The tastes of Armenian dishes are known not only in their homeland. Perhaps there are no places on the planet where you would not hear, love or cook food from Armenian cuisine. Juicy kebab, from which a dizzying smell emanates, khorovac - baked vegetables that had time to soak in the smell of smoke, the most tender dolma in the world, which was prepared without the use of fat ... Only from these descriptions salivations begin to flow. What about hashlama? This is another yummy worthy of eloquent words.
History reference
Before we talk about how to cook hashlama, let's talk a little about the formation of Armenian national cuisine. It is as ancient as the country itself. The culinary traditions of Armenia are no less than two thousand years old. From the very beginning of the existence of this people, its representatives were engaged in cattle breeding. Therefore, the abundance and diversity of poultry and livestock could only be envied. Thus, the tables of Armenians always had an incredible amount of meat. Cattle breeding also affected the composition of various dairy dishes. These are mainly brine wines and pitcher cheeses. Fermented milk products are no less popular. Often, drinks and dishes of traditional Armenian cuisine are often made from them.
Agriculture in Armenia is the same ancient craft as cattle breeding. Hence the wide range of crops in the kitchen business. Also, many Armenian dishes contain legumes. A lot of greens and vegetables - another feature of the dishes of this country.
Armenians always cooked on fire. Tonir is a traditional clay hearth furnace, which is actively used in modern culinary of the country. All sorts of cereals, soups are cooked in it, baked bread, baked vegetables, smoked poultry and fish, cooked various other dishes.
Well, without meat
Armenian meat dishes are a kind of cult. The oldest and simplest foods are pastors, of course, barbecue, dishes from whole carcasses of poultry, and meat kuchchi. Even today they are prepared in accordance with the technologies that were used one and a half thousand years ago. Especially popular is khashlama.
Every Armenian knows how to cook khashlama, although today it is quite difficult to determine exactly which national cuisine it belongs to. All Caucasian peoples consider this dish to be their traditional dish. But in all countries, hashlama is prepared in different ways.
Some features of hashlama
This is stewed meat that takes a long time to cook. The young carcass must be languished over low heat for about three to four hours. If the meat is older, then it will take twice as much time. Khashlama has one feature. To create it, you will have to purchase three times as much meat as all other ingredients. You need to take the broth quite a bit.
How to cook hashlama? It all depends on the prescription of what people you will do it. For example, in Georgia they put a lot of vegetables and herbs in it. Culinary specialists from other countries use different spices and beer in their recipes. There are a huge number of ways to cook hashlama, and it is quite difficult to indicate the most faithful of them.
The most important rules
In order to cook hashlama, you can buy any meat. It does not always have to be fillet or tenderloin. Beef, lamb, veal are suitable, and pork is used extremely rarely. The meat may or may not have bone. Intending to make a dish with vegetables, the cook should cut them into large pieces. Then lay in already cooked meat. First of all, they put onions, followed by potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes and more. There is no need to salt the dish in the process of languishing. This spice is placed either five minutes before the end of the stew, or in an already prepared dish. Do not use plates to serve khashlama. It is presented in clay bowls.
Chicken Khashlama
Although the most common meat for cooking this dish is lamb, chicken can also be used. Basically, poultry khashlama is just as tasty as lamb. For the dish you will need the following ingredients:
- One kilogram of chicken.
- One hundred grams of frozen green beans.
- Five potatoes.
- One onion.
- Two bell peppers.
- One large carrot.
- Three tomatoes.
- Three cloves of garlic.
- Salt and spices.
First you need to boil the bird. Chop and fry the onions and carrots in a cauldron. Now add the finely chopped bell peppers and hold it on the stove for about five minutes, but remember to stir the vegetables occasionally. While all this is languishing, peel the tomatoes and chop them. We also put the tomatoes in a cauldron and let the products stew for another five minutes. After that, fill them
with chicken broth and boil the resulting soup. We cut the potatoes into slices, put it in a container with vegetables and bring to a boil. We cut the bird into small pieces, add them to the broth, then put the beans. Salt, sprinkle with spices and continue to cook the dish until the potatoes are cooked. Chicken Khashlama is not only delicious, but also incredibly aromatic. Having tried such a delicacy once, you can no longer deny yourself the pleasure to cook it again and again.
What to do with lamb?
For the preparation of traditional khashlama based on sheep meat, you will need almost the same products as for chicken, but with some changes. Next, we will tell in detail about what components are in the dish, how to cook. Lamb khashlama is a traditional dish, the recipe of which is known, perhaps, to every resident of Armenia.
So, we take two kilograms of meat, tomatoes and bell peppers, one and a half kilograms of onions, a large bunch of parsley and dill. You should also prepare one and a half glasses of light beer, one kilogram of young potatoes and to taste ground black pepper, peppercorns, basil, salt, a mixture of spices for lamb. It is best to buy ribs, then the Armenian hashlama will turn out the way it is prepared in the country of origin. First you need to cut across the mutton side. After that, with a knife, we cut the layer into separate parts and put them in a bowl.
Now vegetables
Vegetables are cut in the following way: tomatoes and peppers in circles, onions in large half rings, greens in large pieces. Preparing a meal in a large, approximately eight-liter cauldron. In it, we begin to lay in half of all products in layers: first onion, then meat, then pepper and tomatoes. Sprinkle with a lot of greens, salt and add half the seasonings. Now you can lay the remaining products on top in layers in the same order. When everything is laid, pour khashlama with beer. We tightly close the cauldron with the lid and put it on the stove. Over low heat, simmer for one hour. During this time, we are preparing a side dish of young potatoes. When all the dishes are cooked, proceed to the meal. Enjoy your meal!
Modern influence
Thanks to current technology, hashlama (photo above) is prepared much faster. You can make it in a slow cooker, which many housewives have at their disposal. Take these products:
- 800 grams of any meat.
- Two carrots.
- Two eggplant.
- Two tomatoes.
- One onion.
- Three sweet peppers.
- 300 grams of champignons.
- Salt and spices to taste.
The biggest work that needs to be done is
cutting vegetables. In a multicooker cup, one by one we put all the products. The first layer is onion, chopped in half rings, the second is carrots (rings), the third is coarsely chopped meat. Now salt and add pepper, eggplant (half rings). Next, salt and arrange the mushrooms. The last tier is the tomatoes. Sprinkle with spices. Select the "Extinguishing" mode and leave the hashlama for three hours.
The reader now knows different ways of making hashlama.