spices add aroma and sophistication to the dish.
Flour dishes and bread products
Bread and flour products occupy a significant place in the diet of Azerbaijanis. Previously, bread was baked on iron sheets - sajs, but over time they were replaced by tendirs, which have not left the everyday life of local residents to this day. A good alternative to traditional bread products is churek. It is made from yeast dough, often round, sometimes reminiscent of a roll. Churek is baked without any filling, only sprinkled with a small amount of sesame seeds on top. In appearance it resembles an ordinary loaf. 
Azerbaijanis call a hearty and tasty flour dish kutab (in some regions - gutab) - this is a seasonal dish, popular mainly in spring and autumn. It is a thin pie baked from unleavened dough, resembling a crescent moon in appearance. Kutab is stuffed with lamb or lamb offal, adding pomegranate seeds, grated onions, cheese and a lot of herbs. Previously, camel meat was used instead of lamb, but now this is almost never done. In some regions of Azerbaijan, Lezgin kutabs, or afars, are popular. They differ from traditional dishes in that only greens are used as filling, and they are cooked over an open fire, using sajji for this.
A variation of kutab is kyatya - these are the same pies, but the filling is a mixture of sheep's milk cheese (motal) and onions. Finely chopped woodlice leaves are also added here, sometimes they are replaced with young nettle leaves or spinach. The filling is a mixture of boiled potatoes and minced meat. Kyatya and kutab are usually large in size and filled with a lot of greens. They are baked on iron discs - sajs. The pies are eaten hot, often served with yogurt or kefir.
It is difficult to imagine Azerbaijani cuisine without traditional lavash - not a single holiday is complete without it. In fact, this is ordinary unleavened bread, shaped like an oval flatbread. As a rule, pita breads are very thin - their thickness does not exceed 2-5 mm, and the width of one sheet is about 50 cm. For the dough, mainly wheat flour is used, less often barley flour. Products are baked in special ovens (tendyrs). Traditionally, the dough for lavash is kneaded by the eldest woman in the house. To do this, use a large wooden trough - tasht. The daughter-in-law is always entrusted with rolling out the dough. Afterwards, the cake is pulled onto the inner walls of the oven and baked for literally 30-50 seconds. The finished sheets are stacked in small piles of 10 pieces. Lavash is a non-perishable product, so it can be stored dry for a long time.
In Azerbaijan, lavash is served with meat and is always used when serving lula kebab. In addition, it has a certain ritual function. There is a tradition according to which in some regions of the country it was presented as a gift for the daughter-in-law, which symbolized good luck and prosperity.
Sweet pastries
Azerbaijanis have a special love for sweets: delicious fruit jams and various pastries become integral attributes of any feast. The assortment of sweet pastries is quite diverse and includes about 30 varieties. The list of the most famous Azerbaijani delicacies includes baklava, Baku kurabye and sheker-bura.
Baklava is a traditional oriental dessert, which is a layer cake filled with nuts with the addition of cardamom, saffron, cloves and other spices. Each region of Azerbaijan has its own traditions for its preparation. Even in appearance it looks different: there is a square and a triangular one, although in the classic version it is cut into small pieces in the shape of a diamond. 
Kurabye, a very simple spicy shortbread, goes well with aromatic Azerbaijani tea. There is a legend that in ancient times this dessert was invented by a resourceful servant of the Persian Sultan. Once the villains stole all the sweets from the Sultan's palace. The servant decided to rectify the situation and, using the products he had, baked simple oval-shaped cookies. To give it a more aesthetic appearance, I decorated it with powdered sugar, sprinkled with cinnamon and saffron. Since then, kurabye has become a favorite dessert among Asian peoples. Another variety of Azerbaijani-style shortbread cookies is Shaker-Churek - these sweet, tender, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies will decorate any holiday table.
An easy-to-prepare and at the same time very tasty dessert is sheker-bura (“sweet pie”). The delicacy is prepared mainly during the national holiday Novruz. According to traditions, on this day sheker-bura symbolizes the moon, and baklava is the personification of the stars. The pies are baked from wheat flour and filled with almonds, walnuts and cardamom. On top they are decorated with a small pattern in the form of wheat ears.
Firni is also an Azerbaijani dessert. It is made from milk and rice flour, poured melted butter on top and sprinkled with cinnamon. Mutaki is another sweet that everyone will like, it is prepared mainly on holidays. The delicacy is a simple crumbly tube filled with nuts and sugar. It is quite simple to prepare, but thanks to the use of spices, the taste is very unusual.
Azerbaijani nan also belongs to the category of butter cookies. This dessert has the form of small slices, cut diagonally. The delicacy has a light spicy flavor, which is typical for all oriental sweets. When cooking, various fruit fillings, walnuts, candied fruits and raisins are added to it, and the top is decorated with powdered sugar.
Beverages
The most famous Azerbaijani soft drink is sherbet - this is one of the oldest types of drink common in Eastern countries. Previously, it was a combination of decoctions of dogwood, rose hips and licorice with the addition of spices and herbs. Now it is prepared on the basis of fruit juices, adding a number of spices and herbs, a little sugar and ice cream.
Second place goes to ayran - a fermented milk drink that perfectly quenches thirst. Traditionally, it is prepared from cow’s, or less often sheep’s, milk, adding a little salt and water.
Doshab - boiled fruit juice - has not only excellent taste, but also medicinal properties. It is made by combining grape, mulberry and apricot juices. Eat it without sugar. The consistency is more like a sauce. Doshab is often consumed as an addition to meat dishes and snacks.
It’s hard to imagine an Azerbaijani feast without tea: according to local residents, it encourages friendly communication and is simply necessary to maintain a casual conversation. According to local traditions, drinking tea is a kind of symbol of hospitality and respect for the guest.
Over the course of centuries of history, Azerbaijan has developed its own tea drinking traditions. The first thing worth noting is that they drink only black long-leaf tea here. The drink itself must be very strong. Tea leaves are brewed in large teapots, then the finished drink is poured into tall pear-shaped mugs (armudas). At the same time, it is never diluted with hot water and no sugar or granulated sugar is added, thereby preserving the natural strong taste and pleasant aroma.
Usually tea is served with different types of fruit jam or oriental sweets. To make it even more aromatic, oriental spices are often added to it - cloves, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. In the summer, rose oil is added to tea, which perfectly quenches thirst on hot days.
Among Azerbaijanis, tea is also an attribute of matchmaking. If during this ceremony the daughter-in-law's parents put a piece of sugar in it, then this means that it is time to prepare for the wedding, and if sugar is served separately, then this means that it is too early for the groom to rejoice.
Among the alcoholic drinks, it is worth noting mulberry brandy - this is a strong alcoholic drink, for the preparation of which mulberry juice is used. It has a transparent color, has a tart taste with a clearly noticeable smell of berries. The drink can be stored for several years. It is aged in special wooden barrels. Aged varieties have a more saturated hue (from golden to dark brown), a pronounced tart taste, which harmoniously combines with the aroma of fragrant herbs, berries and wood.
As you can see, Azerbaijani cuisine is distinguished by a great abundance of different dishes, each of them is characterized by a unique taste. The unique taste of local culinary masterpieces is associated not only with the skill of the chefs, but also with the wide variety of products that the generous land of Azerbaijan provides for their preparation. Azerbaijanis adopted many recipes and traditions from those peoples who lived next to them for many centuries. All this contributed to the fact that they were able to creatively diversify the range and improve the taste of their own food, but at the same time were able to preserve the unique local flavor!
Azerbaijani cuisine, in terms of the composition and variety of dishes, is one of the extremely tasty and healthy cuisines. It is distinguished by an abundance of various meat (lamb, beef, poultry), fish (stellate sturgeon, sturgeon) and vegetable dishes, complemented by aromatic herbs and spices, as well as a beautiful appearance.
November 12 is the Constitution Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This day is very important for the residents, because they began to live in an independent state. We invite you to get acquainted with the culture of the Azerbaijani people by preparing several popular dishes of national cuisine.
Azerbaijani national dishes have long been prepared in copper dishes. And now in many regions and rural areas of Azerbaijan, dishes cooked in copper pans are more tasty. Therefore, items of Azerbaijani national cuisine (saucepan, colander, basin, tray, slotted spoon, ladle, etc.) are mainly made of copper.
In Azerbaijani cuisine, pilaf is prepared with melted (or butter) cow butter. This oil does not withstand high temperatures, and therefore the occurrence of carcinogenic substances does not occur. Rice is boiled in boiling water, poured with oil and left to settle. The meat is stewed with onions, chestnuts and dried plums.
Before eating the main meal, Azerbaijanis drink tea, mainly black baccalaureate. There has long been a tradition in Azerbaijan: immediately upon the arrival of guests, serve them tea. The advantage of this tradition is that drinking tea in crowded dinner parties encourages relaxed communication. Tea in Azerbaijan is a symbol of warm hospitality.
Our selection of Azerbaijani cuisine:
OVDUKH (okroshka in Azerbaijani)
Matsoni-200 g, water-100 g, fresh cucumbers-100 g, green onions-40 g, cilantro-10 g, dill-10 g, basil-5 g, 1 pc. eggs, beef-108 g, salt, garlic.
To prepare okroshka, matsoni is beaten and diluted with chilled boiled water. Peel the cucumbers, chop finely, then chop the greens. All this is mixed with diluted matsoni, salt and garlic are added and put in the refrigerator. Serve cold. In some cases, boiled and finely chopped beef and a hard-boiled egg are added to the ovdukh. Usually ovdukh is prepared without meat.
KHAMRASHI (Azerbaijani soup)
Lamb - 200 g, wheat flour - 30 g, eggs 1-4 pcs., ghee - 10 g, white beans - 20 g, wine vinegar - 10 g, onions - 20 g, cilantro - 20 g, dried mint -1.0 g, pepper, salt.
Minced meat is prepared from the lamb pulp, then it is cut into small balls of 5-6 pieces. per serving. The beans are cooked separately. Unleavened dough is rolled out to a thickness of 1 mm and cut into strips 5 cm wide, and cut into homemade arishta noodles. First, meat balls are boiled in the broth, then noodles and boiled beans are added. Once ready, add chopped herbs and sprinkle with dried mint when serving. Wine vinegar is served separately.
SHAKER-CHUREK
Wheat flour, premium - 530 g, ghee - 260 g, powdered sugar - 300 g, eggs - 1 pc., vanillin - 3 g
Beat the melted butter with powdered sugar for 25-30 minutes, while gradually adding egg white. Add vanillin and sifted flour and, rubbing thoroughly, knead into a stiff dough. The dough is formed into round balls weighing 60-75 g, placed on iron sheets lined with parchment, brushed with egg yolk on top and baked at a temperature of 175-180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes. After cooling, the shaker churek is sprinkled with powdered sugar.
FIRNI
Rice - 40 g, milk - 200 g, sugar - 10 g, butter - 10 g, cinnamon - 0.2 g, salt
Rice is soaked in water for 2-3 hours, discarded, dried and pounded in a mortar. Pour rice flour into boiling milk, add salt and sugar with continuous stirring and cook. When serving, top with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon in a lattice pattern.
JYZ-BYZ
Lamb intestines (processed) -140 g, heart-60 g, liver-67 g, kidneys-60 g, testes-50 g, onions-50 g, potatoes-193 g, tail fat-15 g, greens-5 g , sumac-1.0 g, pepper-0.1 g, salt, in summer you can add tomatoes -100g
The cleaned intestines are cut into pieces 2-3 cm long. The liver, heart, livers and testes are cut into pieces. All this is peppered, salted and fried. Then add onions, separately fried potatoes, cut into cubes, mix and bring to readiness. When serving, sprinkle with herbs and serve sumac separately.
KUTABS WITH MEAT
Lamb-100 g, onion-20 g, lavashana-15 g or pomegranate-20 g, wheat flour-110 g, ghee-30 g, sumac-3 g, pepper-0.1 g, salt.
A stiff dough is kneaded from wheat flour with the addition of salt, which is rolled out to a thickness of 1-0.5 mm, and circles the size of a pie plate are cut out of it. Prepare minced meat from lamb and onions, add pepper, salt, pomegranate and mix thoroughly. Wrap the minced meat in dough in the shape of a crescent and fry in a frying pan in oil.
KUTABY WITH GREENS
Greens (spinach - 150 g, sorrel - 150 g, green onions - 150 g, cilantro and dill - 15 g), flour - 140 g, melted butter - 20 g, butter - 20 g, pita bread - 10 g, egg - 1/5 pcs, matsoni - 50 g, pepper, salt
The greens are washed, coarsely chopped and stewed with sautéed onions. Add salt, pepper, lavash to the filling and mix thoroughly. A stiff dough is kneaded from flour with the addition of water, eggs and salt, which is rolled out and cut into circles. The finished filling is wrapped in a crescent-shaped dough and fried on both sides in a frying pan without oil. When serving, kutabs are poured with heated butter and matsoni (kefir, yogurt) is served separately.
DOLMA
Lamb - 100 g, rice - 30 g, onion - 20 g, greens (cilantro, dill, mint) - 15 g, grape leaves - 40 g, matsoni - 20 g, melted butter - 10 g, salt, pepper, cinnamon
Lamb pulp and onions are passed through a meat grinder. Rice, chopped herbs, salt, pepper, and sometimes split peas pre-soaked in water are added to the minced meat. Fresh grape leaves are scalded with boiling water, and pickled leaves are left until half cooked. The minced meat is thoroughly mixed and wrapped in each sheet at the rate of an average of 25 g of minced meat per dolma. Place the dolma in a saucepan with a thick bottom, fill it halfway with water and simmer for an hour until cooked. When serving, matsoni (kefir, yogurt) is served separately.
LYULYA - KEBAB
1 kg of fatty lamb (if the lamb is lean, add tail fat or beef kidney fat), 4 medium onions, hot capsicum, a bunch of cilantro, 4 cloves of garlic.
Pass the meat, onion, garlic and cilantro through a meat grinder. Beat the minced meat very carefully on the table. You should feel with your hands that the meat has become sticky enough and does not fall apart. Then put the minced meat in the refrigerator for half an hour. Next, thread the minced meat onto a skewer into sausages 15 cm long (50 g each), and hold the skewer flat while threading. Fry on the grill for 10 minutes or on a preheated grill for 20 minutes. Lula kebab is usually served on thin lavash.
DUSHBARA (dumplings in Azerbaijani style)
lamb (boneless) - 400g, flour - 2 cups, egg - 1 pc, onion - 2 pcs, butter (melted) - 2 tbsp, wine vinegar (3%) - 2 tbsp, mint , cilantro - to taste, pepper and salt - to taste.
Separately, cook the bone broth. The lamb pulp is passed through a meat grinder, onion and pepper are added and mixed well.
A stiff dough is prepared from flour and eggs with the addition of salt. The resulting dough is rolled out to a thickness of about 2 mm. Stepping back 3 cm from the edge of the rolled out cake, spread the minced meat with a teaspoon at small intervals. The workpiece is covered with another cake, after which it is removed with a round recess.
The finished dushbara are dipped into boiling, strained broth and simmered over low heat until the dushbara float to the surface. For 4 servings use 6 cups of broth.
When serving, the dushbar is poured with broth, melted butter is added and sprinkled with herbs, and vinegar is served separately.
CHYKHYRTMA FROM SPINACH
Spinach-350 g, sorrel-100 g, parsley or dill-15 g, onion-50 g, eggs-2 pcs., melted butter-30 g, matsoni-100 g, pepper, salt.
Spinach, sorrel and parsley are sorted, washed, coarsely chopped and stewed. Separately fry the onions, then mix them with stewed herbs. Season with spices, place in a frying pan, pour in beaten eggs and bake in the oven. The finished dish is poured with oil and matsoni (yogurt, kefir) is served separately.
AZERBAJAN PILV
For pilaf you will need:
1) Dishes, preferably a cauldron
2) Oil - vegetable, in the original - cotton, you can use any other oil that you are used to using when frying, so that it does not burn.
3) Meat - classically, lamb, and, oddly enough, brisket is valued. It’s good to add the back, tail part (tail fat). But you can take other meat that is available to you. This dish is truly folk, even tough meat is prepared, but it is not necessary for guests to take just that.
4) Rice - not long, “Indian”. Here the principle is different - the rice should be translucent. The fact is that the rice should not fall apart during the cooking process, it should remain somewhat firm, although not raw.
5) Carrots - use white ones.
6) Onions - take white ones, as they are sweeter and juicier. But regular yellow will work just fine too.
7) Garlic - per kilogram - 5-6 large heads, less is possible.
8) Spices - a mixture of medium-hot red pepper, sweet red pepper, barberry berries (for sourness), coriander - grains (these are cilantro seeds) cumin (cumin, sometimes in a shell, then these are narrow small seeds of a grayish color, as usual, and peeled, very small oblong seeds are usually black; if ground, they smell like something like petroleum products), a little cumin, dried tomatoes, saffron, dried garlic and other ingredients.
9) The ratios of products are approximately the following: for 1 kg of rice take 1-2 kg of carrots (less than 1 kg is not allowed), 1 kg of meat, 0.5 kg of onions, 0.3 - 0.4 liters of oil.
For vegetarians - everything is the same, only without meat. Instead of meat, add carrots or potatoes. There are fans of different combinations of pumpkin, raisins and other things. Important - the basic technology remains the same.
Wash the rice to remove the flour. Then soak. Pour oil into a bowl free of water (can be evaporated). It is heated over high heat so that the smell of what the oil is pressed from (sunflowers, olives, etc.) goes away.
To prevent sudden boiling of the oil, you can pour a pinch of salt into the already heated liquid.
Cooking technology:
1) In the heated oil, carefully so as not to splash, put fat (tail fat or from meat, if there is a lot of it), bones, which have no prospects for distribution as meat, for frying. When the fat is rendered, all the greaves are caught. No more oil is added during the cooking process.
2) Add prepared thinly sliced onions in advance or during frying. The onion is cut thinly so that it cooks properly.
3) Place the meat, cut into large pieces, and fry.
4) Place carrots cut into strips.
5) All this is fried over high heat, stirring gently with a slotted spoon so as not to chop the carrots. You will also need to boil water, first two liters, then three more, so that you can add it to the pilaf (you can use broth).
5) Add boiling water so that it covers the resulting mixture by about a finger, maybe a little more, bring to a boil, add spices, garlic in the form of whole heads, freeing it only from the dirty outer shells. Cook over low heat, without letting it burn, you can cover it for at least half an hour, you can simmer it longer.
6) Remove the garlic if you put it in. Using a slotted spoon, add rice (preferably pre-soaked) without MIXING IT with meat and carrots. This is how he will prepare until the very end of the process. The only difficult and decisive moment comes. You add boiling water to rice. About one and a half to two fingers above the rice. But it also depends on the type of rice, quantity of carrots, etc. After this, the rice is not mixed in the usual way, and water, as a rule, is not added. If you have strong doubts about what is happening at the very bottom of the pan (whether it is burning), in such an emergency, you can try by moving a slotted spoon along the wall to lift the food at the bottom. But it’s better not to let it come to that.
During the cooking process, you can pierce the rice to the bottom with a round stick made of wood that does not taste bitter, creating boiling “wells” evenly over the surface so that there are no stagnant zones. The top layer of rice can be carefully turned over with a slotted spoon so that no dried or uncooked grains are caught.
7) When the visible part of the liquid disappears, put the garlic back, carefully pounding the rice on top so that the garlic is completely covered by the pilaf. Cover the cauldron with a lid and leave for 30 minutes over very low heat.
8) Remove the pilaf from the heat, open it, remove the garlic, mix the pilaf carefully with a slotted spoon, shifting the layers. If the dishes are small, use additional ones. If you have time, you can let the pilaf stand in a warm place, stirring, soaking.
The finished pilaf is distributed in the form of large portions, in a whole soup plate, or laid out on a common large dish - “lagan”. The meat is placed on top, as well as garlic heads, usually one per guest. Serve with onion salad (just onions sprinkled with salt) and fresh tomatoes.
It is considered extremely impolite to call the offered pilaf porridge, use ketchup with it, etc. Be sure to serve unsweetened green tea at the same time.
Products and ingredients:
- 1 medium sized chicken;
- 2 cups rice, preferably round;
- 3 tablespoons butter;
- 20 pieces of dried apricots (dried apricots);
- 5 spoons of raisins;
- A pinch of saffron powder;
- A pinch of salt;
- A pinch of cinnamon.
Preparing the recipe for Juja pilaf - yellow pilaf with chicken:
Wash the chicken, dry with a towel, cut into pieces. Mix salt and cinnamon.
Rub the chicken parts with this mixture, fry them in a frying pan for 5-7 minutes, then put them in a hot oven in the same frying pan with the lid closed until cooked (depending on the size of the chicken).
Rinse raisins and dried apricots and stir. Simmer in oil for 5-6 minutes.
Bring half a large pot of water to a boil. Attach gauze or a thin cloth to the pan so that it hangs slightly above the water. Place washed rice on gauze/napkin. Cover the pan with a lid and put on fire. Make sure that all the water does not boil away; if necessary, add through a napkin.
When the rice is ready, place it on a plate or small tray in a heap, pour with a mixture of melted butter, salt, and saffron infusion. To prepare the infusion, pour 0.3 cups of boiling water over saffron powder. Place pieces of chicken, dried apricots and raisins around the rice mound.
Salad "Mangal" with baked vegetables
Products and ingredients:
- 6 eggplants
- 6 tomatoes
- 1 hot green pepper
- 20 sprigs cilantro (green coriander)
- 10 sprigs basil
- 1 large red onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 5 tablespoons olive or corn oil
- 1.5 tablespoons wine vinegar 6%
- A pinch of ground black pepper
- A pinch of salt
Preparing the recipe for Mangal Salad with Baked Vegetables:
Wash the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants well. Bake whole in the oven (15 minutes is enough). After the vegetables have cooled, cut off the eggplant stalks and remove the pepper seeds.
Chop all the vegetables with a knife and strain off excess liquid through a sieve or colander. After this, put it in a deep bowl.
Chop the washed basil and cilantro very finely and add to the vegetables. Finely chop or grate the garlic and onion and add to the bowl.
Make a salad dressing by mixing wine vinegar, olive or corn oil, salt and pepper. Season the vegetables in a bowl, move them around well, and transfer them to a salad dish. After cooking, the salad should “infuse”, then its taste will be more pronounced.
Walnut baklava
Products and ingredients:
- 4 cups flour
- 1 spoon of fresh yeast
- 1 spoon of milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 liter jar of walnuts
- 0.5 liter jar of powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter
- A pinch of ground saffron
- Vanillin packet
Preparation of the recipe: Walnut baklava:
Mash the yeast and dissolve in warmed milk. Stir in 2 eggs, half a portion of melted butter, ground saffron, salt. Beat the mass with a whisk, stirring, add flour. Knead a plastic dough, put it in a bowl, cover with a thick towel and leave to rise for 1.5 hours. Then cut the expanded dough into 12 pieces. Make 2 pieces a little larger than the rest.
Make the filling:
Mix the ground nuts with 1 cup of powdered sugar, saffron and vanilla.
Roll out a larger piece of dough as thin as possible and line the bottom of a high frying pan with it. Brush this layer with melted butter. Place a thinly rolled out smaller layer on top, and place the filling on it in a thin layer. Repeat this until the layers and filling are finished. Cover the pie with a second large layer.
Using a sharp long knife, cut the pie into small diamonds and brush the top with yolk. Place the pan in a hot oven. This sweet puff pastry needs to be baked for at least 50 minutes.
Make syrup by boiling the remaining powdered sugar in 1 glass of water. Once the baklava is ready, pour hot syrup over it and place in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Spicy stuffed eggplants
Products and ingredients:
- 4 eggplants
- 2 cups minced lamb or beef
- 8 tomatoes
- 5 tablespoons sunflower or corn oil
- 1 large onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 10-12 sprigs of basil
- 10-12 sprigs of dill
- A pinch of salt
- A pinch of pepper
Preparation of the recipe: Spicy stuffed eggplants:
Mix ground onion, salt and pepper into minced lamb or beef. Place in a frying pan, fry, stirring for about half an hour. The finished mass should be light brown and crumbly. Leave it until it cools, then combine it with chopped basil. Stir.
Cut off one end of the eggplants and scrape out the pulp with a spoon. Place the eggplants in boiling water and boil for 3-4 minutes. Cool, stuff. Place in a saucepan or saucepan, cover with chopped garlic and chopped tomatoes.
Pour hot water with salt dissolved in it. Simmer for about 20 minutes in an open container, then close the lid and leave to simmer for 10 minutes over very low heat.
Hamrashi - bean soup with homemade noodles
Products and ingredients:
- 1 cup minced beef or lamb
- 2 medium onions
- 10 spoons of flour
- 3 yolks
- 5 tablespoons brown beans
- 1 spoon of tomato
- 2.5 tablespoons chopped cilantro (green coriander)
- 5-6 dried mint leaves
- Pepper
Preparing the recipe for Hamrashi - bean soup with homemade noodles:
Grind the meat and onion in a meat grinder. Roll the minced meat into very small meatballs. There should be 20-25 pieces in total. Boil the beans until they are soft but not spread out.
Knead unleavened dough from water, flour and egg yolks. Roll out very thin, dry the layer and cut into long ribbons 0.5-0.8 mm wide.
Pour water into a 2-liter saucepan and boil. Add meatballs and boil. Add noodles and cook for no more than 3 minutes. Add cooked brown beans. Simmer the tomato paste in butter and place in a saucepan. You can cut the tomatoes, but increase the simmering time to 3-4 minutes. Let it simmer for just a little bit – about 1 minute.
When the soup is ready, pepper it and add fresh cilantro. Sprinkle dried mint in bowls.
Khingal - Azerbaijani lasagna
Products and ingredients:
- 5 cups wheat flour
- 2 fresh chicken eggs
- 2 onions
- 300 ml water
- 2 tablespoons corn or olive oil
- 250 ml sour milk or kefir
- 2 full tablespoons butter or ghee
- 2 cloves garlic
Preparing the recipe Khingal - Azerbaijani lasagna:
Combine flour, water, eggs and salt in a bowl, make a thick dough. Then cut it into 6-7 pieces, put it on a wooden board and put it in a cool place (can be on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator). Take pieces of dough and roll them into thin circles on a table sprinkled thickly with flour. Cut the circles into not very wide strips (7-8 mm).
Boil salted water in a large saucepan. Carefully place one strip of dough into the boiling water, being careful not to let them stick together. When cooking, the dough will become translucent - this will be a signal that the noodles are ready. Drain the water through a colander.
Cut the onion into thin half rings. Fry it over low heat, combining vegetable and butter. After frying, the onions should have a beautiful golden color.
For the sauce, combine yogurt or kefir, crushed garlic, and salt.
Kutaby - unleavened pies with herbs
Products and ingredients:
- 10 full spoons of white flour
- 1 tightly filled glass of parsley, basil, dill, cilantro, sorrel, green onions (optional).
- 100 ml heated water
- A pinch of salt
Preparation of the Kutaba recipe - unleavened pies with herbs:
Pour flour into a bowl. Pour half a portion of heated water into it, in which salt is dissolved. Stir with a spoon or wooden spatula. Continue stirring, gradually adding the remaining water. Then transfer the mixture to a table sprinkled with flour. After kneading, the dough should come out tight and dense. Form the dough into a ball and cover it with a towel for 40 minutes.
Cut the greens as finely as possible, add salt and mix.
Divide the dough ball into 4 parts. Roll out each individual part into a thin round layer. Place part of the greenery on half the layer, cover the second greenery. Seal along the edges with a fork, being careful not to allow air bubbles to form between the layers.
Heat a large frying pan and, without greasing it, fry the pies on both sides (1 minute on each).
Place the finished kutabs on a dish and coat each with a piece of butter. Hot kutabs are especially good with sour cream or kefir. In Azerbaijan, they are traditionally served with feta cheese.
Chicken with nuts and raisins
Products and ingredients:
- 1 large chicken
- 3-4 medium onions
- 8 tablespoons ground nuts (walnuts or peanuts)
- 5-6 tablespoons light raisins
- 6-8 spoons of marshmallow or jam (apricot or apple)
- 1 heaped spoon of sugar
- A pinch of salt, black pepper, curry
- 4 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
Preparing the recipe: Chicken with nuts and raisins:
Grind the onion, squeeze well and strain the juice. Dry the onion a little in a frying pan without oil, then combine with ground nuts, raisins, sugar, marshmallow or jam steamed for 15 minutes in boiling water.
Rub the chicken with salt and pepper, brush with marshmallow or jam. Brush the top with a mixture of curry and vegetable oil - this will give the finished chicken a beautiful, even color.
Stuff the prepared chicken carcass, securely fasten the skin with threads. Place the chicken on a baking sheet generously greased with oil. You can use a wire rack: bake the chicken, periodically basting with fat. Both on a baking sheet and on a wire rack, you need to cook the chicken in the oven for at least 60 minutes.
Chicken with nuts and raisins is delicious hot or cold. It is better to cut it into portions right on the table before the meal.
Pickled grapes
Products and ingredients:
- 1 liter jar of grapes
- 3 tablespoons vinegar 3% (better than grape vinegar)
- 4 spoons of sugar
- A pinch of cinnamon powder
- A pinch of star anise seeds (anise seeds).
- 4 peppercorns
- 5 pieces of carnation buds
Preparing the recipe: Pickled grapes:
First cook the marinade. Pour 300 ml of warm water into a small enamel pan and add sugar. Boil and immediately pour in vinegar. Add spices to the marinade: pepper, star anise, cinnamon, cloves. Cover with a lid and leave for 6-7 hours. Wash the grapes, trying to keep the skins on the berries intact, then pour them onto a towel and dry them. Place the berries tightly in a jar and fill with infused cold marinade to the top. Cover with a lid, saucer, board. Place the jar in the basement or pantry for 10-12 days (the main thing is that it is dark and not too hot). After this period, the pickled grapes are ready. For long-term storage, you can roll it up with a metal lid. It is better to marinate white grapes.
Sweet Shaker-churek
Products and ingredients:
- 0.5 kg white flour
- 5 full spoons of ghee
- 1 egg
- 10 heaped tablespoons of powdered sugar
- Vanillin packet
Preparation of the recipe Sweet Shaker-churek:
Combine softened butter and powdered sugar and rub thoroughly until a homogeneous, grain-free, white mass is formed. It should be light and fluffy. At the same time, add the tightly beaten egg white in parts. When the mixture is almost ready, add vanillin and stir. Then combine the mixture with flour and immediately knead into a fairly tight dough.
Pinch off pieces of dough weighing approximately 70 g and roll into balls. To ensure that the balls are of the correct shape, your palms must be periodically moistened with water or lubricated with vegetable oil.
Heat the oven. Line a baking sheet with oiled paper or parchment, place the balls on it at a distance of about 4 cm from each other, as they will increase in size during baking. Using a brush or feather, brush each ball with yolk on top. Bake in the oven at medium temperature for about half an hour, making sure that the products do not burn on the bottom. Sprinkle hot sweets with powdered sugar and cover with a napkin or towel.
Azerbaijani cuisine is a stunning mix of Caucasian, Turkish and Central Asian culinary traditions. Numerous kebabs, eggplant dishes with nuts and cheese, aromatic vegetables and, of course, pilaf. Here you will find many already familiar dishes, only they will be executed in a special way, in Azerbaijani style.
Lamb dishes
Lamb is the most popular meat in Azerbaijan. Beef and veal are much inferior to it. And Azerbaijani chefs are excellent at preparing their favorite meat. There are many dishes. They are all great. Here lamb is boiled with aromatic herbs, stewed in milk, baked over coals... Be sure to try kufta bozbash - clear lamb broth with a huge meatball stuffed with prunes...
Features of Azerbaijani cuisine
You may not like, say, Chinese cuisine, you may even be indifferent to French... But try Caucasian cuisine, in particular Azerbaijani, and not be delighted..
No. This can't happen. The abundance of vegetables, fruits and herbs, fresh meat and fish, the reverent attitude of the people to their traditions - all this can conquer the most demanding gourmet.
In Azerbaijan, they try not to store food for a long time or freeze it. For example, they always buy exactly as much meat as needs to be cooked. Then they go back to the market for the freshest. Most often, a lamb or calf is butchered right in front of the buyer.
Azerbaijan is. of course, mountains and foothills, forests and meadows, but this is also...
Potatoes - 4 pcs.
Tomato - 3 pcs
Onion - 1 piece
Bell pepper (large) - 1 pc.
Cucumber - 2 pcs.
Ghee butter - 2 tbsp. l.
Broth - 150 ml
Lamb or beef (in mine...
Azerbaijani cuisine
Kefir 3.2% – 2 l
Eggs – 1 pc.
Flour – 1 tbsp.
Rice – 3 tbsp.
Sorrel – 1 bunch
Green cilantro – 1 bunch
Parsley – 1 bunch
Dill greens – 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt
Buglama
This is perhaps one of the easiest Azerbaijani dishes to prepare. Moreover, the composition of the ingredients here can be completely arbitrary. The required ingredients are lamb, onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers, and the rest of the vegetables simply provide additional taste and aroma. Buglama is also prepared from sturgeon. In this case, only the required ingredients are used for cooking, plus 3-4 bay leaves and black peppercorns. Buglama is prepared over low heat; almost a couple. Hence the name - buQIama, which translated from Azerbaijani means “steamed”. A similar dish is prepared in the republics of Central Asia. There it is called basma or dimlyama. During preparation we covered...
Azerbaijani dovga
3 liters of matsoni or kefir
1 egg
salt for serving
12-15 servings
Preparation: 30 min
Preparation: 10 min.
2. Boil rice in large quantities...
Azerbaijani pilaf sabzi-govurma
Sabzi - greens, govurma (Azerb), kourma (Uzbek) - fried meat, meat preparation, widespread among many Turkic peoples.
The pilaf itself is prepared using the folding method, separately from the meat, which is typical for the cuisines of many nations, with the exception of the cuisine of Central Asia.
To prepare pilaf you will need:
kilogram of long grain rice,
half a kilo of various greens,
half a kilo of beans,
700 grams of chopped onion,
kilogram of meat,
500 ml ghee,
turmeric,
saffron and salt.
If I were cooking without beans, I would take a kilogram of greens - the same amount as meat. Yes, there are regions where they don’t snack on greens, but eat greens the same way as in Belarus, for example, they eat potatoes...
Azerbaijani cuisine
Dovga is a national dish of Azerbaijani cuisine. Dovga is a cold summer soup made from kefir and herbs. On the festive table the dish is served with small meatballs. Azerbaijani housewives cook at least 10 liters of dovgu, since the cooking process is quite long and it is often difficult to cook.
Kefir 3.2% – 2 l
Eggs – 1 pc.
Flour – 1 tbsp.
Rice – 3 tbsp.
Sorrel – 1 bunch
Green cilantro – 1 bunch
Parsley – 1 bunch
Dill greens – 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt
To prepare the recipe for Azerbaijani cuisine Dovga, beat the egg with flour and 1 tbsp. cold kefir. Add a beaten egg, washed rice to a saucepan with kefir and put on medium heat, constantly...
Azerbaijani chebureks "Kutaby"
Kutab is a traditional and very popular dish of Azerbaijani cuisine. Kutabs are prepared stuffed with herbs or meat. The resulting kutabs are crispy with a slight sourness!
Water (warm water) - 200 ml
Flour - 300 g
Salt - 1 handful.
Butter (melt) - 20 g
Filling
Minced meat (minced lamb or beef) - 500 g
Onions - 3 pcs.
Pomegranate - 1 pc.
Spices - 1 handful.
Add salt, flour to warm water and make a dough. Leave in a bowl, cover with a towel, and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
Let's prepare our pomegranate.
Azerbaijani chebureks "Kutab" ingredients Roll out the dough thinly, cut into a large round shape.
Place minced meat on half of the rolled out dough and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Oh...
Shah-pilaf
Shah-pilaf (khan-pilaf, shah ash, padishah-pilaf, royal pilaf) is one of the most delicious pilaf recipes in Azerbaijani cuisine. It got its name from its appearance, which is a bit reminiscent of the crown of ancient eastern rulers. Such pilaf is an indispensable dish at weddings and holidays. But it’s not just the appearance that makes you think about its name, because it is truly the food of kings.
Ingredients
Long grain rice (preferably Basmati) - 300 gr.
Chicken fillet -500 gr.
Butter (50 g for rice, 50 g for pita bread, 50 g for frying) - 150 g.
Onions - 1 pc.
Carrots - 1 pc.
Garlic - 4 teeth.
Lavash (thick) - 2 pcs.
Dried fruits (dried apricots, prunes, dates - 6-8 pieces each, raisins - 50 g)
Chestnuts...
Azerbaijani Cuisine
Ingredients of kyukyu greens
Eggs – 4 pcs.
Flour – 2 tsp.
Green onion – 0.5 bunch
Dill – 0.5 bunch
Spinach – 100 g
Cilantro – 0.5 bunch
Ghee butter – 4 tbsp.
Ground black pepper Salt
Green kyukyu recipe
The recipe for the Azerbaijani cuisine kyukyu made from greens is very simple and quick to prepare. Wash the greens, dry and finely chop. Combine the greens with the eggs, add salt, pepper and beat everything well with the addition of flour. Pour the egg mixture into the heated oil, cover and fry over medium heat until...
Shah pilaf
Ingredients
We present to your attention the recipe for Royal Pilaf, which is one of the main and most delicious dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine.
Shah pilaf (Royal pilaf) is one of the main dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. It is prepared on special occasions, for example, in honor of a wedding. There are many recipes for Shah Plov; each region of the country has its own nuances and subtleties. We tried to combine interesting aspects of several recipes, and the result was aromatic, juicy pilaf with a crispy lavash crust.
Ingredients:
-long grain Basmati rice (preferably Tamasha) - 300 grams
-chicken - 1 piece (you can use meat)
-lavash - 2 large sheets
-vegetable oil and...
Azerbaijani Cuisine
Kyukyu from greens is an easy to prepare appetizer according to the recipe of Azerbaijani cuisine. Kyukyu can be prepared using cream or milk, so the green kyukyu will be more fluffy
Ingredients of kyukyu greens
Eggs – 4 pcs.
Flour – 2 tsp.
Green onion – 0.5 bunch
Dill – 0.5 bunch
Spinach – 100 g
Cilantro – 0.5 bunch
Ghee butter – 4 tbsp.
Ground black pepper Salt
Green kyukyu recipe
The recipe for the Azerbaijani cuisine kyukyu made from greens is very simple and quick to prepare. Wash the greens, dry and finely chop. Combine the greens with the eggs, add salt, pepper and beat everything well with the addition of flour. Pour the egg mixture into the heated oil, cover and fry over medium heat until...
Azerbaijani cuisine
Ingredients of the dish ovduh
Kefir – 1 l
Cucumbers – 4-5 pcs.
Eggs – 4 pcs.
Green onion – 1 bunch
Dill – 1 bunch
Cilantro – 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt
Dolma with cabbage leaves and quince
Dolma is one of the most popular and favorite dishes of Azerbaijanis. Every housewife believes that her dolma is the most delicious. Azerbaijani cuisine includes several types of dolma: with grape leaves, with eggplants, bell peppers and tomatoes, and even dolma with early leaves of the quince tree. “Dolma” translated from Azerbaijani means “filled”, “stuffed”. So we will stuff cabbage leaves with prepared minced meat.
500 g lamb or beef pulp
1 small head of cabbage
2 large quinces
1 large onion
1/3 cup rice
ground cinnamon on the tip of a knife
salt, black pepper
sour cream for serving
6 servings
Preparation: 1 hour 10 minutes.
Preparation 1 hour
1. For the rice filling...
Oriental sweet Okra (Azerbaijani cuisine)
Okra (emphasis on the “I”) is probably the simplest Azerbaijani sweet, requiring a minimum of ingredients.
We will need:
Flour (2-2.5 cups)
1 egg
soda, salt
vegetable oil (approx. 1 cup)
0.5 cups sugar
1-2 tbsp honey
a tiny pinch of ginger
1. Pour 1 cup of flour + 0.5 tsp of soda + a pinch of salt into 2 cups of boiling water and stir well. After 5 minutes, add 1 egg, flour and knead the dough.
2. Pass the dough through a meat grinder through a sausage attachment.
3. Cut the flagellum into “fingers” the length of your little finger and deep-fry them in odorless vegetable oil until deep golden brown.
4. Place on a sieve.
5. Prepare the syrup - pour half a glass of sugar into half a glass of water, cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat, add honey, ginger and pour over our “fingers”. Leave for 2 hours to completely soak, and it’s ready to eat.
Cuba Tykhmasy / Azerbaijani cuisine
Kuba tykhmasy - Azerbaijani sweet buns, GOST recipe.
I allowed myself the only deviation from GOST, using instead of saffron its cheap substitute - safflower flowers.
A cube of tykhmasa has a thin, fragile crust, a slightly flaky, airy crumb, a sweet-spicy center - something wonderful!
Despite the apparent complexity, preparing them is not particularly difficult.
Required:
650 g premium wheat flour
100 g milk
150 g water
200 g butter margarine
2 chicken eggs
200 g sugar
60 g butter
10 g fresh yeast
1 g saffron
2 g grated nutmeg
2 g salt
1. I repeat that I replaced the saffron in the recipe with a cheaper analogue of this precious spice...
Choban-govurma / Azerbaijani cuisine
Recipe for Azerbaijani cuisine. I was very surprised by this dish!!! In my opinion, it contains an ingredient that just doesn’t fit into this dish!!! That’s what I thought... But no, how wrong I was, everything is so harmonious, and fits so perfectly and complements each other!!! Try to cook this Azerbaijani national dish, I think that you will like it too!!!
Lamb (Lamb can be replaced with beef) - 400 g
Potatoes - 4 pcs.
Tomato - 3 pcs
Onion - 1 piece
Bell pepper (large) - 1 pc.
Cucumber - 2 pcs.
Ghee butter - 2 tbsp. l.
Broth - 150 ml
Let's prepare our ingredients. Peel the potatoes, onions, wash everything.
Lamb or beef...
Azerbaijani cuisine
Ovdukh is a cold Azerbaijani summer soup based on kefir, herbs and cucumbers. Sometimes kefir is diluted with water, covered with herbs, poured into tall glasses and drunk.
Ingredients of the dish ovduh
Kefir – 1 l
Cucumbers – 4-5 pcs.
Eggs – 4 pcs.
Green onion – 1 bunch
Dill – 1 bunch
Cilantro – 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt
To prepare this recipe for Azerbaijani cuisine, such as ovdukh, wash the cucumbers and chop them finely. Add chopped cucumbers, finely chopped herbs to kefir, add salt and pepper and mix. Boil the eggs, peel and cut into 4 parts. Pour the finished ovdukh into plates, garnish with eggs and serve. If it’s spring, you can add finely chopped radishes to the air.
Azerbaijani dovga
This is one of the most popular and favorite dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. It is generally accepted that dovga is best prepared in the Ganjabasar zone of Azerbaijan; This is understandable, because the most delicious greens grow here. This dish is good because it is wonderful both hot and cold, so prepare a lot of it, with a reserve, put it in jars and put it in the refrigerator.
3 liters of matsoni or kefir
1 egg
1/2 cup short grain rice
2 large bunches of spinach (200 g) large bunch of cilantro (100 g) large bunch of dill (100 g) small bunch of mint
salt for serving
12-15 servings
Preparation: 30 min
Preparation: 10 min.
1. Wash the greens well, cut and dry.
2. Boil the rice in a large...
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