Azerbaijan cuisine is traditionally considered
to be an exotic element of the national culture for foreigners.
And it is indeed as it has everything to be exotic. It is
original, poignant and reflects the richness of the country
by itself. It constitutes the abundance of meat, fish and
vegetables dishes seasoned by sweet scented greens and spices.
Any experienced gourmand visiting the republic would be amazed
by fine taste and delicate flavor of the Azerbaijan cuisine.
Dishes are unique and original, and can not be confused with
dishes of other national cuisines. The Azerbaijan cookery
has preserved old cooking methods although has modified them
taking into account up-to-date techniques. In cafes and restaurants
some national dishes are served in special crockery in which
the dish is prepared. Below are some traditional recipes that
constitute the core of the national cuisine.
Brown a chunk of mutton and separate bones. Add simmered onions,
fruit, peeled chestnuts and small quantity of meat broth.
Stew until cooked. Boil rice till half done, sieve it and
prepare gazmag: mixture of flour, egg, butter, yogurt rolled
into thin dough and layered at the bottom of the saucepan.
Put the rice into the pan, sprinkle it with melted butter
and out to steam for half an hour. When serving empty rice
on a tray put the cooked seasoned mutton and gazmag, cut into
diamond shape on top
To make the filling, grate shelled roasted walnuts and mix
with sugar in a ratio of 1:1. Warm the milk, add yeasts, salt,
egg, butter and sieved flour and make dough. Leave the dough
to stand for 1-1.5 hours. Roll the dough 0.5 mm thick. Put
a sheet of dough on a greased tray, spread a 3-4 mm layer
of filling over it and cover with another sheet of dough,
grease the dough and spread a layer of filling. Continue in
this way until you have 8-10 layers. Cut pahlava into diamond-shaped
pieces of 1O x 4 cm and brush with egg yellow mixed with saffron.
Place half of a nut kernel or pistachio in the middle of each
piece and bake for 35-40 minutes at a temperature of 180-200
'C. Glaze pahlava with syrup or honey 15 minutes before it
is ready.
Dovga
Ingredients
Mutton-108g
Onions-15g
Peas-15g
Yogurt-200g
Egg-1
Flour-8g
Rice-20g
Spring onions-18g
Spinach-40g
Celantro/Dill-30
Mint-15g
Celery-10g
Pepper/salt to taste.
Cooking
Dovga is soup made of yogurt. Mix flour and egg and add some
rice. Boil the mixture continuously stirring to prevent it
from curdling. When the mixture begins to boil, add finely
chopped greens and salt and boil until cooked. Dovga can be
prepared with or without meat. In the first case, peas are
boiled until half cooked, then small meat balls are made from
minced meat and boiled with peas until ready. The cooked peas
and meat balls are then added to the basic mass.
