Azu from beef: recipe with photo

Your family is a wonderful tandem in which you like to cook delicious and unusual dishes, and the rest do not refuse to eat a hearty meal? In this case, you should definitely learn the basics of beef. On the one hand, it is a very refined and sophisticated dish. And on the other - it is prepared quite easily and quickly. But first, let's find out where the basics of beef with pickles came to our table.

Dish history

Today it is impossible to say where this dish was first prepared. Even its name causes serious controversy. Some experts argue that the word "azu" is translated from Persian as "pieces of meat." Others are sure that it comes from the Tatar word "azdyk" - "food". But in Russian cuisine, it migrated along with the Tatars. It is no coincidence that many culinary experts are interested in how to cook Tatar basics from beef with pickles.

For its preparation, you can use a variety of meats. Although the classic recipe recommends taking lamb or even horse meat, today chefs diversify it beyond recognition. Most often, beef is used - it is not as greasy as pork, but it is easier to get it than lamb. In addition, cow meat is much more familiar to our compatriots than horses.

They cook it with chicken or turkey - a fairly budget option. Some Orthodox, in order not to break the fast, even manage to replace the lean meat with fish, thus obtaining not only a dietary dish, but a completely lean one.

But below we will consider exactly the option of cooking with beef - as the most common and familiar for most cooks.

Dish benefits

First of all, you can advise the basics of beef to fans of spicy cuisine. Indeed, according to all preserved recipes, the dish includes a large number of seasonings. Nevertheless, be careful - not everything that is tasty is also useful.

In addition, some people claim that they do not like vegetables. But if the basics are cooked correctly, then each of the ingredients, whether it be potatoes, pickles or onions, has a great taste. Therefore, even a very picky gourmet will not be disappointed if you treat him to such a dish.

Finally, if some methods of cooking azo from beef and potatoes take a lot of time, then others are simple. So, let's start cooking!

Classic dish

First, try to cook a classic beef basics. To do this, you will need the following products:

• 700 g of beef.
• 7 potatoes.
• 1 onion head.
• Vegetable oil.
• Half a head of garlic.
• 2 pickled cucumbers.
• 3 tbsp. l tomato paste.
• Salt pepper.

All the necessary ingredients are there. You can start cooking:

1. Peel the onion, cut into small cubes. Fry in vegetable oil until it becomes clear.
2. Add tomato paste to the onion, fry, stirring occasionally, for several minutes.
3. Cut the beef into small pieces. Put on a well-heated cauldron or a fryer, greased with vegetable oil. Fry for a short time, only to form a gray crust that does not allow meat juice to come out.
4. Put onion with tomato paste and seasoning for the meat. Now pour boiling water so that it completely covers the beef. Sauté for 90-100 minutes under the lid on low heat.
5. Peel the potatoes, cut into small slices. Lubricate the non-stick pan with oil, put potatoes in it, salt and send to the oven, preheating to 220 degrees. Take out and stir occasionally. Cook until it stops crackling.
6. Cut the cucumbers in half rings. Fry in a greased pan for about 20 minutes - until the excess moisture is gone.
7. Peel and chop the garlic.
8. When the meat is ready, transfer cucumbers and garlic there, add all the potatoes, mix thoroughly, stew for 7 minutes. Leave it on a hot stove so that everything is saturated with common juice.

If desired, before serving, you can decorate with chopped greens - it will look better, and taste will improve. Now you know how to cook basics of beef, and not a single gourmet who is at your table will be left disappointed.

Azu in the slow cooker

Want to cook a tasty dish, but not enough time? In this case, a multicooker will come to the rescue - an excellent kitchen assistant, which allowed housewives to save millions of hours in the kitchen.

For cooking you will need:

• 500 g of meat;
• 2 pickles;
• 0.5 kg of potatoes;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 tbsp. l tomato paste;
• 1 onion head;
• vegetable oil;
• salt, seasoning.

Surely everything you need is in your refrigerator. So, you can start creating a masterpiece:

1. The meat should be frozen to make it easier to work with. Cut it into pieces.
2. Wash and peel the vegetables. Cut the carrots into strips, dice the potatoes, pickles in circles, and onions in half rings.
3. Pour some vegetable oil into the bowl of the multicooker, transfer the meat there and start the "Frying" mode for 10 minutes.
4. Add tomato paste and prepared vegetables to the meat. Run for another 5 minutes.
5. Peel the potatoes and cut into circles. Rinse the bay leaf.
6. Transfer potatoes with bay leaf to a bowl, salt, pour two glasses of water. Run in the "Stew" (or "Soup") for half an hour.
7. Turn off and leave the dish for 10-20 minutes to get a good night.

As you can see, the multicooker does all the work for you, and in the meantime you can relax or do other things. The resulting dish is not only tasty, but also outwardly attractive. The Tatar-illustrating basics of beef photos attached to the article perfectly show this.

Cook in a pan

Now try to cook an already familiar dish in a pan. To diversify the diet, try to slightly change the composition:

• 700 g of beef.
• 1 cream cheese.
• 4 tbsp. l sour cream.
• 3 pickles.
• 500 ml of broth.
• Tkemali - 3 tbsp. l (regular tomato paste is also suitable).
• Parsley, salt, vegetable oil.

As you can see, there are no vegetables here - only meat with spices. Therefore, it is separately worth preparing a side dish. Rice, mashed potatoes, stewed vegetables or small pasta are suitable. Now get to work:

1. Cut the cucumbers into circles, and the meat into small slices.
2. Mix sour cream with tkemali sauce in a small cup.
3. Fry the meat in a deep frying pan or in a cauldron - not so much that a crust forms, no more than 5 minutes.
4. Pour it into the resulting sauce and broth. Stir, cover, simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Dice the cheese and add together with the cucumber to the pan. Salt, simmer another 10 minutes.

That's all. A sophisticated and simple dinner is ready.

We use pots

Some experts argue that since beef azo is a Tatar dish, it is best to cook it in pots. Therefore, we will talk about such a recipe. To bring it to life, take:

• 400 g of meat.
• 6 pickles.
• 8 potatoes.
• 3 medium onion heads.
• 150 grams of cheese.
• 1 carrot.
• 3 tbsp. l tomato paste.
• Bay leaf, salt and black pepper.

When all the ingredients are collected, you can begin to master a new dish:

1. Cut the meat into narrow strips, fry in vegetable oil, adding pepper and salt. Not too long, literally 5 minutes to grab a hold.
2. Cut the cucumbers or grate. Lay the washed pots on the bottom.
3. Put the meat on top of the cucumbers. Add a leaf of bay leaf.
4. Peel and cut the vegetables - onions in half rings, and carrots on a coarse grater. Fry to make the carrots soft and the onions golden. Arrange in pots.
5. Cut the potatoes into large cubes. Peppercorns and salt, fry in a pan to form a golden crust. Add to the rest of the ingredients.
6. Dilute the tomato paste with water to the consistency of the broth and distribute in pots.
7. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Put the pots in it for 40 minutes.
8. Sprinkle the finished dish with grated cheese and serve.

As the photos illustrating the basics of beef show, it looks in pots just great.

Azu in the microwave

Separately, let's say about cooking in the microwave. Prepare the following components:

• 400 g of meat (better than beef, but you can also poultry or pork).
• 2 pickles.
• 1 onion head.
• 1 carrot.
• 2 tbsp. l tomato paste.
• Sugar, salt, spices.

In this case, you also prepare the meat base - the side dish will have to be selected separately. Getting started:

1. Peel the carrots and onions, cut and mix. Put in a glass pan greased with vegetable oil. Microwave for 5 minutes at maximum power.
2. Cut the meat into slices, and the cucumbers into half rings. Add with tomato paste, salt, sugar and spices to vegetables.
3. Stir, pour 2 cups of broth or boiling water.
4. Microwave for 15 minutes.
5. Pull, mix and place on another 10.

This recipe illustrates that you can cook the basics in the shortest possible time, and the taste will not suffer.

Conclusion

After reading the article, you learned not only the history of an exquisite exotic dish, but also different ways of cooking it. Now it is possible to choose the most suitable and delight loved ones with a delicious dinner.