Uzbekistan

Osh

Rice cooked with mutton, carrot and cumin in a kazan, each city claiming its own.

Samsa

Lamb and onion pastries baked on the tandyr wall, juices sealed inside.

Lagman

Noodles pulled by hand and served with a peppery mutton and vegetable sauce.

Manti

Steamed dumplings of lamb and pumpkin, eaten with vinegar and sour cream.

Shurpa

Clear mutton soup with whole vegetables, the fat left deliberately on top.

Dimlama

Meat and vegetables layered in a sealed pot and steamed in their own liquid.

Chuchvara

Tiny dumplings boiled in broth or fried, served with yoghurt and herbs.

Norin

Cold hand-cut noodles tossed with horse meat, a Tashkent speciality.

Kazan kabob

Lamb and potato fried in a cast-iron kazan until both are crusted.

Hasip

Rice and offal sausage boiled and sliced, served with its own broth.

Achichuk

Tomato, onion and chilli salad cut very thin, the only thing served with osh.

Non

Round bread stamped with a chekich pattern, never cut with a knife.

Halim

Wheat and meat stirred all night into a smooth paste, sold at dawn.

Sumalak

Wheat sprouts cooked for a day and a night by the women of a neighbourhood at Navruz.

Chalop

Cold soup of sour milk with cucumber, radish and herbs, drunk in summer.

Kok choy

Green tea poured back into the pot three times before the first cup is offered.