For the Uzbek people, bread has long been sacred. There is a tradition according to which, when someone leaves home for a long time, he must bite off a small piece of tortilla. The remaining cake is stored in the house until the one who has left returns and eats it.
Uzbek bread is called non, which means a flat cake. Uzbek cakes are baked in a tandoor - a special clay furnace, due to which they turn out crispy and rosy.
Cakes are of two main types: obi-non (ordinary) and patyr (festive). And there are a lot of their varieties. Puff and butter, which in their taste and appearance vary by region, there are Bukhara, Samarkand cakes and others.
It should be noted that each region of Uzbekistan has its own special bread produced in this region. And each of these regions uses its own special sourdough for bread and original cooking technology. Therefore, bread baked in various regions of Uzbekistan is significantly different in taste and appearance.
The Ferghana Valley, for example, was glorified by the delicious Uzbek puff cakes called katlama non. In the preparation of such a cake, each layer of it is lubricated either with oil or sour cream. Also baked cakes with cracklings, called zhizal-non, tortillas on the infusion of herbs (cook patyr), from cornmeal (zogora-non) and many other varieties. Quite often, cakes with onions or meat baked in dough are also prepared.
As a rule, flat cakes are not cut with a knife, they break with your hands. Moreover, according to the Uzbek etiquette, broken pieces are strictly forbidden to be placed “face” down. Since it is regarded as disrespectful to bread.
Especially popular are kefir cakes, the recipe of which is quite simple to prepare.
Ingredients that you will need: of course, kefir (300 ml), flour (about 3 cups) and 1 cup for sprinkling. Also, 1 teaspoon of soda, sugar and salt. If desired, you can add an egg and spices (red pepper, basil, caraway seeds), or cook without them.
So, Uzbek cakes, or rather their preparation, begin by mixing all the dry ingredients, which are then poured into yogurt. Mix first with a spoon, then with your hand. The dough should be thick, soft, slightly sticky to the hands.
Twist the strip and divide it into parts, each of which is rolled out with a rocking chair very thinly, giving any shape. Add flour. In a dry hot frying pan, bake briefly on both sides over medium heat.
If desired, grease still hot cakes with soft butter. This will make them softer, tastier and allow them to stay fresh longer.
Uzbek cakes store, covering them with a towel, or in a special form with a tight lid.
If you want to cook more original and unusual cakes, then bake them with onions. To do this, you will need warm water (400 ml), fresh yeast (20 grams), vegetable oil (3 tablespoons), flour (approximately 650 grams), liquid honey (1 tablespoon) and salt. For the filling - onions (4-5 pieces), pork fat (60 grams), salt and ground black pepper.
First mix with honey and yeast 250 ml of warm water. Leave to ferment for 10 minutes. After pouring the remaining water, add oil, salt and mix well.
Gradually adding a little flour, knead a rather soft dough. Roll it into a ball, cover with a towel and leave for an hour. Warm up and cover with a towel again.
Divide the dough into six flat pieces and roll them. Sauté the onion and put on each part. Wrap a roll and make a curl, which is firmly pressed on top of the hand.
Put the cakes on a baking sheet and cover with a towel for another 20 minutes. Bake in the oven at a temperature of about 200 degrees 20 minutes.
Your onion cakes are ready. Enjoy your meal!