In Tatar culinary 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, built on an interesting combination of products. They are easy to prepare and tasteful. In this article we will consider the best Tatar dishes (recipes with photos will be attached).
The formation of culinary in Tatarstan
Culinary traditions have evolved over more than one century. In Tatar cuisine, most of the dishes are borrowed from the nearest neighboring countries. The Tatars inherited recipes from the Turkic tribes for the preparation of dishes from flour and dairy products (for example, cabartma). Pilaf, sorbet, halva were borrowed from Uzbek cuisine ; from Chinese - dumplings, as well as methods for 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 meat most used in cooking is lamb. You can also eat young beef. Tatars are still breeding horses, not only for agricultural purposes, but also for the manufacture of sausages (kazylyk). Horsemeat is used dried, boiled and salted.
The most common Tatar national dishes: broths and soups (ashlar, shurpa), meat, meatless and dairy dishes. Their names are determined by the name of the seasoned products (vegetables, flour products, cereals).
Among the drinks are Katyk, Ayran and tea. The following tradition exists in the national culture of the Tatars: when a person comes to visit to show respect, they are offered hot, strong black tea with sweets and fresh pastries.
It is worth noting such a feature of this kitchen - all dishes can be divided into liquid hot and main dishes, dough products and goodies that are served for tea. Hot soups or broths are of utmost importance. They are a mandatory part of the meal in the house. Depending on the broth on 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.
Next, we consider the most popular Tatar meat dishes. Recipes included.
Azu in Tatar
Ingredients:
- beef (you can use young horsemeat) - two hundred grams;
- black pepper;
- potatoes - 150 grams;
- tomato puree - five tablespoons;
- pickled cucumbers - six pieces;
- onion;
- one head of garlic;
- greens;
- ghee - 15 grams;
- salt.
Wash and dry the beef. Cut into cubes two centimeters wide and four centimeters long. Fry in a well-heated pan. Then put the meat in a pan, salt and pepper. Add the fried onions and tomato paste (you can fresh tomatoes). Pour in the broth and boil for thirty minutes. Cut the potatoes into large cubes. Fry until half cooked. Put in a pan with meat, add finely chopped pickles. Put it out until cooked. Serve this first course, sprinkled with finely chopped garlic and fresh herbs.
Kazan pilaf
This dinner is served during dinner parties.
Ingredients:
- meat - two hundred grams;
- rice - 65 grams;
- one onion;
- raisins - twenty grams;
- broth - two glasses;
- three carrots;
- black pepper;
- ghee - thirty grams;
- salt.
Sort the rice, rinse several times with water. Pour into a saucepan and pour water from the tap. Cook until half cooked. Melt lard in a cauldron, put boiled meat cut into small pieces. Use lamb, beef or young horse meat, at your discretion. Then put carrots and chopped finely chopped onions on the meat. Put the rice cooked until half cooked on vegetables, add a little broth and, without stirring, put on low heat. Tomite no more than two hours. Before serving, add raisins to the pilaf, which must first be steamed in boiling water.
Tatar pastry dishes (cooking recipes)
The national cuisine of Tatarstan is famous for pastry baking (fresh, yeast, sweet, pastry, sour). The most famous Tatar dishes are Kystyby, Balesh, Echpochmak, Gubadiya, dumplings, Baursak and much more.
Not a single wedding, reception or celebration at the Tatars is complete without a national delicacy called chak-chak. This sweet dish is prepared from small strips made from butter dough. Blind them with honey. This dish is the "visiting card" of Tatarstan.
Tatars consider bread to be a sacred product; not a single festive or everyday meal can do without it.
Also on the table you can see a huge variety of products from unleavened dough. From it baked rolls, cakes, pies, goodies for tea and other Tatar dishes.
Kystyby - fragrant cakes
Ingredients:
- dumpling dough (you can buy or cook it yourself, description below) - two hundred grams;
- butter - 120 grams;
- potatoes - five hundred grams;
- a pinch of salt;
- black pepper;
- milk - one hundred milliliters;
- potatoes - 500 grams;
- vegetable oil;
- bulb.
Peel the potatoes well, cut into large cubes. Put in a pan, fill with water and salt. Boil potatoes until cooked. After draining the water and knead with a crush. Peel the onion, chop finely. Preheat the pan and fry the onion until golden. Add hot milk, remaining butter and fried onions to the potatoes. Mix well.
Sprinkle flour on the table and lay out the dough. Roll the sausage and cut the knife into thick slices, which are then rolled into large flat cakes. Fry them in a hot frying pan on both sides (about three minutes).
Put potato filling on one half of the tortilla, cover with the second half. Stuff them hot. Be careful not to burn yourself! Before serving, grease the surface of the dish with butter.
Cooking 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.
Proceed to kneading the dough. Combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl except flour. Sift it. Then add the 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 preparing with lamb.
Ingredients:
- unleavened dough - one and a half kilograms;
- lamb or beef - two kilograms;
- potatoes - two kilograms;
- butter - 250 grams;
- broth - five hundred grams;
- one large onion;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking method
To start, knead the dough and separate the fourth part from it. Roll out the remaining piece (thickness - no more than five millimeters). Prepare the meat: rinse, separate from the bone and cut into medium slices. Peel the potatoes and cut them into the same pieces. Mix the meat with potatoes, add the finely chopped onion, salt and pepper according to your taste. Put the oil and mix everything. Transfer the prepared stuffing to the pan over the dough. Form a slide and collect the edges of the dough. Roll out a smaller piece of dough and cover it with a balish. Pinch the edges, make a hole in the middle of the cake and plug it with a cork from the dough. Lubricate the top of the balish with oil. Put baked for an hour and a half in a preheated oven. After the time has passed, remove the cake, open the cork, pour in the broth. Plug the cork and send the balish into the oven to bake for another half hour. After time, pull out and serve to the table with strong tea.
Indulge yourself and loved ones with Tatar cuisine. Enjoy your meal!