Samarkand plov
A layered plov in which nothing is stirred: the rice stays pale, and the carrots and meat are served on top of it.
Manti
Large steamed dumplings from a tiered steamer, filled with hand-chopped lamb, onion and tail fat — or with sweet pumpkin.
© Scudsvlad, CC BY-SA 4.0
The art of steam
Manti is one of the most patient dishes in the Uzbek kitchen. Thin dough is cut into squares and each is filled with knife-chopped lamb, plenty of onion, a nub of tail fat, cumin and pepper before the corners are pinched together in a characteristic pattern. The dumplings are set out on the oiled trays of a tiered steamer, the qasqon, and steamed over boiling water for about forty minutes.
Well-made manti have translucent skins and release their juices with the first bite, so they are eaten by hand, and with care.
Variations and serving
In autumn and winter pumpkin manti are a favourite, the sweet flesh mixed with onion and a little tail fat; versions with greens or potato also turn up. Manti are served with qatiq (thin yoghurt) or sour cream and a dusting of black pepper. Their little sibling, chuchvara, is boiled and eaten in broth or with yoghurt. Home-made manti are a family job: one person rolls, another fills, and the children learn to pinch.
Cousins across Asia
Manti are eaten far beyond Central Asia — in Turkey, the Caucasus and Afghanistan — and they change along the way: Uzbek manti are large and steamed, Turkish ones tiny, boiled and served with garlicky yoghurt. In Samarkand, canteens make them for lunch, while at home they are a weekend dish for when the whole family gathers.
Cuisine
Cuisine
Samarkand bread
A tandoor-baked round with a thin, stamped centre, a plump rim and a glossy crust — Samarkand’s signature taste and the classic gift to carry home.
Tandoor samsa
Flaky pastries filled with lamb, onion and tail fat and baked on the wall of a tandoor — Samarkand’s favourite breakfast.
Kabob (shashlik)
Lamb, liver and minced-meat skewers grilled over charcoal and served with raw onion, vinegar and hot bread — the smoke that drifts down every Samarkand street.
Shurpa
A hearty soup of mutton, carrots, potatoes and herbs, either simply boiled or browned first, served in a deep bowl with bread.
Norin
A cold dish of hair-fine, hand-cut noodles tossed with shredded horsemeat and qazi sausage — the refined starter of weddings and big feasts.
