Uzbekistan

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Achichuk

Achicuk Salad

A Uzbek fresh tomato, cucumber, and onion salad with herbs, a daily and side classic

🇹🇷Turkey

Ayran

Ajran

Ayran is a cold drink of yogurt, water and salt, whisked until lightly foamy. In Bulgaria it is a summer fountain and meal drink, never a sweet yogurt.

🇱🇧Lebanon

Baklava

بقلاوة

Layers of paper-thin phyllo brushed with butter and filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios, baked crisp then drenched in lemon- or rose-scented sugar syrup. One square, cut diamond-small, is the shared Ottoman dessert of the whole eastern Mediterranean.

🇲🇳Mongolia

Boortsog

Боорцог

Wheat dough cut into fingers, knots or twists and deep-fried in fat until dry and hard, barely sweetened and kept in bowls for weeks.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Chak Chak

Чак-чак

Tatar fried-dough mound tossed in honey and piled like a pinecone, crisp outside and syrup-soaked within; wedding-table centrepiece in Kazan.

🇹🇲Turkmenistan

Chuchvara

Чучвара

Chuchvara is an Uzbek boiled dumpling filled with minced meat and spices, served in clear broth or with sour cream.

🇰🇬Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan

Devzira Rice

Девзира

A red-brown rice from the Fergana valley whose grains hold a groove of pink bran, grown around Uzgen and prized for plov because it swells without breaking.

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Dimlama

Dimlama is an Uzbek slow-cooked stew of meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage layered in a deep pot until tender.

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Dolma (Uzbek)

Dolma

Uzbek mixed dolma stuffs peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, or cabbage with seasoned rice and minced meat before simmering until tender.

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Hasib

Ҳасиб

A Uzbek boiled sausage with rice, blood, and fat, a festive and regional classic

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Karta

Қарта

A Kazakh boiled horse intestine dish

🇹🇷Turkey

Kaymak

Қаймақ

Thick clotted cream, essential for breakfasts and desserts.

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Kazan Kabob

Qozon kabob

A Uzbek hearty dish of meat, potatoes, and onions cooked in a kazan

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kazy

Қазы

Horse-rib meat and fat are packed into a natural casing, then salted, smoked or boiled, and sliced into rich coins.

🇵🇱Poland

Kompot

Polish fruit compote of boiled fresh or dried fruits (apples, plums, pears), served warm or cold. A traditional drink-dessert, sweet and fruity, a daily and festive staple.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kurt

Құрт

Salted sour milk is strained, shaped into firm pieces, and dried into a tangy travel cheese.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kuyrdak

Қуырдақ

Heart, liver, kidneys, onion, and pepper are browned together into a rich Kazakh offal dish served hot from the pan.

🇨🇳Xinjiang, China

Lagman

Lag'mon

Lagman is a Uyghur and Central Asian noodle dish built from hand-pulled strands served with meat, peppers, onions, and tomato in a savoury broth or sauce.

🇹🇯Tajikistan

Manti

Манту

A Uzbek large steamed dumpling with minced lamb or beef, onions, and fat, served with yogurt, a daily and festive classic

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Mastava

A Uzbek rice soup with meat, vegetables, and herbs

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Moshkhurda

Moshxurda

A Uzbek mung bean and rice soup with meat and vegetables

🇦🇿Azerbaijan

Nabat

Sugar syrup crystallises around a string or stick into clear rock candy that is nibbled with tea.

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Nahor Oshi

Наҳор оши

Morning plov served at a wedding breakfast, with rice, carrots, meat, and a large kazan's slow-cooked aroma.

🇰🇬Tashkent, Kyrgyzstan

Naryn

Нарын

Boiled horse meat and fat shredded by hand and tossed through thin sheets of noodle with raw onion, served cool with a bowl of broth.

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Nishalda

Нишалло

A Uzbek whipped egg white and sugar meringue with soap root or licorice, a festive and tea classic

🇹🇯Tajikistan

Non

Round flatbread baked against the wall of a tandoor, stamped with a centre pattern and served with nearly every meal.

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Pakhlava (Uzbek)

Paxlava

A Uzbek layered nut and honey pastry, a festive and sweet shop classic

🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Parvarda

Parvarda is an Uzbek sugar pillow candy made with flour and citric acid, with a soft texture that melts on the tongue.

🇹🇲Turkmenistan

Plov (Osh)

Osh / Palov

Rice, meat, carrots, onion, and spices are cooked together in a kazan until the grains are separate and richly flavoured.

🇺🇿Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Samarkand Non

Самарқанд нони

Samarkand's round flatbread, stamped and baked in a tandoor.

🇹🇯Tajikistan

Shakarob

Шакароб

Tomatoes and onions sliced thin, salted and left to release their juice, sometimes with a spoon of chakka stirred through.

🇦🇲Armenia

Shashlik

Шашлық

Shashlik is marinated meat grilled on skewers with onion and rendered fat, a shared Eurasian form rather than a single national dish.

🇺🇿Khorezm, Uzbekistan

Shivit Oshi

Шивит оши

Khorezm's green noodles are coloured and flavoured with dill, then served with meat, potatoes, and a light vegetable topping.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Shubat

Шұбат

Fermented camel's milk, thick and white with a clean sourness and a faint natural fizz.

🇹🇲Turkmenistan

Shurpa

Sho'rpa

A Uzbek soup with large pieces of fatty mutton, fresh vegetables, and herbs

🇦🇫Herat, Afghanistan

Sumalak

Sprouted wheat is ground with water and flour, then stirred overnight into a dark, naturally sweet Navruz pudding shared from a cauldron.