Tatar cuisine soups. Tatar cuisine

Tatar national cuisine embodies the centuries-old cultural traditions of the people, their history and ethnic customs. It is rightfully considered one of the most delicious cuisines in the world. Its dishes have specific and original shades of tastes and aromas that have come from the distant past to the present day, preserving their characteristic features and features almost in their original form.

The specificity and originality of Tatar cuisine is very closely intertwined with the natural and socio-economic conditions of life of the Tatar people, with their history and culture.

The history of Tatar cuisine

Modern Tatars descended from Turkic tribes who lived on the territory of the state called Volga Bulgaria long before the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. Even in those ancient times, it was a highly developed and enlightened state, uniting people of different religions and diverse cultures. It is no wonder that the formation of the national cuisine of the Tatars was significantly influenced by the proximity of neighboring peoples, as well as the Great Silk Road that passed through their territory and connected the East with the West.

The Golden Horde period also contributed to the development of the culinary traditions of the Tatars, but the main ethnic roots of the Turkic peoples still prevailed in their national cuisine.

If the ancient Tatars were nomads, considering meat and dairy products their main food, then over time they increasingly switched to a sedentary lifestyle, began to engage in agriculture and cattle breeding, growing grain products, vegetables and fruits.

The most valuable traditional types of meat among the Tatars were and, to a lesser extent, were widespread. The meat was salted, smoked, dried, dried, boiled, stewed and fried, in a word, it was eaten in all kinds of forms.

The Tatars began breeding birds much later than grain or animals. However, this contributed significantly to the variety of their dishes. Also, the Tatar peoples have long mastered beekeeping, so they were provided for for a long time. In addition, they received a decent profit from the sale of wax and honey.

Features of Tatar cuisine and traditions of Tatar etiquette

Tatar cuisine is very interesting and varied. It was formed thanks to its ethnic traditions, rooted in the distant past. Its development was largely influenced by neighboring nations, introducing certain nuances to the foundations laid long ago.

The ancient Bulgars gave the Tatars bal-mai, katyk and kabartma, they also inherited dumplings from the Chinese, supplemented the Tatar with pilaf, and the Tajik with sugar baklava. And all this is in addition to the national echpochmak and chak-chak. Tatar cuisine was both simple and luxurious, quite satisfying and varied, amazing with the abundance of delicious dishes and the combination of products that at first glance seemed completely incompatible.

But the Tatars were famous not only for their hearty and plentiful dishes, but also for their generous hospitality. According to the custom of our ancestors, only the best dishes that meet the most demanding tastes were always presented to the guests. The hospitable hosts put on the table exquisite sherbet, sugar chak-chak, hearty baursak, exquisite kosh-tele, sweet kaltysh-kaleve, linden honey and aromatic tea.

Among Eastern people, hospitality has always been at its best. It was believed that a person who does not love and cannot receive guests is unhealthy and inferior. It was the norm among Muslims to present rich gifts to a person who came to the house, not to mention a modest meal. Usually the guest also did not remain in debt and never came empty-handed.

In the East, the prevailing phrase was: “Kunak ashy - kara karshi,” which translated meant “Guest treats are mutual.” Hospitality was absorbed by the eastern peoples with mother's milk. Even in ancient times it was honored by the Tatars. This especially struck the Baghdad caliph, who arrived at the invitation of the Bulgarian king Almush to help in accepting Volga Bulgaria into the Islamic faith.

The king's sons warmly greeted the guests on the way, treating them to bread, millet and meat. And in the royal yurt the tables were literally bursting with an abundance of dishes and snacks. But what struck the ambassador most of all was the offer for the guests to take the remaining food with them after the meal.

Peter the Great was also amazed by the scope of Tatar hospitality when in May 1722, on his way to a campaign against Prussia, he stayed in the house of a wealthy Eastern merchant Ivan Mikhlyaev, where he celebrated his fiftieth anniversary. The servants, bowing to the floor to the sovereign, served cold appetizers, hot dishes, roasts, cakes and sweets, as well as numerous pies with excellent fillings.

The Muslim religion has also made significant adjustments to the rules of food intake. The Koran forbade the use of it as an unclean animal, and the falcon and swan, on the contrary, were considered sacred birds, which also made them inviolable.

During the holy month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan, Muslims aged twelve years and older were required to abstain from drinking and eating during the day for thirty days.

Sharia also prohibited the consumption of alcoholic beverages. According to the Koran, it was believed that both good and bad were contained in it, but the content of the first was many times greater. The Prophet Muhammad said that wine is a source of sinful pleasure, and that it takes away the mind of the one who drinks it.

According to Islamic etiquette, the meal had to begin with the obligatory washing of hands. The meal began and ended with a prayer glorifying Allah. Men and women ate separately from each other.

The famous Tatar educator Kayum Nasyri described the rules of Tatar etiquette in one of his books:

you had to sit down at the table without keeping yourself waiting;
you need to eat only with your right hand;
It was considered bad form to take food before respectable people at the same table;
Moderation in food was encouraged.

Main dishes of Tatar cuisine

The basis of Tatar cuisine, as in ancient times, is meat and plant foods, as well as dairy products. Horse meat, lamb and poultry were highly valued, and the most popular meat dishes were dumplings and pilaf.

Milk was mainly used as a basis for the production of katyk - the national Tatar drink, syuzma, kort or eremchek - cottage cheese, as well as butter.

All dishes of Tatar cuisine can be divided into:

hot liquid dishes;
second courses;
baked goods with savory filling;
baked goods with sweet filling;
treats for tea;
beverages.

The first category certainly includes broths and soups. One of the most popular Tatar first courses is shulpa or shurpa. And also a unique highlight of oriental cuisine is tokmach - Tatar noodle soup.

A special place among the Tatars is occupied by dumplings, which are traditionally served with broth. Moreover, dumplings in the East are also called dumplings with various fillings, including cottage cheese, and hemp seeds. Dumplings are traditionally treated to a freshly baked son-in-law and his friends.

Second courses in Tatar cuisine include: meat and cereal dishes. The meat is most often boiled in broth and served as a separate dish, cut into thin slices and slightly stewed with onions, butter, etc.

Sometimes the main dish is boiled, also cut into small pieces. The most common side dish is potatoes. An indispensable attribute of second courses is served in a separate bowl.

The Tatars' national holiday dish is tutyrgan tavyk - chicken stuffed with eggs.

A special place is occupied by traditional Tatar pilaf, as well as bishbarmak, a national product made from meat and dough. Second courses also include tutyrma - lamb or beef intestine stuffed with and. Sausages made from horse meat - kazylyk and makhan - are considered delicious. Another Tatar delicacy is considered dried and - kaklagan urdek or kaklagan kaz.

Popular dishes in Tatar cuisine are prepared in various ways, as well as a variety of porridges: rice, millet, oatmeal, buckwheat, peas and others.

Flour products of various shapes and types are considered traditional and characteristic of the oriental table. The dough for them is used as sour yeast dough, as well as butter dough and simple dough.

The most typical for Tatar cuisine are products made from sour dough. First of all, this is bread. Among the Tatars it is called ikmek and is considered sacred food. From childhood, adults teach children to be careful with bread. It was always the eldest member of the family who cut the bread during meals. They baked mainly from, and only the wealthiest, in quite rare cases, could afford bread from.

And how many stuffed dough products they have! One of the oldest is considered to be kystyby, or kuzikmyak - a flatbread made from unleavened dough, filled with millet porridge. Later they started filling it with mashed potatoes.

Another ancient dish is belish - a pie made from yeast or unleavened dough filled with fatty meat and potatoes or any cereal. Such a pie was made in small and large sizes, and on holidays - in a shape resembling a low truncated cone.

The national Tatar dish is echpochmak, which translated means “triangle” stuffed with pieces of fatty meat and onions. Also popular among them are peremyachi - products made from yeast dough stuffed with finely chopped boiled meat. Afterwards they were fried in cauldrons in a large amount of oil and served with broth, usually for the morning meal.

In villages, the so-called teke or bekken - large oval pies with vegetable filling - were especially popular. The most delicious were the bekkens with pumpkin filling. Similar pies with meat filling were called sumsa.

An interesting Tatar product is gubadia - a tall round pie with several layers of filling, usually including rice, Tatar cottage cheese kort, and dried fruits. Gubadiya is considered a mandatory dish at ceremonial receptions.

And of course, it is impossible to ignore the mass of sweet and rich products in Tatar cuisine: kosh-tele, pate, lavash, katlama, helpek and others. Such dishes are traditionally served with tea. Some of them have undergone significant changes, differing markedly from their Turkic predecessors, but at the same time they have acquired a certain zest and become exclusive national dishes of oriental cuisine.

These include: baursak - small honey dough balls; chak-chak – pieces of dough covered with honey syrup.

These two dishes are traditionally served at weddings. Chak-chak is always brought by the bride or her parents to her husband’s house, and such a treat is considered especially honorable at a wedding.

Other original sweet products are:

kosh-tele – small airy donuts generously sprinkled with powdered sugar;
talkysh-kaleve - a treat somewhat reminiscent of cotton candy, but a little denser.

Tatar cuisine always uses a large amount of fat. The most common of them are butter and melted lard.

Honey is also considered popular, served as a separate dish for tea, or various sweets are made from it.

The most famous Tatar drinks are rye kvass and dried fruits. Tatars are very fond of strong tea. It is believed that a hospitable host is obliged to give his guest tea. It must be drunk hot and strong, diluted with milk.

Another significant Tatar non-alcoholic drink is sherbet, which is a sweet honey drink. One of the wedding rituals was associated with it: in the groom’s house, guests were treated to such a drink, after drinking which the guests put money for the newlyweds on a tray.

Even taking into account the fact that Tatar cuisine is replete with fatty and rich foods, it is still considered useful and healthy. The thing is that it attaches special importance to liquid hot dishes, various cereals and fermented milk products. In addition, the Tatars widely use stewed and boiled food, where much more valuable substances are preserved.

Modern Tatar cuisine, of course, does not look the same as before, but national dishes are still in great demand. In addition to them, mushrooms and various types of pickles, tomatoes and other vegetable crops came into Tatar everyday life; exotic fruits, previously completely inaccessible, appeared on the tables.

Instead of conclusions

Tatar cuisine is one of the most colorful, nutritious, but at the same time healthy and healthy cuisines in the world. Its highlight is not only the abundance of various delicious dishes, but also the traditions of table etiquette, which make every guest feel like the king of the world. Tatar cuisine is distinguished by its simplicity and sophistication at the same time, the variety of dishes, their extraordinary taste and satiety.

Oriental cuisine is the result of the harmonious unity of ethnic traditions and the natural environment in which the gastronomic tastes and culinary preferences of the ancient people were formed. A good example is Tatar pastries! All gourmets in the world dream of enjoying amazing dishes, but we have prepared the best homemade baking recipes.

Where to start our “delicious” research? Of course, from the most popular vac-white. In Tatar this dish sounds like “vak-belesh”, which means “small”.

Composition of products (dough):

filtered water - 30 ml;
sifted flour - about 1 kg;
egg;
granulated sugar - 25 g;
active dry yeast - 7 g;
kefir/sour milk - 500 ml;
table salt - 20 g.

List of ingredients (minced meat):

pork and beef (30 and 70% respectively) - 600 g;
onion - at least 500 g;
spices (salt, pepper), spices - according to preference.

Cooking method:

Pour dry yeast into a spacious bowl. If it is a fast-acting product, consisting of granules or powder, it does not need to be activated. Simply combine the composition with warm kefir or milk and mix thoroughly.
We also add regular sugar, table salt, and an egg. We work well with a whisk, after which we add portions of flour. We continue preparing the dough until a homogeneous, slightly viscous mass is formed that sticks to our hands (in the middle of the kneading we switch to “manual control” of the process).
Return the formed ball to the bowl, cover with film and a towel, and leave warm to rise. We knead the product several times, freeing it from carbon dioxide. Living bacteria must “work” freely!
In the meantime, we wash the pieces of meat, divide them into small parts, and grind them in a home processor. Add finely chopped onion to the resulting mixture, season the minced meat with salt and pepper, mix well. The juiciness of the mass is ensured by the amount of onion (1:1 ratio) processed with a knife, not a meat grinder!
Divide the dough into small portions and shape into flat cakes. Place the meat filling on each circle and tightly connect the edges of the donut. If desired, you can leave a small hole in the center.
Fry the products in hot oil for 15 minutes, turning them over once they are golden brown on each side.

The most delicious wak-belyashi - exclusively hot!

Kyakyash - baked goods of national Tatar cuisine

Since not everyone is familiar with the names of the traditional dishes of this country, we will begin presenting the recipes with a brief description of each dish. Kyakyash is also popularly called “pyaryamach”.

Required components:

lean oil - ½ cup;
lamb/beef - 1 kg of low-fat product;
eggs - 4 pcs.;
premium wheat flour - 1.2 kg;
onion - 5 pcs.;
dry yeast - 50 g;
whole milk - 1 l;
regular sugar, table salt - 1 tsp each.

Preparation procedure:

Grind the washed, cut into pieces meat in a food processor (use a wire rack with large holes). During the processing of the product, add peeled onions. Salt and pepper the resulting mass, mix the minced meat thoroughly.
Heat the milk (not higher than 35 °C), place it in a spacious container. Beat in eggs (exclusively at room temperature), add a spoonful of regular sugar and coarse salt.
Pour a pack of fresh dry/pressed yeast here and pour in half a glass of vegetable oil. Mix the composition, add portions of sifted flour, knead the dough. We leave it under a towel to rise. Don’t forget to knead the product several times to release carbon dioxide.
We form balls from the dough, roll out the crumpets, and place a tablespoon of minced meat on each portion. We lift the edges of the cake without stretching them, collect them beautifully in the center, leaving a small hole. This is how we design all our products.
Place the pieces in very hot oil, hole side down, and fry until golden brown. Place the baked goods on napkins to absorb excess fat and serve.

If you look at the kyakash from above, the baked goods are very reminiscent of the sky with a miniature sun inside. It seems?

Cabartma with potatoes

Luxurious yeast dough donuts are cooked in a kettle of boiling oil or fried over an open flame in the oven. That’s how many faces Tatar cuisine is!

Required components:

butter (butter (50 g) and sunflower for frying);
granulated sugar - 25 g;
yeast (preferably dry Saf-moment) - 11 g;
egg;
sifted flour - up to 750 g;
potatoes - 300 g;
salt - 20 g.

Preparation procedure:

We dilute yeast in milk, not forgetting to add regular sugar. We are waiting for the appearance of a lush “cap”.
In the meantime, sift a heap of flour and salt into a bowl, make a small depression into which we pour the risen yeast mixture. Beat in the eggs, add pre-melted butter.
We make a batch of dough that is not very steep and slightly sticks to your hands. We send it to a warm place for an hour and a half, covering the container with film. During the process of ripening the product, knead it twice. An oven heated to 40°C will be a great place to quickly rise the baked goods.
Peel the potatoes, boil them in slightly salted water, and puree them in a blender until smooth.
Divide the fluffy dough into about 20 pieces and shape them into buns. We do not use flour at this stage under any circumstances, otherwise the donuts will lose their airiness and will not turn out amazingly golden.
Leave the decorated products on an oiled baking sheet under a towel for 15 minutes to proof, then bake for 20 minutes in the oven (180°C).
We take out the pastry, grease the bottom part with a thin layer of mashed potatoes, return to the heat of the oven, and cook until golden brown.

Treat hot kabartma with aromatic oil and serve.

Kurnik in Tatar

Just by the name you can guess that this dish is a Tatar version of poultry pie.

List of components:

sunflower oil - 54 ml;
raw egg, yolk;
whole milk - 40 ml;
boiled chicken meat - 400 g;
potato tubers - 3 pcs.;
filtered water - 150 ml;
salt;
regular sugar - 10 g.

Step-by-step preparation:

Place fresh yeast, an egg, a teaspoon of table salt and white sugar into a convenient bowl. Pour in lukewarm drinking water, stir the mixture, and leave it warm. In 20 minutes, living bacteria will transform the composition into a foamy “cloud”.
Sift the flour, pour the mixture that has risen into it, and knead the dough thoroughly. At the end of the process, rub in 40 ml of fresh oil. We form a ball from the product and leave it in a warm place for further ripening.
Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes. Shred the pre-boiled poultry fillet in the same form.
Divide the dough in half. From one part we form a layer up to 1.5 cm thick. Place the flatbread in a heat-resistant form, and distribute the composition of pieces of tubers and chicken meat on top.
Season the filling with salt and pepper, cover it with a layer obtained from the second half of the dough. Its trimmings will be used to decorate the upper part of the product. We make flagella or create other elements for decorating baked goods.
Carefully pour portions of milk between the layers of dough, coat the pie with yolk, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 200°C.

Serve the ruddy Tatar-style kurnik hot.

Chak-chak baursaks with water

“Tricky-cunning” sweet pastries. What's surprising about this delicacy? Nothing special, except that the clever craftsmen “managed” to wrap air in the dough!

List of products:

lean butter, melted fat - 100 ml;
eggs - 5 pcs.;
baking soda and table salt - a pinch;
premium flour - up to 300 g;
granulated sugar - 30 g.

The main secret to getting delicious baursaks is to use frozen eggs and add a small amount of drinking water to the baking oil.

Cooking process:

We leave the eggs in the freezer, then thaw them at room temperature, and then beat them into a spacious bowl.
Add salt, regular sugar and soda. We combine the products, sift the flour into them, and knead the dough. We get a mass that is softer in consistency than for homemade noodles.
Divide the formed ball into approximately 5 servings. Roll each part into “sticks” and cut them up to 3 cm wide.
Place portions of milk in a spacious metal container and add a glass of filtered water.
Place pieces of dough into the cold mixture, shake the dish slightly so that the products do not stick to the bottom, and heat the components of the dish.
Constantly stir the increased volume of the baked goods, watching as the liquid gradually boils away and the baked goods brown appetizingly.
We initially place the finished delicacy on paper napkins, then on a dish, pouring honey or pre-cooked sugar syrup.

For the Tatar people, chak-chak baursaki has not only always been a delicious food, but also a symbol of hospitality!

Tatar pie Kystyby

And here are fried flatbreads, prepared in the form of peculiar pancakes, in which stew, porridge or potatoes are hidden. We choose the filling according to preference!

Grocery list:

sunflower and butter - 100 ml and 50 g, respectively;
drinking water - 200 ml;
premium flour - from 260 g;
heated whole milk - 20 ml;
table salt - 25 g;
wheat cereal - 200 g;
potatoes - 4 pcs.

Cooking method:

Boil tubers and millet in slightly salted water. Pound soft potatoes until pureed. When the mixture has cooled, add heated milk and mix the mixture thoroughly.
Place drinking water, salt, 40 ml of vegetable oil and sifted flour into a bowl. Make a batch of stiff dough, leave it to “rest” for half an hour, covered with a towel.
Roll out the product until almost transparent. We do this not only with a rolling pin, but also with our hands, stretching the layer in different directions. It’s okay if the sheet breaks in some places: it won’t be noticeable in the finished product!
We treat the surface of the thinnest cake with melted butter and sunflower oil. Place a layer of potato filling and roll the product into a roll. Place it on a greased baking sheet, forming a snail shape. From the presented products we will get about 9 delicious “clams”.
Place the baked goods in the oven for 30 minutes, heated to 180°C.

We serve multi-layer Tatar Kystyby with an amazingly crispy crust hot.

Folk dish - echpochmak

The next presentation is unleavened or yeast pies filled with meat and potatoes.

Required components:

vegetable oil (50 ml), butter (to taste);
honey - 90 g;
beef - 500 g;
potatoes - 3 pcs.;
premium flour - 1 kg;
onion - 2 pcs.;
salt, pepper, herbs;
dry yeast - 12 g;
meat broth - to taste.

Cooking technique:

Combine honey, yeast, vegetable fat, 500 ml of drinking water, and sifted flour in a convenient bowl. Make a batch of soft dough, leave it for 2-3 hours to rise.
We wash the piece of meat, blot it with napkins, and cut it into the smallest cubes. In the same form, chop the peeled potatoes, chop the greens, add a pinch of salt. Mix everything well.
Roll out the dough, divide it into quadrangles, place the potato and meat filling on one side of each flatbread, and cover with the free part of the crumpet. When decorating the products in the form of triangles, we connect the edges on both sides, leaving one open.
Place the echpochmak on an oiled baking sheet and place in a cold oven for 45 minutes. Bake at 200°C.

List of products (dough):

margarine/butter, sour cream - 100 g each;
baking powder - ½ tsp;
kefir - 250 g;
egg;
premium flour - up to 400 g;
regular sugar - 20 g.

Filling:

egg;
granulated sugar - 70 g;
rice - 200 g;
dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, prunes) - a handful;
kyzyl eremsek (red cottage cheese) - 100 g;
a pack of butter.

Chit:

premium flour - 390 g;
regular sugar - 50 g;
butter fat - 20 g.

Cooking method:

Sift the flour into a bowl, place the grated (chopped) butter. Grind the fat and bulk ingredients until crumbly. Add egg, baking powder, kefir, salt and sugar. We knead the dough and put it in the refrigerator.
Boil rice in salted water and cook hard-boiled eggs.
Leave the dried fruits in drinking liquid for a while, rinse well and dry. Cut prunes and dried apricots into small pieces.
Combine cereals and dried fruits, mix thoroughly.
Take out the chilled dough and divide it into two unequal pieces. Roll out most of the product and place it in a baking dish coated with butter.
Next, place rice and dry berries and fruits, throw pieces of butter on them. Sprinkle the food with chopped eggs and cover them with pink cottage cheese (eremsek).
We repeat the layers again, cover them with the second rolled out cake, leaving a piece of dough. We fix the edges of the layers, make a small hole in the middle of the top sheet, where we place a ball molded from the set aside dough.
Mix the crumb ingredients and rub the mixture with your hands. Grease the surface of the pie with butter and sprinkle with the sweet mixture.

Bake gubadia for 40 minutes at 180°C. Cut the multi-layered dish into portions and serve.

Traditional pies with potatoes, meat and onions

Tatar cuisine has become famous for its huge amount of delicious baked goods. However, it is impossible to ignore the most popular meat and potato pies.

Set of components:

natural butter - 200 g;
baking soda 12 g;
premium flour - 550 g;
eggs - 4 pcs.;
a pinch of salt;
kefir - 250 g.

Filling:

potatoes - 300 g;
butter - to taste;
onions - 2 pcs.;
spices (salt, pepper).

Cooking:

Combine kefir, baking soda and salt in a spacious bowl. We are waiting for bubbles to stop appearing in the composition.
Grind the flour and chopped butter until crumbly. Add eggs and kefir mixture. Make a batch of soft dough, leave the product for half an hour under a towel.
Finely chop the tubers and meat, chop the onion, pepper and salt the mixture, mix well.
Pinch off a small portion of the total dough mass and roll out the ball into a not very thin circle. Place a spoonful of filling, secure the edges of the donut like a khinkali, leaving a fairly large hole in the center.
Place the pies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and place the pieces in the oven for 20 minutes (200°C).
After the specified time, the broth formed in the products will boil away. Place a piece of butter in each portion and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. At the end of the process, brush the pies with egg.

Place the golden-brown pastry in a closed container, serve it slightly cooled as a separate dish, or add the dish to hot soup.

Delicious Tatar pastries will captivate you immediately and forever! That’s why we wish everyone temle bbulsyn ashigyz, which means “bon appetit.”

Tatar cuisine is the result of a centuries-old history of the development of an entire people, which was influenced not only by the living conditions and cultural and religious characteristics of the Tatar people, but also by the traditions of neighboring peoples: Mari, Chuvash, Bashkirs and others.

Features of Tatar cuisine

The religion of the Tatars - Islam - imposes certain prohibitions on the consumption of certain types of meat: pork, as well as swan and falcon meat. In addition, alcohol is prohibited.
Tatars love rich, fatty soups and broths, pilaf - in general, their dishes are very satisfying and nutritious.
Most of the main dishes of Tatar cuisine can be prepared in a cauldron or cauldron. This feature is characteristic of this national cuisine because for a long time these people were nomadic.
Tatar cuisine has many recipes for baking interesting shapes with various fillings, served with different types of tea.
It is difficult to find such an ingredient as mushrooms in traditional recipes, but modern housewives add it to both baked goods and main dishes.

Main ingredients of Tatar cuisine

Since the Tatars were originally a nomadic people, the basis of their national cuisine is meat - lamb, horse meat, beef, chicken, duck, game. According to Islamic traditions, Tatar cuisine recipes do not use pork, which is considered dirty meat. The remaining types of meat are prepared in different variations: they are used to cook soups and broths, and are used in preparing main courses and filling pies.

The second most common ingredient in Tatar cuisine is various cereals. Tatars love porridges: rice, peas, millet, buckwheat. They cook them with the addition of vegetables or dried fruits.

Tatar cuisine is rich in a variety of baked goods, so the third most important ingredient is dough, mainly yeast, from which fluffy, soft pastries are obtained. Tatar housewives bake both small pies and large closed and open pies with various sweet and savory fillings. The main flour product, like among many peoples of Eurasia, is bread - among the Tatars it is called ikmek.

Another important ingredient of Tatar cuisine is dairy products. Milk in its pure form is practically not used - it is turned into sour cream, kefir or cottage cheese. Katyk is prepared from cow or horse milk by fermentation. The resulting fermented milk product is used to prepare the popular refreshing drink ayran. Katyk is also the base for the Tatar curd product syuzme, from which the Tatar cheese called kort is prepared by long evaporation.

Popular dishes of Tatar cuisine

Listed below are the most popular dishes among the people, which form the basis of the Tatar diet.

Pelmeni - as in Russian cuisine, are made from unleavened dough and filled with minced meat or vegetables. The highlight of Tatar dumplings is the addition of hemp grains.
Tatar pilaf - cooked with lamb or beef in a deep cauldron in animal fat with the addition of vegetables or even fruits (sweet version).
Belish is a traditional open-faced pie with duck, lots of onions and rice.
Peremyach are round flatbreads with filling, baked in the oven.
Tutyrma is a Tatar sausage made from offal with spices.
Chak-chak is a widely known delicacy in Russia, which is prepared from dough with honey.
Tatar broth shulpa is more reminiscent not of broth, but of a real Russian soup with a lot of ingredients: meat, vegetables, noodles.
Azu – fried meat with vegetables.
Kystybai - unleavened flour flatbreads with a variety of delicious fillings from meat, cheese, and vegetables.
Tunterma is a nutritious omelette with the addition of wheat flour or semolina to give it a thick consistency.
Echpochmak are small triangle pies with potato and meat filling.
Elesh is a round pie filled with potatoes, chicken fillet and onions.
Chebureks are fried flat pies filled with minced meat.
Koimak – small pancakes made from yeast dough fried in the oven.
Kabartma is thin long noodles made from dough. Other types of Tatar noodles: chumar, umach, salma, tokmach.

Cooking methods

The peculiarities of preparing Tatar dishes, which are associated with traditions that have developed among the people for centuries, are also interesting.

The Tatar oven, in which pastries and other national dishes are prepared, is slightly different from the usual Russian oven: it has a cauldron attachment and a smaller bed.

The main technique of Tatar cooking is baking and stewing. Frying is used quite rarely: only for making pancakes.

Ingredients:

650 g beef

3 pickled cucumbers

3 onions

300 g potatoes

3 tbsp. spoons of tomato paste

2 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil

Bay leaf

salt and ground black pepper - to taste

How to cook lamb basics:

Take the meat and rinse it under running water. Cut into strips and fry in vegetable oil.
Peel the onions and carrots, cut into strips and add to the meat.
Carefully add tomato paste and cucumbers, previously grated on a fine grater.
Peel the potatoes, also cut them into strips and place them with the meat.
Simmer it all under the lid until the meat is completely cooked - about 25 minutes.
Lamb azu is ready!

Tatar omelette

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Ingredients:

300 ml milk

100 g wheat flour

150 g butter

salt - to taste

How to cook an omelette in Tatar style:

Whisk the eggs into a bowl and mix thoroughly until smooth. Add milk and melted butter there. Add salt and flour, beat until thick.
Grease a frying pan with vegetable oil and pour the resulting mixture onto it.
Place the frying pan on the heat and wait until the contents thicken a little. Then put it in the oven for 10 minutes. The Tatar omelette should rise.

Kystyby

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Ingredients:

200 ml milk

salt to taste

3 cups wheat flour

1 kg potatoes

150 g butter

150 g green onions

How to prepare kystyby:

Peel the potatoes, boil and chop to make a puree. Add chopped onion to the puree and stir.
Mix water, milk, salt and flour. You should now have a dough. Roll it into flat cakes. Bake them in a frying pan until browned without oil. \Place the filling on the finished flatbreads and serve.
Kystyby is ready!

Echpochmak from curd dough

Shutterstock

Ingredients:

250 g cottage cheese

250 g butter

200 g sugar

400 g wheat flour

1 teaspoon soda

1 drop vinegar

How to make echpochmak from curd dough:

Heat the oil in a frying pan until it becomes soft. Mix it with cottage cheese. Add baking soda, quenched with vinegar, to the mixture.
Then add flour. Knead the dough and make small cakes out of it. Roll in sugar and fold in half, then sprinkle with more sugar. Make triangles out of the cakes and bake in the oven until golden brown.
Echpochmak from curd dough is ready!

Notenoughcinnamon

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat cereal

2 tomatoes

2 sweet peppers

1 clove of garlic

3 tbsp. spoons of olive oil
salt - to taste

2 tbsp. spoons of lemon juice

How to prepare Tatar salad:

Soak the cereal in cold water for an hour, and then place it in a deep plate.
Wash and chop the peppers, apples and tomatoes, and then mix with the cereal.
Chop the garlic and herbs very well and mix with vegetable oil and lemon juice. Pepper and salt. Use the resulting mixture as a dressing.
Season the Tartar salad and place it in the refrigerator for 50 minutes.

Smittenkitchen

Ingredients:

100 ml beef broth

4 chicken eggs

salt and pepper - to taste

How to cook dumplings in Tatar style:

Pour flour into a deep bowl and beat the eggs. Add broth and knead the dough.
Scoop a piece of dough with a spoon and drop it into the boiling broth. The finished Tatar dumplings will float to the surface.

Shutterstock

Ingredients:

400 g yeast dough

5 boiled carrots

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp. spoons of sugar

How to cook samsa with carrots:

Hard boil the eggs, peel and chop.
Cool the peeled boiled carrots, chop, add salt, add eggs and melted butter. Mix everything and roll out the dough.
Form the pies and add the filling. Fry in a significant amount of vegetable oil until browned.
Samsa with carrots is ready!

Annabellaskitchen

Ingredients:

200 g boiled beef

50 g butter

a few slices of bread

4 canned sprat

3 egg yolks

1 onion

salt - to taste

How to cook croutons in Tatar style:

Fry the bread in butter.
Grind the meat in a meat grinder, mix with yolks, chopped sprat and pickled cucumber.
Pepper and salt.
Place the minced meat on bread and decorate the Tatar croutons with herbs.

Gubadiya in Tatar style with cottage cheese

Tatsalat

Ingredients:

300 g butter

2 cups of flour

200 g sugar

450 g cottage cheese

2 tbsp. spoons of sour cream

How to cook gubardiya with cottage cheese:

Grind the flour and butter into crumbs, gradually adding salt and sugar. Knead the dough.
To create the filling, mix eggs with cottage cheese and sugar.
Place half of the dough in a greased pan, add the filling, and then sprinkle with the remaining crumbs. Preheat the oven to 200°C\ and place the pan with the dish there for 45 minutes.
Gubardiya with cottage cheese is ready!

In a similar way you can prepare gubadia with dried fruits. Only for it you will need to take ready-made yeast dough. The filling used is raisins, dried apricots and prunes.

Chuck-chuck

One of the most favorite sweets for everyone - the best gift for friends from a trip and a real delicacy and joy on the holiday table.

In Tatar cuisine you can find a wide variety of dishes. This is due to the fact that it is inextricably linked with the culture, traditions of the people and their way of life. Tatar dishes are hearty and based on an interesting combination of ingredients. They are easy to prepare and delicious in taste. In this article we will look at the best Tatar dishes (recipes with photos will be included).

The formation of cooking in Tatarstan

Culinary traditions have evolved over centuries. Most of the dishes are borrowed from nearby neighboring countries. The Tatars inherited recipes for preparing foods from flour and dairy products (for example, kabartma) from the Turkic tribes. Pilaf, sherbet, and halva were borrowed from; from Chinese - dumplings, as well as methods of brewing tea; from Tajik - baklava.

The Tatars have long been engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, which contributed to the predominance of flour, meat, dairy products, grains, legumes and various cereals in national dishes.

Tatars have their own food prohibitions. For example, according to Sharia it is forbidden to eat pork. The most commonly used meat in cooking is lamb. You can also eat young beef. The Tatars also breed horses, not only for agricultural needs, but also for making sausages (kazylyk). Horse meat is consumed dried, boiled and salted.

The most common Tatar broths and soups (ashlar, shurpa), meat, lean and dairy dishes. Their names are determined by the name of the seasoned products (vegetables, flour products, cereals).

Drinks include katyk, ayran and tea. In the national culture of the Tatars, there is the following tradition: when a person comes to visit, to show his respect, he is offered hot, strong black tea with sweets and fresh pastries.

It is worth noting this feature of this cuisine - all dishes can be divided into hot liquid and dough products and delicacies that are served with tea. Hot soups or broths are of primary importance. They are a mandatory part of meals at home. Depending on the broth in which these Tatar dishes are prepared, soups are divided into meat, dairy and vegetarian, and also according to the products with which they are seasoned, into vegetable, flour, and cereal.

Soup with flour dressing, namely noodles (tokmach), is very famous in Tatarstan.

Azu in Tatar

Ingredients:

Wash and dry the beef. Cut into cubes two centimeters wide and four centimeters long. Fry in a well-heated frying pan. Then put the meat in a pan, add salt and pepper. Add fried onions and tomato paste (you can use fresh tomatoes). Pour in the broth and boil for thirty minutes. Cut the potatoes into large cubes. Fry until half cooked. Place in a saucepan with meat, add finely chopped pickles. Simmer everything until fully cooked. Serve this first dish sprinkled with finely chopped garlic and fresh herbs.

Kazan pilaf

This dish is served during dinner parties.

Ingredients:

Sort the rice and rinse with water several times. Pour into a saucepan and fill with tap water. Cook until half cooked. Melt lard in a cauldron, add boiled meat cut into small pieces. Use lamb, beef or young horse meat, at your discretion. Then place carrots cut into slices and finely chopped onions on the meat. Place half-cooked rice on the vegetables, add a little broth and, without stirring, place on low heat. Simmer for no more than two hours. Before serving, add raisins to the pilaf, which must first be steamed in boiling water.

Tatar dough dishes (cooking recipes)

Tatarstan is famous for its baked goods made from yeast, sweet, butter and sour). The most famous Tatar dishes are kystyby, balesh, echpochmak, gubadia, dumplings, baursak and much more.

Not a single wedding, reception or holiday among the Tatars is complete without a national delicacy called chak-chak. This sweet dish is prepared from small strips made from butter dough. They are molded with honey. This dish is the “calling card” of Tatarstan.

Among the Tatars, bread is considered a sacred product; not a single festive or everyday meal is complete without it.

Also on the table you can see a huge variety of unleavened dough products. It is used to bake buns, flatbreads, pies, tea treats and other Tatar dishes.

Kystyby - fragrant flatbreads

Ingredients:

Peel the potatoes well and cut into large cubes. Place in a saucepan, add water and add salt. Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked. Then drain the water and mash with a masher. Peel the onion and chop finely. Heat a frying pan and fry the onion until golden brown. Add hot milk, remaining butter and fried onions to the potatoes. Mix everything well.

Dust the counter with flour and turn out the dough. Roll into a sausage shape and cut into thick slices with a knife, which you then roll out into large flat cakes. Fry them in a hot frying pan on both sides (about three minutes).

Place potato filling on one half of the tortilla and cover with the other half. They should be filled while still hot. Be careful not to get burned! Before serving, brush the surface of the dish with butter.

Preparing the dough

You will need:

kefir - half a glass;
salt - a pinch;
baking powder - one tsp;
margarine - 50 grams;
sugar - one tsp;
flour - five hundred grams.

Start kneading the dough. Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl except flour. Sift it. Then add flour gradually. Knead the dough until it stops sticking to your hands. Cover with a towel and let stand for twenty minutes.

How to cook the oldest dish of Tatarstan - balish

The main ingredient is meat. As described above, Muslims do not add pork to Tatar dishes. Balish is prepared with lamb.

Ingredients:

Cooking method

First, knead the dough and separate a quarter of it. Roll out the remaining piece (thickness - no more than five millimeters). Prepare the meat: rinse, remove from the bone and cut into medium cubes. Peel the potatoes and cut them into the same pieces. Mix meat and potatoes, add finely chopped onion, salt and pepper according to your taste. Add the oil and mix everything. Place the prepared filling into the pan on top of the dough. Form into a mound and gather the edges of the dough. Roll out a smaller piece of dough and cover the balish with it. Seal the edges, make a hole in the middle of the pie and plug it with a dough plug. Brush the top of the balish with oil. Bake for an hour and a half in a preheated oven. After the time has passed, remove the pie, open the cork, and pour in the broth. Plug the cork and place the balish in the oven to bake for another half hour. After the time is up, remove and serve with strong tea.

Treat yourself and your loved ones with dishes of Tatar cuisine. Bon appetit!