Ramadan recipe of the day: Kyrgyzstan delicacy, Beshbarmak

For Dubai resident Elim, hailing from Kyrgyzstan, Ramadan is a time when he misses home the most. “During Ramadan, we get a lot of time to bond,” he said.

“I spend time at home helping my family with the daily chores. Everyone goes to the mosque together and we share our meals. It is a beautiful time.”

Now living in Dubai with his wife, Elim says one dish he likes to eat during the holy month is the traditional Beshbarmak.

“It doesn’t taste as good as it does back home because there, we use the freshest of ingredients but still it reminds me of home,” he said.

Beshbarmak, which translates into five fingers, is a recipe that the Kyrgyzstanis believe should be eaten with the hands. In Kyrgyzstan, the delicacy is usually made using horse meat.

Ingredients:

Broth and soup

Dough (for noodles)

Chyk sauce

Method:

Broth

Wash the meat and put it in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for about two hours while periodically removing the foam from the surface.

When the meat is cooked let it cool before cutting it into small strips. Keep it aside.

Dough

While the meat is boiling, prepare the dough for the noodles. Whisk the eggs with salt and mix in flour and water. Knead the dough until soft. Keep covered for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into parts, flatten and leave it covered for another 20 minutes.

Flour a work surface and put the dough on it. Now roll it out and cut across in the form of noodles. Some prefer to cut it out in squares. Leave it out to dry a bit before adding it to the broth. Others choose to skip this part and use pre-packaged noodles or lasagne sheets.

Now, lower the noodles into the boiling lamb broth with the meat taken out. When the noodles float to the surface, stir the pot and simmer for another minute. Remove the noodles from the pot, and let them drain. Put them on a large serving platter

Put onion rings in the boiling broth for a few minutes before removing it and topping the noodles with it.

Place strips of meat in a mount in the middle of the rings of onions.

Chyk

In a pot, add one finely chopped onion, pour .5 litre of broth and boil. Season with salt and some pepper if needed. The Chyk should be hot when serving.

In the remaining broth, add a bay leaf and salt and boil for five minutes. Fill four serving bowls and sprinkle with dill.

When serving, pour the Chyk sauce over the large platter with the meat and the noodles. The dish with noodles and meat is placed in the middle of the table and each person is served a bowl of broth.

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• Ramadan 2023
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