Beef basturma is dried meat in spices. The recipe appeared in Armenia. Traditionally, to prepare this dish, a thick piece of meat is taken, about 6 cm thick, which is then kept in the cold for a long time (air temperature should not be higher than eight degrees). The whole process takes from two to four weeks. But the basturma sold in supermarkets does not always correspond to the desired taste sensations. And the origin of what it is made of remains unknown. Therefore, the best option would be basturma at home, prepared according to the recipe, which is described in this article.
So, so that the cooking process takes less time, the meat is cut into thin strips of about 2-3 cm thick. Ideal beef tenderloin or dipstick. You can take a rump, a thin and thick edge. It will be equally important to find a chaman. He has other names: fenugreek, fenugreek, shambhala. Be sure to find it at the spice dealers in the market, because basturma at home will not work “like real” without this seasoning. Some replace the shaman with ground caraway seeds, but the taste is still not the same.
It is still very important to use coarse
rock salt . Such a useful and fashionable iodized will not work. You will also need sugar. It is better to take cane brown unrefined, but you can replace it with a regular one. Of the usual seasonings, you need to prepare red and
black pepper, paprika, allspice and cumin. Basturma, the
recipe for which is described in stages, is prepared for a relatively long time. So be patient and get started!
On the first day, meat sliced into thin strips is salted according to the dry method. The main difficulty is to get rid of eye-catching juices. Prepare a mixture for salting. Based on one kilogram of meat we will need: 2 tbsp. with a little salt, 1.5 tablespoons with a hill of sugar, 1 or 1.5 tsp. finely ground black pepper. Rub each piece thoroughly with this mixture and put it in a bowl so that the juice comes out naturally. You can use the following secret for this. We take 2 plates: one large and the other deep and smaller. We lay out the future basturma on a smaller one from above. The juice goes into a large plate, and the meat remains dry. Another way: take the grid for the pan and put the pieces on it, and put a container for liquid under it. It’s even better, because the air flows from all sides evenly. We put the whole "design" in the refrigerator for three days. At the same time, it is very important not to forget to turn the meat twice a day so that it does not suffocate.
While our basturma is salting at home, we will prepare a chaman. Again, based on 1 kg of meat, we take 1 tbsp. l chaman, the same amount of crushed garlic, a mixture of paprika and red pepper, 1 tsp. black pepper. You can add cumin and allspice if desired. We raise the chaman in clean warm water, add the remaining spices, stir and bring to the consistency of liquid sour cream. Keep in mind: this mixture absorbs fluid very strongly. Gradually adding water, bring the marinade to a jelly-like mass and put in the refrigerator for a day.
As soon as the meat is salted (on the fourth day), it will need to be coated with a uniformly prepared seasoning mixture. We put it in a deep container and send it to the refrigerator for three days. Also do not forget to periodically flip.
After that, we pickle the pickled pieces on a flat surface in a draft. Turn over periodically until a dried crust of spices forms on the meat. After that we hang it on a draft. Just a couple of days - and our basturma at home will be ready!