Initially, the lagman was a national cult dish of the Dungans and Uighurs who lived in southern China. And today, in almost all Dungan families, the Lagman recipe is an integral part of their life, and they cook it for lunch and dinner every third day. And of course, not a single holiday or wedding is complete without this wonderful dish. The Dungans still have a custom: on the fourth day, the bride must demonstrate her culinary skills by preparing a lagman.
In connection with the migration of the Chinese population, the lagman recipe became known in the Central Asian countries. It is especially popular in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. From there, this dish penetrated into Russia, where it is becoming an increasingly popular and favorite dish.
For some people, lagman is considered a thick soup, for others it is a second dish, so the lagman recipe is not one, but several, but they all contain a basic set of products - meat, onions, carrots, potatoes and tomato paste. From these products sauce is cooked, which is then filled with noodles. Lamb is usually used for meat, but you can take beef and even chicken.
A set of additional ingredients often depends on the imagination of the cook. Minor ingredients are: bell pepper, eggplant, turnip and fresh tomatoes, which can be used instead of tomato paste.
Each nation has its own lagman recet - it can be prepared in both Kazakh and Tatar, but the most popular lagman in Uzbek is currently the Uzbek. You can taste it in the "Uzbek" restaurants, but you can surprise guests or relatives by cooking at home.
We will reveal some secrets that will tell you how to cook a lagman at home. One of them is the choice of dishes - it should be with thick walls. In such dishes, the dish warms up evenly and does not burn. These requirements are best met by a cauldron, in which you can not only cook, but also fry. But if there is no cauldron, a pot with a thick bottom or a cast-iron frying pan with high sides will do.
So how to cook Uzbek lagman? To prepare the sauce, you will need the following ingredients: 350 grams of lamb or beef, three tablespoons of melted butter, two onions, four carrots, four sweet peppers, radish (or turnip), eggplant, five green bean pods, four potatoes, four medium-sized tomatoes ( or two tablespoons of tomato paste), 4-5 glasses of meat broth, eight cloves of garlic, parsley and celery, as well as salt, pepper and spices - to taste.
How to cook lagman in Uzbek no worse than in a restaurant? All products included in the lagman recipe must be cut into 1x1 centimeter cubes and laid in a certain order.
Pour vegetable oil into the cauldron and heat it so that the smoke goes. Fry the chopped meat, add the onion, a little later - carrots, then sweet pepper, eggplant, radish or turnip, long green beans and finally, tomatoes or tomato paste. When the tomatoes are fried, you need to fill the vegetables with broth and add the potatoes. When the potatoes are almost cooked, add salt and pepper to taste, you can add ground coriander and other spices and add finely chopped garlic at the very end.
For the test you need to take a pound of flour, three glasses of water, two or three eggs and one teaspoon of table vinegar. Salt is added to taste.
To prepare the dough, you need to take a deep dish, pour flour into a slide and make a small depression in the middle. Beat eggs slightly and mix with warm water, vinegar and salt and pour into flour.
The secret of elastic dough is that you need to mix flour of the highest and second grade in equal proportions. Knead the dough for a long time and thoroughly, kneading it with force to a homogeneous and plastic state. After the dough is kneaded, he needs to rest for one hour in a cool place.
After that, you can start pulling the noodles - divide the dough into several parts, roll the bundles out of them and leave for another 15 minutes, well greased with vegetable oil. Now gently stretch the dough to prevent the noodles from breaking. You need to constantly fold the dough in half and stretch it by hand, carefully lubricating it with vegetable oil and periodically hitting the table until a skein of thin noodles is in your hands. After this, the noodles are immediately boiled in boiling salt water for five minutes, then washed with cold running water, transferred to a deep bowl and greased with oil to prevent sticking.
Cooking dough is a laborious process that requires skill and certain skills, so not everyone can cook noodles the first time. How to cook a lagman at home, not having the skills to cook dough? At first, you can just buy ready-made noodles for the lagman. Even quality spaghetti will do.
Boil the noodles whole and rinse with cold water, and before serving, put the finished dish in plates and pour the sauce. Top can be sprinkled with finely chopped greens. Enjoy your meal!