Spice Mix For Kazakh And Uzbek Recipes

UZBEK KAVURMA

Steps:

• For the Meat: Cut meat into serving sized pieces. Brown in oil. Add onions and saute until golden. Add tomatoes and mix. Remove from heat and add cubed potatoes and sliced carrots. Fry a few more minutes. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, and cook until vegetables are tender.
• For the Rice: Soak rice for about 1/2 hour. In a skillet saute onions until tender. Add carrots, raisins, spice mix, and cardamom, continue frying slowly until onions are golden. Sprinkle sugar over this and set aside. Place rice in a pot and stir in onion mixture. Add vegetable oil and stir to mix ingredients into rice. Cover rice with water, about 1 inch of water should be over the rice. Bring to a boil, lower the temperature, and cover. Let it cook about 15 minutes then check it. Continue to cook until water is absorbed and rice is fluffy.
• Spoon rice onto a serving platter. Flatten the rice and pour the meat and veggies over the rice. Garnish with green onions.

KUYRDAK FROM KAZAKHSTAN

Steps:

• Cut meat into serving sized pieces and fry with chopped onions. Make balls with bread dough. Add broth, bread dough, spice mix, chopped tomatoes, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then stew about an hour or until tender.
• Meanwhile, fry garlic and spring onions until golden, then add all other sauce ingredients except yogurt and fry another minute or so. Set aside.
• When ready to serve Kuyrdak, add yogurt to sauce and stir well. Remove bay leaves, spoon meat onto a bed of rice and serve sauce on the side, as people will prefer different amounts.
• Variation: Skip the yogurt and oil. Do not cook greens, just sprinkle them over the Kuyrdak. This is how it is served when yogurt is not available.

UZBEK PLOV (LAMB AND RICE PILAF)

Steps:

• Place basmati rice in a large bowl and cover with warm water. Set aside. Wash heads of garlic. Set aside.
• Heat vegetable oil in a dutch oven or large skillet over high heat until smoking, then add lamb, turning occasionally until the lamb is evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in the onions; cook and stir until the onion has softened and browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in the carrots; cook and stir until the carrots have softened, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cumin, coriander, barberries, and peppercorns. Drop whole garlic heads into the mixture, stirring to evenly distribute ingredients. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
• Wash and drain basmati rice with hot water. Pour cleaned rice over the lamb mixture in an even layer. Slowly pour in the boiling water. The rice should be covered with about 3/4 inch of water. Do not stir. Season with salt, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir rice and lamb together, and serve with the garlic heads on top.

SPICE MIX FOR KAZAKH AND UZBEK RECIPES

Steps:

• Mix well and store in an air-tight container.