Uzbekistan foods starters, soups, main dishes, and desserts

We will tell you about Uzbekistan foods their starters, soups, main dishes, and desserts. In short, everything you need to not get lost among so many strange names and know exactly what to ask for.

Table of Contents

1. Samsas

The Samsas can describe as the Uzbekistani dumplings.
It is a puff pastry with different fillings. The most common are stuffed with vegetables (pumpkin, onion, and/or potatoes) or meat (lamb, chicken, and beef). To us, we liked most the vegetable
You can also find samsas in their sweet version, filled with fruit jams, and covered with powdered sugar and sesame seeds.
The Samsas traditional meal of Uzbekistan are cooked in the same oven bread (flat Tandy), and very fat tail lamb. But the rush of the modern world reaches every corner! Now it is normal for them to be cooked in electric or gas ovens.
Ah! And of course, don’t be shy about eating these dumplings with your hands

2. Manti (dumpling)

Are we in China or Uzbekistan? Indeed, this dish was born in Chinese cuisine, but it came to Uzbekistan to stay.
The manti are cooked to steam and are often stuffed potato and pumpkin meat, or meat and onion (lots of onions).
It can be accompanied by sour cream or yogurt.
Like samsas, which we will tell later, manti can be eaten with your hand.
In our post on typical Chinese food, you can read more about dumplings

3. Kurt (or karat)

The Kurt is a staple of Uzbekistan foods. You can find them as an aperitif, but also in a bowl of soup, salad or to kill your hunger during a walk. Uzbeks even mix it with water for a healthy drink. Ok for it!
It is a salty ball of fermented milk, curdled and filtered milk.
You can also see versions with basil, paprika, mint, etc.
It is a widely used product due to its various uses since it is not a perishable food.
If you buy kurtas during your trip, it is advisable to store them in canvas or paper bags.

Soups from Uzbekistan

1. Shurpa

The ingredients of the soups are usually the same: aromatic herbs (coriander, dill, and parsley), vegetables (carrot, red pepper, onion, tomato), and meats (lamb or beef).
Everything is cooked with salt and spices (black pepper and cumin).
What makes its flavor change is the way it is prepared :

Kovurma sherpa:

Before cooking the meat, it is fried together with the carrot and onion.

Kaynatma sherpa:

The healthier version. The ingredients are only cooked. And potato is added.

Among the “1000” versions of shurpa, the most common are:

Shurpa chaban:

Soup with potato, meat, onion, and tomato.

Mohara shurpa:

Contains some typical chickpeas from central Asia. Their peculiarity is that they are large and do not soften during cooking.

Shurpa mash:

Lamb soup with green chickpea.

Kiya shurpa:

The meat it carries is shaped like meatballs.

Kofta shurpa:

Soup with meat sausages and peas.

Asy shurpa:

Soup for those who are more fish than meat.

Sholom shurpa:

Lamb soup with turnip.

Karma shurpa:

Soup with turnip, potato, carrot, and other vegetables.

2. Katikati

Other very popular soups in Uzbekistan foods are those that use sour milk. And they are usually given the generic name of Katikati.
The 3 most popular Katikati dishes are:

Matava soup:

Contains meat and vegetables. When served, sour milk, pepper, and vegetables are added.

Mashkhurda soup:

With green chickpea, rice, potato. It is also seasoned with sour milk, vegetables, and onion.

Chop soup:

Cold soup with cucumbers, radishes, vegetables, and sour milk.

3. Lagman

This dish is made up of noodles, vegetables, and meat, seasoned with different hot spices or sauces (soy or vinegar). And all this served in a delicious broth.
On the one hand, the noodles are cooked and on the other hand, a kind of sauce is made with vegetables (carrot, pepper, onion, tomatoes, aubergines, green radishes, white cabbage, and potato).
In Uzbekistan foods, the preparation of noodles is an art and we can find 2 kinds of these noodles:

The short noodles, which are more common in Samarkand, Bukhara, and Fergana valley.

The elongated noodles, from the capital (Tashkent).

Uzbek bread (lepyoshka)

No, bread is not a soup. But we put it here because the soups are usually always accompanied by the typical Uzbek bread.
Bread in Uzbekistan foods is a must (as in Spain!)
According to ancient beliefs, you have to cut bread by hand. Because if you cut it with a knife, you could be offended.
The flat part is never placed facing upwards.
The traditional bread is the so-called lepyoshka. And there are many kinds since in each region they use a type of yeast and their own way of baking.
The oven where Uzbek bread is cooked is called a tender (clay oven). When the tender is red hot, the baker sticks the cake on the wall.
Only men usually work in traditional bakeries.
Also, there are many traditions attached to bread:

The oaths are made on behalf of the bread.

Before leaving home, she bites into a piece of bread and stores it until she returns home and finishes eating it.

The weddings are started breaking the bread.

If you want to buy or give an original souvenir, in any city you can buy the tool that is used to decorate the bread (cherish).

Main dishes of Uzbekistan

1. Plov

The plov is the king of meals in Uzbekistan.
Very popular both in festivities and in everyday meals.
The plov ( плов ) also eaten and is named in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.
In other countries you will find it under other names: In Iran (پلو polo or polow ), in countries like Bosnia, Serbia, Romania and Turkey ( pilav or pilaf ), in Armenia ( pulav ) and in Greece ( Πιλάφι, pilaf ).
It is said that the best plov is made in Samarkand.
With plov, it happens as with bread. In each region, you can find it prepared differently and with very different flavors.
In Uzbek food, plov is prepared in large quantities. In a deep iron pot called a Kazan.
Cooks are usually men.
The main ingredients are meat (lamb or beef), carrot (yellow or red), onion, rice, and spices (cumin and coriander).
A real plov is cooked with the fat from the lamb’s tail ( kudryuka ).
The culinary techniques of frying, cooking and steaming are combined. Hence, getting to cook a good plov dish is considered an art in Uzbek gastronomy.
It is also considered a plate to regain strength. In fact, the great Tamerlane served his troops, to give them the necessary strength and energy.
Our experience testing plov has not been memorable. It is delicious although we prefer paella!

2. Shashlik (kebab)

In Uzbekistan foods, the kebab is all about meat skewers.
I don’t know about you, but when we listen to kebab, the typical Turkish kebab that you find in any neighborhood of Madrid comes to mind.
And we were quite surprised to see it as grilled kabobs.
Prepared with lamb, beef, and chicken. And it is usually served with raw onion rings, as a garnish.
Tashkent has a special reputation.

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