A cauldron is an ideal cooking utensil. It can boil, stew or bake any food. This metal boiler is still very popular in the countries of Central and Central Asia. It is used for cooking over an open fire. Unlike a conventional pan, the cauldron has a rounded spherical bottom, which is completely immersed in the hearth, which allows the flames to warm it from all sides. Due to this, food is cooked much faster, and the thick walls of the boiler prevent its burning.
In the East, cauldrons are found in almost every family. Most often, meat dishes are prepared in it, without which it is difficult to imagine the local national cuisine. A great option for a family dinner is lamb and potatoes. In a cauldron, cooking it is much faster and easier. There are hundreds of different food options with this combination of products. For example, we can consider only the most popular of them.
Uzbek motives
For any Uzbek, lamb with potatoes in a cauldron is quite a common food. Every good housewife should be able to cook such a dish. For him, as a rule, the following products are required: 1 kilogram of fresh meat, 1-1.5 kilograms of potato, lard (you can take chicken tail meat or bacon), vegetable oil and spices (chili, zira, black pepper, coriander, basil, thyme and quite a bit of nutmeg).
Preparing lamb with potatoes in a cauldron is very simple:
- First, lard cut into thin plates must be laid on the bottom of the boiler.
- From above it must be completely covered with potatoes. Peeled tubers are best used whole or cut in half. Large pieces can be pierced with a knife so that they boil well.
- Products should be lightly salted, sprinkled with vegetable oil and sprinkled with crushed spices.
- Rub the pieces of meat with the same mixture and lay them on top of the potatoes.
- Close the cauldron with a lid and set to maximum fire. Once the lard has melted enough, the flame can be slightly reduced.
- After 2 hours, the potatoes can be removed and put on a plate, and it is better to fry the meat a little more over high heat.
Before serving, it is recommended to sprinkle the dish with parsley and be sure to pour the remaining juice and fat remaining after baking.
Picnic dish
In nature, I always want to cook something exotic and very tasty in the open air. A great option for this case would be lamb with potatoes in a cauldron. A minimum set of products is required: lamb meat, young potatoes, onions, vegetable oil and, of course, salt.
In this situation, you can do the following:
- First of all, all products must be washed, cleaned and chopped randomly.
- Put the cauldron on the fire, heat oil in it, and then fry the onion until it becomes transparent.
- Add the meat and stirring constantly to ensure that it is covered with a golden brown on all sides. This will help him stay juicy.
- Add water so that it almost covers the food, and bring it to a boil.
- Throw potatoes and stew without covering the cauldron with a lid, until almost all the liquid has evaporated. At this time, you can add salt and any spices.
This dish will be in perfect harmony with fresh vegetables.
Little tricks
Every work has its own subtleties. Therefore, in order to get everything right, you must know in advance how to cook lamb. There are many interesting and important points in this matter. First, you must be able to choose the right meat. Ideally, it should be fresh, but frozen can also be used. Depending on the age, the color of lamb ranges from light red to maroon. When pressing the pulp with a finger, it should immediately return to its previous position. Otherwise, the meat is considered stale and it is better not to take it.
Secondly, you need to pay attention to the smell. In lamb, it is known to be quite specific. But if desired, it can be removed or made at least less noticeable. For this meat can be:
- rinse with hot water;
- pre-soak for 1 hour in milk;
- marinate using vinegar, adjika, kefir, soy sauce, as well as pomegranate or tomato juice;
- use a large number of flavoring seasonings.
All this is necessary only for those to whom the smell of lamb meat is extremely unpleasant.
Thirdly, you need to know which part of the carcass is better to use for cooking different dishes. It is very important to know before deciding how to cook lamb. For example, it is better to stew the neck or ribs or cook soups with them, as these sections are very fat and a little harsh. From shank and shank you get a good jelly. Good flavors, rolls or stews are made from flanks or briskets. A tenderloin and ham are suitable for almost any dish.
In the field
Eastern housewives are good at cooking in the open air. They don’t need a stove, oven or microwave for this. Enough to have fire and all the necessary products. A clear confirmation of this will be lamb in a cauldron at the stake, which is sometimes cooked even by men, going hunting or fishing. Take, for example, the famous Shurpa. According to the Uzbek recipe, to prepare this rich soup you will need: 1 kilogram of low-fat mutton - 6 potatoes, 5 pieces of onion, carrots, tomatoes and sweet pepper, salt, 4 bay leaves, 5 liters of water, 3 grains of cardamom, 100 grams of vegetable oil and spice.
To make the meat softer and more fragrant, it must first be fried for a day in oil in a cauldron. Then everything is very simple:
- First, prepare all available products. To do this, tomatoes, carrots and peppers can be cut into large pieces, put onions and potatoes whole, and the meat simply divided into portions.
- First of all, for three hours it is necessary to cook the fried mutton over medium heat, pouring it with water.
- After that, add the potatoes with onions and carrots. The end of cooking should be monitored by the readiness of these products. It will take no more than 15 minutes.
- At the final stage, pepper and tomatoes should be thrown into the cauldron. After a short boil, it is necessary to take a sample and, if necessary, salt or introduce the available spices.
After cooking, the soup should cool slightly. During this time, he will have time to well absorb all the aromas.
Perfect combination
It turns out very tasty lamb in a cauldron with potatoes and vegetables. A vivid example of this is the Armenian national dish called hashlama. To cook it, you will need: for one and a half kilograms of lamb - one kilogram of onions, potatoes, sweet pepper and tomatoes, as well as salt, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 bunch of basil and cilantro, pepper and a glass of light beer.
The technology of this dish is extremely simple:
- At the initial stage, all the ingredients need to be prepared. To do this, they should be washed and crushed in a certain way: pepper - with straws, tomatoes - in large cubes, and onions - with quarters of rings. As a meat component, it is better to take ribs and divide them arbitrarily.
- Fold the prepared products in a cauldron in layers: 1/3 of tomatoes - pepper - onion - meat - ½ greens with garlic. After this, the sequence must be repeated so that the vegetables are certainly on top.
- Completes this "design" layer of potatoes.
- Pour the beer, put the cauldron on the fire and wait until it boils.
- After this, the flame must be reduced, and the boiler should be covered with a lid and left for three and a half hours.
Before serving, the dish must be mixed well.