Products and Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized chicken;
• 2 cups rice, round is best
• 3 tablespoons of butter;
• 20 pieces of dried apricots (dried apricots);
• 5 tablespoons of raisins;
• a pinch of saffron powder;
• A pinch of salt;
• A pinch of cinnamon.

Cooking recipe Dzhudzha-pilaf - yellow pilaf with chicken:

Wash the chicken, dry it with a towel, cut into pieces. Mix salt and cinnamon.

Grate the chicken parts with this mixture, fry them in a pan for 5-7 minutes, then send them in the same pan under a closed lid to a hot oven until cooked (depending on the size of the chicken).

Rinse raisins and dried apricots and stir. Simmer in oil for 5-6 minutes.

Boil half a large pot of water. Attach gauze or a thin cloth to the pan so that it sags slightly above the water. Put the washed rice on a cheesecloth / napkin. Cover the pan with a lid, put on fire. Make sure that all the water does not boil away, if necessary, add through a napkin.

When the rice is ready, put it on a dish or a small tray in a slide, pour over a mixture of melted butter, salt, saffron infusion. To prepare the infusion, pour 0.3 cups of boiling water over saffron powder. Place chicken pieces, dried apricots and raisins around the rice hill.

Salad "Mangal" with baked vegetables

Products and Ingredients:

• 6 eggplant
• 6 tomatoes
• 1 hot green pepper
• 20 sprigs of cilantro (coriander greens)
• 10 sprigs of basil
• 1 large red onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 5 tablespoons olive or corn oil
• 1.5 tablespoons of wine vinegar 6%
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• A pinch of salt

Preparation of the recipe Salad "Mangal" with baked vegetables:

Rinse tomatoes, peppers and eggplants well. Bake whole in the oven (15 minutes is enough). After the vegetables have cooled, cut off the eggplant stalks, clean out the pepper seeds.

Grind all the vegetables with a knife, drain excess liquid through a sieve or colander. After that, put in a deep bowl.

Chop the washed greens of basil and cilantro very finely, pour into vegetables. Finely chop or grate the garlic and onion and add to the bowl.

Make a salad dressing by mixing wine vinegar, olive or corn oil, salt and pepper. Season the vegetables in a bowl, move them well, transfer to a salad dish. After cooking, the salad should “infuse”, then its taste will be more pronounced.

Baklava nut

Products and Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 spoon fresh yeast
• 1 spoon of milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 liter can of walnuts
• 0.5 liter can of powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter
• A pinch of ground saffron
• Vanillin sachet

Baklava nut preparation recipe:

Mash the yeast and dissolve in warm milk. Stir in 2 eggs, half a serving of melted butter, ground saffron, salt. Beat the mass with a whisk, stirring, add flour. Knead the plastic dough, put it in a bowl, cover with a thick towel and leave to rise for 1.5 hours. Then cut the dough that has grown in size into 12 pieces. Make 2 pieces slightly larger than the rest.

Make the filling:

mix ground nuts with 1 cup of powdered sugar, saffron and vanilla.

Roll out a large piece of dough extremely thinly, line the bottom of a tall frying pan with it. Brush this layer with melted butter. Lay a thinly rolled smaller layer on top, and lay the filling on it with a thin layer. So repeat until the layers and filling are over. Close the pie with a second large layer.

With a sharp long knife, cut the cake into small diamonds and grease the top with yolk. Place the skillet in a hot oven. Bake this sweet puff product for at least 50 minutes.

Make a syrup by boiling the remaining icing sugar in 1 cup of water. As soon as the baklava is ready, pour hot syrup over it and put it in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Spicy stuffed eggplant

Products and Ingredients:

• 4 eggplant
• 2 cups minced lamb or beef
• 8 pieces of tomatoes
• 5 tablespoons sunflower or corn oil
• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 10-12 sprigs of basil
• 10-12 sprigs of dill
• A pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper

Cooking the recipe Eggplant stuffed spicy and spicy:

Stir the ground onion, salt and pepper into the lamb or ground beef. Put in a pan, fry, stirring for about half an hour. The finished mass should be light brown, crumbly. Leave it to cool, then combine with chopped basil greens. Knead.

Cut off one end of the eggplant and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. Put the eggplant in boiling water, boil for 3-4 minutes. Cool down, stuff. Put in a saucepan or stewpan, cover with chopped garlic and chopped tomatoes.

Pour hot water with salt dissolved in it. Simmer for about 20 minutes in an open container, then close the lid and leave for 10 minutes to reach on very low heat.

Hamrashi - bean soup with homemade noodles

Products and Ingredients:

• 1 cup minced beef or lamb
• 2 medium onions
• 10 tablespoons flour
• 3 yolks
• 5 tablespoons brown beans
• 1 spoon of tomato
• 2.5 tablespoons chopped cilantro (coriander greens)
• 5-6 dried mint leaves
• Pepper

Recipe Hamrashi - bean soup with homemade noodles:

Grind meat in a meat grinder along with onions. Roll the minced meat into very small meatballs. In total, 20-25 pieces should come out. Boil the beans until they are soft, but not sprawling.

Knead unleavened dough from water, flour and egg yolks. Roll out very thinly, dry the layer and cut into long ribbons 0.5-0.8 mm wide.

Pour water into a 2-liter saucepan, boil. Put the meatballs, boil. Add noodles and cook for no more than 3 minutes. Add boiled brown beans. Stew the tomato paste in butter, put in a saucepan. You can cut the tomatoes, but increase the stewing time to 3-4 minutes. Let it simmer for a bit - about 1 minute.

When the soup is ready, pepper it, add fresh cilantro. Sprinkle the bowls with dried mint.

Khingal - Azerbaijani style lasagna

Products and Ingredients:

• 5 cups wheat flour
• 2 fresh chicken eggs
• 2 onions
• 300 ml water
• 2 tablespoons corn or olive oil
• 250 ml sour milk or kefir
• 2 full spoons of butter or melted butter
• 2 garlic cloves

Cooking Khingal recipe - Azerbaijani style lasagna:

Combine flour, water, eggs and salt in a bowl, make a dense dough. Then cut it into 6-7 parts, put it on a wooden board and put it in a cold place (you can put it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator). Take parts of the dough, roll into thin circles on a table, thickly sprinkled with flour. Cut the circles into not very wide strips (7-8 mm).

Boil salted water in a large saucepan. Carefully lower one strip of dough into boiling water, trying not to stick together. When cooking, the dough will become translucent - this will be a signal that the noodles are ready. Drain water through a colander.

Cut the onion into thin half rings. Fry it over low heat, combining vegetable and butter. After frying, the onion should have a beautiful golden color.
For the sauce, combine yogurt or kefir, crushed garlic, salt.

Kutaby - unleavened pies with greens

Products and Ingredients:

• 10 full spoons of white flour
• 1 tightly filled glass of parsley, basil, dill, cilantro, sorrel, green onions (optional).
• 100 ml warm water
• A pinch of salt

Cooking Kutaba recipe - unleavened pies with herbs:

Pour flour into a bowl. Pour half a portion of heated water into it, in which salt is dissolved. Stir with a spoon or wooden spatula. Continue stirring, gradually adding the remaining water. Then transfer the mass to a table sprinkled with flour. After kneading, the dough should come out tight and dense. Form a ball from the dough, cover it with a towel for 40 minutes.

Greens cut as small as possible, salt, mix.

Divide the ball of dough into 4 parts. Roll each individual part into a thin round layer. Lay part of the greens on half of the layer, cover the second greens. Fasten the edges with a fork, being careful not to form air bubbles between the layers.

Heat a large frying pan and, without greasing it, fry the pies on both sides (1 minute each).

Put the finished kutabs on a dish and coat each with a piece of butter. Hot kutabs are especially good with sour cream or kefir. In Azerbaijan, they are traditionally served with cheese.

Chicken with nuts and raisins

Products and Ingredients:

• 1 large chicken
• 3-4 medium onions
• 8 tablespoons ground nuts (walnuts or peanuts)
• 5-6 tablespoons light raisins
• 6-8 spoons of marshmallow or jam (apricot or apple)
• 1 heaping spoonful of sugar
• A pinch of salt, black pepper, curry
• 4 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil

Cooking recipe Chicken with nuts and raisins:

Grind the onion, squeeze well and strain the juice. Dry the onion a little in a pan without oil, then combine with ground nuts, raisins, sugar, marshmallow or jam steamed for 15 minutes in boiling water.

Grate the chicken with salt, pepper, grease with marshmallow or jam. Top with a mixture of curry and vegetable oil - this will give the finished chicken a beautiful even color.

Stuff the prepared chicken carcass, securely fasten the skin with threads. Place the chicken on a generously oiled baking sheet. You can use the grill: bake the chicken, periodically pouring fat. Both on the baking sheet and on the wire rack, you need to cook the chicken in the oven for at least 60 minutes.

Chicken with nuts and raisins is delicious hot or cold. It is better to cut it into portions right on the table before the meal.

pickled grapes

Products and Ingredients:

• 1 liter jar of grapes
• 3 spoons of vinegar 3% (better than grape)
• 4 spoons of sugar
• A pinch of cinnamon powder
• A pinch of star anise seeds (aniseeds).
• 4 pieces of peppercorns
• 5 pieces of carnation buds

Preparing Pickled Grapes Recipe:

Boil the marinade first. Pour 300 ml of warm water into a small enameled saucepan, put sugar. Boil and immediately pour in the vinegar. Put spices in the marinade: pepper, star anise, cinnamon, cloves. Cover and leave for 6-7 hours. Rinse the grapes, trying to keep the skin on the berries intact, then pour on a towel and dry. Place the berries tightly in a jar, pour the infused cold marinade to the top. Cover with a lid, saucer, plate. Send the jar to the basement, pantry for 10-12 days (the main thing is that it is dark and not too hot). After this period, pickled grapes are ready. For long-term storage, you can roll it up with a metal lid. It is better to pickle white grapes.

Sweet Shaker-churek

Products and Ingredients:

• 0.5 kg white flour
• 5 full spoons of melted butter
• 1 egg
• 10 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar
• Vanillin sachet

Cooking recipe Sweetness Shaker-churek:

Combine softened butter and icing sugar and rub thoroughly until a homogeneous, without grains, white mass is formed. It should be light and fluffy. At the same time, fold in the hard beaten egg white. When the mass is almost ready, pour vanillin into it, mix. Then combine the mass with flour and immediately knead a fairly tight dough.

Pinch off pieces of dough weighing about 70 g and roll into balls. To make the balls the correct shape, the palms must be periodically moistened with water or lubricated with vegetable oil.

Heat up the oven. Line a baking sheet with greased paper or parchment and place the balls on it at a distance of about 4 cm from each other, as they will increase in size during baking. Top each ball with yolk using a brush or pen. Bake in the oven at an average temperature for about half an hour, making sure that the products do not burn from below. Sprinkle hot sweets with powdered sugar and cover with a napkin or towel.

I don’t even know where to start the story about the month I spent in Azerbaijan. The scenery is simply magnificent, the cities are charming, and the people are insanely friendly. The holiday was full of adventures, and everything was not at all what I expected. So where would you start?

I'm still a little confused and trying to digest everything. (Process photos, damn it, I took more than 2000 photos)

So, I’ll start, perhaps, with this ... when I found out that I was going to, I was haunted by only one question: “I wonder what kind of cuisine is there?”:

Food in Azerbaijan

Instead of jumping right into the top 5 dishes I've tried, as I usually do, today I'm going to take a little digression.

First of all, I must say that I was in Azerbaijan for work.

And when I wasn't eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the hotel buffet, I used to dine at the stadium, which meant eating a tiny muffin and drinking a bottle of water, if I was lucky I could have beetroot salad and cold pizza. (But I'm not complaining by any means: many sporting events don't provide free food for the media at all - in London they charged £1.05 for a bottle of water. I was grateful for the free snacks).

I want to say that my understanding of Azerbaijani cuisine is limited. However, I did manage to try a few dishes outside the hotel and get a glimpse of Azerbaijani culture in the process.

What is Azerbaijani cuisine like?

If I were asked to describe Azerbaijani food in four words, I would say: pickles, herbs, lamb and sodium.

Each meal begins with a plate of appetizers, which are eaten with warm naan-like flatbread. Appetizer includes: fresh herbs, cheeses, olives, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and assorted pickles: pickled onions, pickled cabbage, pickled olives. At one restaurant, I even tried pickled mushrooms (It's a little funny that what I call pickled, they call white cucumber).

Herbs are highly valued here; sometimes they bring a whole plate with only herbs. They smell wonderful.

At least one of the main dishes comes with lamb meat. Even those dishes that do not contain it contain a large amount of sodium, which I have never tried before.

I don't like to complain about food. I can't stand doing it and I can't stand those who do it. But I admit that after a month in Azerbaijan, I needed a sodium break (And this happened to me, a man who repeatedly sat down to watch movies with a can of pickles and destroyed it at a time).

Dinner was usually accompanied by tea, an important part of Azerbaijani culture, and something else, which I will definitely write more about in another post.

So, now that you have an idea (or at least MY idea) about Azerbaijani cuisine, we can move on to the top 5 dishes I tried in Azerbaijan.

5 best dishes I tried in Azerbaijan

Drink soup from Sheki

Petey. God, drink! Undoubtedly, this is the best thing I have eaten in Azerbaijan. Piti is a soup that is cooked in an individual clay pot that you ‘disassemble’ before eating. First, break the pieces of bread and throw them into the pot. Then slowly tilt the pot of piti so that the broth floods the bread; then add the rest of the ingredients to finish cooking - do each step very quickly and you'll be splashed with hot soup :).
The recipe itself is simple: lamb, chickpeas, chestnuts and potatoes. But the end result is a hearty and flavorful soup, one of the most flavorful soups I've ever had, most likely due to the generous amount of cooked fat.

Badambura in Baku

Badambura is a well-known Azerbaijani pie. It comes in various forms, with fillings of sugar, cinnamon and finely chopped nuts. I first tried it in the tournament accreditation center. While waiting for my accreditation to be printed, I casually mentioned that I was hungry. The center volunteers immediately took badambur and juice from personal lunch bags and insisted that I eat. I don't know because of the hunger or their kindness, but no badambura was as magnificent as that first one.

Black tea and cherry jam in Baku

As with all the dishes on this list, this tea has a history that makes it unforgettable. But tea itself was fantastic, which is not surprising, since tea occupies a huge place in the daily life of an Azerbaijani; on the streets I often saw men playing board games and sipping black tea from beautifully shaped small mugs. There is even a special tradition - to drink it with jam, but I will talk about this in another post.

Sheki halva

We went to Sheki for one day, so the stop at the local sweet shop was no more than five minutes. But even in those few minutes, I saw just how popular this guy's halva was: the tiny shop was filled with locals jostling each other in the hope of buying the latest halva. The boxes disappeared as soon as some person filled them with freshly cut sweets.

By the way, halva - a dessert of crushed nuts lying between layers of the thinnest fried dough with honey oozing from it - is Sheka's specialty, so I think we bought the best of the best.

Fish of the Caspian Sea and smoked cheese in the city of Gabala

The fish was not so appetizing, perhaps due to the fact that I had to remove the heads first, then, when I greedily devoured small bodies, I had to remember about the bones.

And again, these dishes - memories of one night - I drank along with local Azerbaijanis who did not know Russian except for "Vodka!" - which is why I put this salty snack on my list (the salt content in it is above the norm, which I need to cope with vodka).

Ingredients

• Matsoni (kefir) (1 l) - 5 glasses
• Flour (30 g) - 1 tablespoon
• Water (400 g) - 2.5 cups
• Chicken egg - 1 piece
• Butter or fat sour cream - 30 g
• Rice round (60g) - 2 tablespoons
• Greens: spinach, dill, cilantro, mint, leek - 10-15 sprigs each
• Peas-chickpeas (50g) - a quarter of a glass
• Table salt - 1 tablespoon (to taste)

Dovga is a light first dish of Azerbaijani national cuisine. The basis for the preparation of dovgi is matsoni (in Azerbaijan it is called gatyg) and greens. On hot summer days, dovgu is consumed chilled. In winter, dovga can be served hot. The preparation of the dish takes about one hour.

How to cook Azerbaijani dovga

A few hours before cooking, or better, in the evening, it is necessary to soak the peas, after which they are boiled in salted water for about half an hour until cooked.

Peel the greens from the roots, rough stems and yellowed leaves, rinse and finely chop.

Sort the rice, rinse and put in a saucepan in which dovga will be cooked, add flour, egg, salt there. Mix the resulting mass thoroughly, so that no lumps of flour remain.

Mixing thoroughly until a homogeneous emulsion is obtained, add yoghurt, softened butter or sour cream and water to the pan. At this stage of cooking, a mixer can be used to achieve a uniform consistency.

Place a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. If you stop continuous stirring, the resulting mass may collapse - the liquid phase will separate from the solid and the resulting can be thrown away - dovg will no longer work out of this.

When the rice, which is part of the dovgi, is almost cooked, without interrupting the stirring, finely chopped greens must be added to the boiling mass. Dovga should be cooked until rice and greens are boiled. Rice should soften. Greens should not creak or crunch on the teeth. But at the same time, it should not be overcooked, as in this case the color of dovga may acquire a greenish tint. Properly cooked dovga has a uniform texture, flowing silky texture and white color. At the end of cooking, previously boiled peas are added to dovga.

When serving, hot dovga can be served in a soup bowl or portioned bowls. Chilled dovga can be served in a glass jug or immediately poured into glasses.

A sophisticated gourmet who visits the country will be amazed by the wonderful taste and delicate aroma. Azerbaijani cuisine. Azerbaijani national dishes are unique and original.

Food is an important part of Azerbaijani culture, and you can eat well without spending too much. Azerbaijani cuisine is an intriguing combination of influences from Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, Central Asia and even India. Lamb is the main ingredient and typical spices include saffron, cinnamon and fresh coriander.

First courses differ from ordinary soups in their concentration and thickness, because they usually contain a small amount of broth. A feature of Azerbaijani cuisine is the use of some national dishes as a first and main course. In this case, the broth is served separately, and then the rest as a main dish, but it is cooked together. Another difference between national soups is the use of sheep fat, which is put into a bowl in small pieces.

The service is also very original. Traditionally, tea is served first, then the main dishes. At banquets, celebrations and marriage celebrations, first courses are not usually served. The table is usually decorated with a variety of greens, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers (pickled in winter). Usually two or three courses are served. In many areas, after dinner, dovga is served with sour milk and greens, which contributes to a better assimilation of previous dishes).

Azerbaijani recipes

National dishes of Azerbaijan

The traditional meal in Azerbaijan starts with a plate of fragrant green leaves called goy, accompanied by lots of chorek (bread), salad (tomatoes and cucumbers), and sometimes katyk (yogurt) and pendyr (cheese). Traditional seasonings are douz (salt), istiot (pepper) and sumac (sweet, dark red spice with a floral aroma). Main national dishes may include the following:
Balyk is a fish, most commonly sturgeon, usually skewered and fried like a shish kebab, served with a tart sour plum sauce.
Dograma is a cold soup with sour milk, potatoes, onions and cucumbers, very similar to Russian okroshka.
Dolma is a traditional recipe of minced lamb meat mixed with rice, mint, fennel and cinnamon, and wrapped in grape leaves (yarmak dolmasy) or cabbage leaves (kalam dolmasy), but most restaurants serving dolma tend to serve stuffed tomatoes, sweet pepper and eggplant.
Dovga is a hot, thick soup made from yogurt, rice, spinach and fennel.
Dushbara - small dumplings filled with minced lamb meat and herbs, served in broth.
Lavangi is a delicious chicken dish stuffed with walnuts and herbs. This is probably a specialty of the Talysh region of southern Azerbaijan, but it is very difficult to find in restaurants.
Lula kebab - a mixture of minced lamb meat, herbs and spices, fried on a spit over an open fire. Often served with pita bread.
Piti - soup with lamb, lard, chickpeas and saffron, cooked and served in separate pots. You need to scoop it out into your bowl, and wipe the drips with bread.
Pilaf is a classic dish of rice, lamb, onion and prunes, with the addition of saffron and cinnamon.
Qutabs are a kind of wrapped pancakes filled with minced lamb meat, cheese or spinach.
Tika kabab - pieces of lamb marinated in a mixture of onion, vinegar and pomegranate juice, skewered and roasted over an open fire. A more common name is shish kebab, from the Russian word shashka (sword).

A special place in Azerbaijani cuisine is occupied by salads made from fresh vegetables. When making salads from fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum, coriander and basil, these ingredients are thinly sliced. Salads are served with the main course. Salads "Khazar", "Azerbaijan", "Bahar", salad with red caviar, Shak salad are just a few of the most common salads and cold dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine.

Azerbaijani national cuisine includes more than 30 types of soups. These are meat dishes, such as piti, kyufta-bozbash, shorba, or sour milk and greens dishes, such as dovga, ovduk, dogramaj, bolva, etc. First courses are very rarely seasoned with tomato paste. To do this, fresh tomatoes are used in summer, and dried plums in winter (to give a sour taste) and spices with dyes. There are many different first courses made from flour, such as sulu-khingal, hamrashi, umach, dushbara.

The most popular main dish in Azerbaijan is plov. There are about 40 recipes for this dish. Depending on the type of ingredients, pilaf can be called kaurma-pilaf (with lamb), sabza-kaurma (with lamb and greens), touh-pilaf (with chicken), shirin-pilaf (with sweet dried fruits), syudlu-pilaf (milk) and etc. There are more than 100 names of main dishes made from meat, fish, vegetables and flour.

Among the popular second courses made from flour are the following: khashil, khingali with meat, suzma-khingali, yarpag-khingali, kurtab (with meat, pumpkin, herbs), chudu, etc. Many second courses are made from fish. Sturgeon barbecue, Azerbaijani kutum, kuku kutum, balyk, chygyrtma, stuffed fish, boiled, fried and stewed, fish pilaf, sturgeon pilaf are some of the most popular fish dishes.

desserts
Azerbaijanis, like their counterparts in Turkey, love sweets. Typical Azerbaijani desserts are sticky, syrup-soaked biscuits such as baklava and halva. The latter, a layer of crushed nuts sandwiched between pieces of thin fried dough, is a specialty in Sheki, in northwestern Azerbaijan. Other traditional pastries include shekerbura (half-moon shaped filled with nuts), peshmak (tube-shaped candy made from rice, flour and sugar) and girmabadam (cookies with crushed nuts).

But such sweets are generally bought in pastanesi (pastry shops), and eaten at home or for a holiday, such as a wedding. The usual end to a restaurant meal is a dish of fresh fruit: plums, cherries, apricots, grapes, or whatever is in season.

Soft drinks
The national drink is tea, which is drunk in Turkish style from small tulip-shaped cups. It is usually made with sugar, but without milk. Unlike Turkey, where sugar is usually added to tea, in Azerbaijan, a lump of sugar must be put in the mouth and the tea drunk through it. Another unusual tradition, more common among the Lezgins of northern Azerbaijan, is adding a spoonful of rose water to tea. Tea is generally served in a pot in a teahouse.

Kahwa (coffee) is not often found outside of hotels and Western-style restaurants, and then it is instant. Coffee machines have just begun to appear in the country, and good espresso is still a rarity. Even Turkish coffee can usually only be found in Turkish restaurants.
Tap water throughout the country is not particularly safe, and even locals rarely drink it unboiled. Bottled mineral water is cheap and readily available. The main Azerbaijani mineral waters are Zam-Zam, Shollar and Kah. The stronger Borjomi from Georgia is also widespread.

Alcoholic drinks
Despite being a nation of Shia Muslims, more than 160 years of Russian presence has left Azerbaijan with a strong addiction to alcohol. The country once produced large quantities of homemade wines and brandies, but the industry has declined since independence. Vodka and beer are the main drinks for today. Vodka, known locally as arag, is one of the drinks for special occasions. Locally produced moonshine is made from mulberry trees and is known as mulberry.

National products of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani cuisine is known for its vegetables, primarily eggplants, tomatoes, red peppers, cabbage, spinach, sorrel, red beets, radishes, onions, cucumbers, green beans and others. The variety of national dishes includes many products such as rice, flour, vegetables and herbs.

Pickled garlic, capsicum, eggplant, hafta-bejar, onion, pickled grapes, tomatoes are served separately, accompanying various soups and meat dishes.

In Azerbaijani cuisine, such spices as saffron, cumin, fennel, anise, capsicum, bay leaf, coriander, as well as mint, dill, parsley, celery, tarragon, basil, sature, thyme, etc. are used. The Absheron peninsula is the only place where saffron grows. The national cuisine has 50 different dishes and 10 different types of confectionery flour with the addition of saffron. Seasonings such as lemon, olives, milk, cream, food additives, abgora (grape juice), narsharabi (pomegranate wine), cherry plum, dogwood, dried apricots, lavashana, sumac and others are widely used to improve the taste and smell of food.

Most dishes are prepared with lamb, beef, poultry and minced meat. The country is rich in various types of fish, especially stellate sturgeon and sturgeon. Most people in Azerbaijan use sturgeon.

Fresh and sour milk is widely used in the preparation of dovga, sudlu, kelekos, and ovdukh.

The traditions of Azerbaijani cuisine are considered the most ancient and diverse in the world. The modern culinary of Azerbaijan has preserved all its traditions, adapting them to new requirements and cooking technologies. Since ancient times, dishes have been cooked in copper utensils, and today, in many villages of Azerbaijan, residents continue this tradition. Some restaurants serve dishes in national earthenware called pitishnice.

The main features are determined by the climate, which led to the widespread use of lamb, as well as fruits and vegetables in the Azerbaijani cuisine. Seasonings have also been very popular in this area for a long time: cinnamon, cloves, parsley, dill, hot and allspice, cumin, cilantro, mint, saffron, sumac, etc. From ancient times to this day, shish kebabs and dishes in the tandir have been the most popular Azerbaijani dish. Almost all cooking is spicy and has a unique aroma, this is due to the love of residents for spicy.

Azerbaijani cuisine in terms of composition and variety of dishes is one of the extremely tasty and healthy cuisines. It is distinguished by an abundance of various meat (lamb, beef, poultry), fish (stellate sturgeon, sturgeon) and vegetable dishes, complemented by fragrant herbs and spices, as well as a beautiful appearance.

November 12 is the Constitution Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This day is very important for the residents, because they began to live in an independent state. We offer you to get acquainted with the culture of the Azerbaijani people by preparing several popular dishes of national cuisine.

Azerbaijani national dishes have long been cooked in copper utensils. And now in many regions and rural areas of Azerbaijan, dishes cooked in copper pans are more delicious. Therefore, items of Azerbaijani national cuisine (pan, colander, basin, tray, slotted spoon, ladle, etc.) are mainly made of copper.
In Azerbaijani cuisine, pilaf is cooked in melted (or butter) cow butter. This oil does not withstand high temperatures, and therefore the occurrence of carcinogens does not happen. Rice is boiled in boiling water, poured with oil and settled. The meat is stewed with onions, chestnuts and dried plums.
Before the main meal, Azerbaijanis drink tea, mostly black tea. A tradition has long been established in Azerbaijan: immediately upon the arrival of guests, serve them tea. The advantage of this tradition lies in the fact that tea drinking in crowded feasting companies encourages easy communication. Tea in Azerbaijan is a symbol of cordial hospitality.

Our selection of Azerbaijani cuisine:

OVDUKH (okroshka in Azerbaijani)

Matsoni-200 g, water-100 g, fresh cucumbers-100 g, green onions-40 g, cilantro-10 g, dill-10 g, basil-5 g, 1 pc. eggs, beef-108 g, salt, garlic.

To prepare okroshka, yogurt is beaten and diluted with chilled boiled water. Cucumbers are peeled, finely chopped, then the greens are chopped. All this is mixed with diluted matsoni, salt, garlic are added and put in the refrigerator. Serve cold. In some cases, boiled and finely chopped beef and a hard-boiled egg are added to the ovdukh. Usually ovdukh is cooked without meat.

Hamrashi (Azerbaijani soup)

Lamb - 200 g, wheat flour - 30 g, eggs 1-4 pieces, melted butter - 10 g, white beans - 20 g, wine vinegar - 10 g, onion - 20 g, coriander greens - 20 g, dried mint -1.0 g, pepper, salt.

Minced meat is prepared from the lamb pulp, then it is cut into small balls of 5-6 pieces. per serving. The beans are cooked separately. The unleavened dough is rolled out to a thickness of 1 mm and cut into ribbons 5 cm wide, from which I cut it in the form of homemade arishta noodles. In the broth, meat balls are first boiled, then noodles and boiled beans are added. After readiness, put chopped greens, and sprinkle with dried mint when serving. Wine vinegar is served separately.

SHAKER-CHUREK

Wheat flour, premium-530 g, melted butter-260 g, powdered sugar-300 g, eggs-1 pc., vanillin-3 g

Melted butter is beaten with powdered sugar for 25-30 minutes, while egg white is gradually added. Vanillin, sifted flour are added and, thoroughly rubbing, knead a stiff dough. Round balls weighing 60-75 g are formed from the dough, placed on iron sheets lined with parchment, smeared with egg yolk on top and baked at a temperature of 175-180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes. After cooling, shaker-churek is sprinkled with powdered sugar.

FIRNI

Rice - 40 g, milk - 200 g, sugar - 10 g, butter - 10 g, cinnamon - 0.2 g, salt

Rice is soaked in water for 2-3 hours, discarded, dried and pounded in a mortar. Rice flour is poured into boiling milk, salt, sugar are added with continuous stirring and boiled. When serving, pour oil on top and sprinkle with cinnamon in the form of a lattice.

JYZ-BYZ

Lamb intestines (processed) - 140 g, heart - 60 g, liver - 67 g, kidneys - 60 g, testicles - 50 g, onion - 50 g, potatoes - 193 g, fat tail fat - 15 g, greens - 5 g , sumac-1.0 g, pepper-0.1 g, salt, in summer you can add tomatoes-100g

The cleaned intestines are cut into pieces 2-3 cm long. They cut into pieces the liver, heart, stoves and testicles. All this is peppered, salted and fried. Then add onions, separately fried potatoes, cut into cubes, mix and bring to readiness. When serving, sprinkle with herbs, separately serve sumac.

KUTABES WITH MEAT

Lamb-100 g, onion-20 g, lavashana-15 g or pomegranate-20 g, wheat flour-110 g, melted butter-30 g, sumac-3 g, pepper-0.1 g, salt.

A stiff dough is kneaded from wheat flour with the addition of salt, which I roll out to a thickness of 1-0.5 mm, cut out circles the size of a pie plate from it. Minced meat is prepared from lamb with onions, pepper, salt, pomegranate are added and mixed thoroughly. Wrap minced meat in dough in the shape of a crescent and fry in a pan in oil.

KUTAB WITH GREENS

Greens (spinach - 150 g, sorrel - 150 g, green onion - 150 g, cilantro and dill - 15 g), flour - 140 g, melted butter - 20 g, butter - 20 g, pita bread - 10 g, egg - 1/5 pcs, matsoni - 50 g, pepper, salt

The greens are washed, coarsely cut and stewed with sautéed onions. Salt, pepper, pita bread are added to the filling and mixed thoroughly. From flour with the addition of water, eggs and salt, a stiff dough is kneaded, which is rolled out and circles are cut from it. The finished filling is wrapped in the dough with a crescent moon, fried on both sides in a pan without oil. When serving, kutabs are poured with warmed butter and matsoni (kefir, yogurt) are served separately.

DOLMA

Lamb - 100 g, rice - 30 g, onion - 20 g, greens (cilantro, dill, mint) - 15 g, grape leaves - 40 g, matsoni - 20 g, melted butter - 10 g, salt, pepper, cinnamon

Lamb pulp and onions are passed through a meat grinder. Rice, chopped greens, salt, pepper, and sometimes peeled peas soaked in water are added to the minced meat. Fresh grape leaves are scalded with boiling water, and pickled leaves are skipped until half cooked. Minced meat is thoroughly mixed and wrapped in each sheet at the rate of an average of 25 g, minced meat per dolma. Put the dolma in a saucepan with a thick bottom, fill it with water up to half and simmer for an hour until cooked. When serving, matsoni (kefir, curdled milk) are served separately.

LYULYA - KEBAB

1 kg of fatty lamb (if the lamb is lean, add tail fat or beef kidney fat), 4 medium onions, hot capsicum, a bunch of cilantro, 4 cloves of garlic.

Pass meat, onion, garlic and cilantro through a meat grinder. Beat the mince very carefully on the table. You should feel with your hands that the meat has become quite sticky and does not fall apart. Then put the stuffing in the refrigerator for half an hour. Next, string the minced meat on a skewer with sausages 15 cm long (50 g each), and keep the skewer flat during stringing. Fry in the grill for 10 minutes or in a preheated grill for 20 minutes. Lula kebab is usually served on thin pita bread.

DUSHBARA (Azerbaijani style dumplings)

lamb (without bones) - 400g, flour - 2 cups, egg - 1 pc, onion - 2 pcs., butter (melted) - 2 tbsp, wine vinegar (3%) - 2 tbsp, mint , cilantro - to taste, pepper and salt - to taste.

Boil bone broth separately. Lamb pulp is passed through a meat grinder, onion, pepper are added and mixed well.
A stiff dough is prepared from flour and eggs with the addition of salt. The resulting dough is rolled out with a thickness of about 2 mm. Departing 3 cm from the edge of the rolled cake, lay out the minced meat with a teaspoon at small intervals. The workpiece is closed with another cake, after which it is taken out with a round notch.

Ready dyushbaras are dipped into boiling strained broth and boiled over low heat until dyushbaras float to the surface. For 4 servings use 6 cups of broth.
When serving, dushbar is poured with broth, melted butter is added and sprinkled with herbs, vinegar is served separately.

CHIKHYRTMA WITH SPINACH

Spinach-350 g, sorrel-100 g, parsley or dill-15 g, onion-50 g, eggs-2 pcs., melted butter-30 g, matsoni-100 g, pepper, salt.

Spinach, sorrel and parsley are sorted, washed, coarsely cut and stewed. Onions are fried separately, then mixed with stewed herbs. Seasoned with spices, put in a pan, poured with beaten eggs and baked in the oven. The finished dish is poured with oil and matsoni (curdled milk, kefir) is served separately.

AZERBADJANI PILAF

For swimming you will need:
1) Dishes, better cauldron
2) Oil - vegetable, in the original - cottonseed, you can use any other oil that you are used to using when frying so that it does not burn.
3) Meat - classically, lamb, and, oddly enough, brisket is valued. It is good to add the back, fat tail part (fat tail fat). But you can take other meat available to you. This dish is truly folk, even tough meat is prepared, but it is not necessary for guests to take just this.
4) Rice - not long, "Indian". Here the principle is different - rice should be translucent. The fact is that rice should not fall apart during the cooking process, it should remain firm, although not raw.
5) Carrots - use white.
6) Onion - take white, as it is sweeter and juicier. But the usual, yellow, is also great.
7) Garlic - per kilogram - 5-6 large heads, less can be.
8) Spices - a mixture of medium hot red pepper, sweet red pepper, barberry berries (for sourness), coriander - grains (these are cilantro seeds) zira (cumin, it happens in a shell, then these are narrow small seeds of a grayish, as usual, color and peeled, very small oblong seeds, usually black, if crushed, smells of something like petroleum products), a little cumin, dried tomatoes, saffron, dried garlic and other ingredients.
9) The ratios of products are approximately as follows: for 1 kg of rice, take 1-2 kg of carrots (less than 1 kg is impossible), 1 kg of meat, 0.5 kg of onions, 0.3 - 0.4 liters of oil.
For vegetarians - all the same, only without meat. Instead of meat, carrots or potatoes are added. There are lovers of different combinations of pumpkin, raisins and other things. Important - the basic technology remains the same.

Rinse rice to remove flour. Then soaked. Oil is poured into a vessel free of water (can be evaporated). It is heated over high heat to remove the smell of what the oil is pressed from (sunflowers, olives, etc.).
To prevent sudden boiling of the oil, you can pour a pinch of salt into the already heated liquid.

Cooking technology:
1) In the heated oil, carefully, so as not to splash, put fat (fat tail or from meat, if there is a lot of it), bones that are unpromising for distribution as meat, for frying. When the fat is rendered, all the cracklings are caught. No more oil is added during the cooking process.
2) Put in advance or in the process of frying cooked thinly sliced ​​onions. The onion is thinly sliced ​​so that it cooks properly.
3) Put the meat, cut into large pieces, fry.
4) Put carrots, cut into strips.
5) All this is fried over high heat, gently stirring with a slotted spoon so as not to chop the carrots. It will also be necessary to boil water, first two liters, then three more, so that later it can be added to pilaf (you can use broth).
5) Add boiling water so that it covers the resulting mixture, about a finger, maybe a little more, bring to a boil, add spices, garlic in the form of whole heads, freeing it only from dirty outer shells. Boil over low heat, not allowing to burn, you can cover it for at least half an hour, you can simmer longer.
6) Remove the garlic, if it was put. We put a slotted spoon (preferably pre-soaked) rice, NOT MIXING IT with meat and carrots. So he will prepare until the very end of the process. There comes the only difficult and decisive moment. You add boiling water to rice. Approximately one and a half - two fingers above rice. But it also depends on the type of rice, the amount of carrots, etc. After that, the rice is not mixed in the usual way, water, as a rule, is not added. If you have strong doubts about what is happening at the very bottom of the pan (whether it is burning), in such an emergency, you can try moving the skimmer along the wall to lift the food at the bottom. But it's better not to bring it up.
During the cooking process, you can pierce rice to the bottom with a round stick made of wood that does not taste bitter, creating boiling “wells” evenly over the surface so that there are no stagnant zones. The top layer of rice can be carefully turned over with a slotted spoon so that then dried and uncooked grains do not come across.
7) When the visible part of the liquid disappears, put the garlic back, gently crushing the rice on top so that the garlic is covered with pilaf. The cauldron is covered with a lid and left for 30 minutes on very low heat.
8) Pilaf is removed from the fire, opened, the garlic is removed, the pilaf is gently mixed with a slotted spoon, shifting the layers. If the dishes are small, use an additional one. If there is time, you can let the pilaf stand in a warm place, mixed, soaking.

Ready pilaf is distributed in the form of large portions, in a whole soup bowl, or spread on a common large dish - “lagan”. The meat is placed on top, garlic heads, too, usually one per guest. Served with onion salad (just onions sprinkled with salt), with fresh tomatoes.

It is considered extremely impolite to call the proposed pilaf porridge, to use ketchup for it, etc. Be sure to simultaneously serve unsweetened green tea.