A little about the deck and poker

I often remember my grandmother, with her thin, worn-out arms, a network of veins dotted with bulging veins. Now that she is gone, I am more and more aware and re-evaluate this meek and incredibly modest person. After her, I never met people of this type in my life. Yes, they do not fit into our current reality with its cold prudence and consumerism. Even when visiting her daughter (my mother), she managed to bring a little meat with her in a rag, so as not to burden our family budget with her presence. As far as I can remember, I almost always (as soon as I went to visit my uncle, where my grandmother lived), I found her in the osh-khon (in the kitchen), where she was constantly cooking something.
I remember how I laughed and sincerely wondered why she, sitting on her haunches and placing a wooden block ("kunda") in front of her, was chopping and grinding meat on it with an ancient antediluvian knife with a wide blade ("kordi osh"). After all, for these purposes, people have long invented a meat grinder that will grind any meat in a matter of minutes? But grandma never argued. And she continued to tap methodically and monotonously, making movements that had become a habit.
And even then, already sitting at dinner and praising the amazingly delicious dishes prepared by her wonderful hands, I continued to be amazed at her patience and perseverance, not understanding the most important thing - all the most delicious things are prepared exclusively by hand, and no meat grinder, no most advanced unit can able to replace ordinary human hands. This dawned on me much later, when I was over forty.
And in general, I noticed that almost all dishes of oriental cuisine are cooked exclusively “by hand” and this, of course, is not surprising. Traditions, a special centuries-old way of life and continuity in the transfer of experience to subsequent generations could not but leave a special imprint on the Bukharians in everything, not excluding such an area as cooking. Here, perhaps more than anywhere else, this connection with previous generations is most clearly and clearly felt and visible. To do this, it is enough to enter almost any house in the Old Town, where you can still see numerous utensils and handicraft items in the kitchen. And they all find their application in business, and do not lie on shelves like antiques.
I really regret that I began to show interest in this kind of things late. Because now in young families, much of what we inherited from our grandparents has gradually begun to be replaced by objects and units of modern industry. No, I am not for a return to the past and the technological revolution will not stand still. It's clear. It is also clear that with the disappearance of ancient utensils that require personal participation on the part of a person and their replacement with the latest technologies, for the sake of saving time and cheap labor, without a doubt we are losing something more valuable than just “grandmother’s deck” or “grandfather’s poker.”
That is why I rejoice at those small “islands” that have not yet been conquered by scientific and technological progress. And among them, such dishes as lagman, manti, tukhum-barak.
Its literal and direct translation sounds like this: “tukhum” - “egg”, and “barak” - “boiled”. “Just think, a boiled egg,” you will say, and you will be wrong.
Actually, the whole difficulty lies only in ensuring that the “envelopes” of dough, into which the mixture of milk, butter and eggs will need to be poured, are tightly “sealed” and do not burst during cooking. That is, so that the contents do not leak out. There are a number of other subtleties, but that comes later, during the cooking process. In the meantime, let's return to our “barracks”. This word implies a method of cooking and means “cook.” It is found quite often in Bukhara, Karshi and Samarkand cuisine, and is also applied to other dishes. For example, there is such a dish as kadu-barak (“kadu” - “pumpkin”). Pumpkin cooked in dough. Something like dumplings. However, if you come across the phrase “kadu-bichak”, then this is not the same thing. The word "bichak" means "to fry." But this is so for general development. In conclusion, before we begin the actual preparation of this dish, I should only note that tukhum-barak is good both hot and cold.
Personally, for myself, I have not finally decided in what form it is better to eat it.

In principle, “the devil is not as terrible as his...“little one”. And therefore - let’s take a risk - maybe something will work out. But first, we will decide on the products

Tukhum-barak

For the dough:
Premium flour - 500 ml;
Egg - 1 pc;
Water - 250 ml;

For the filling:
Eggs - 8 pcs;
Sesame oil - 15 tablespoons;
Milk - 15 tablespoons;
Salt - to taste;
Separately:
Water (salted) - 200 ml;

As always, you should first knead the stiff dough. For these purposes, take a deep bowl, pour a full glass of ordinary (but preferably cooled boiled) water into it, add half a teaspoon of salt, beat in one egg, stir thoroughly until the mixture is homogeneous and then carefully add flour, while kneading the dough in a circular motion. Don't try to add all the flour at once. Leave a little for dust.
After kneading the dough thoroughly and rolling it into a ball, leave it for 10-15 minutes in a bowl, covering it tightly with a plate so that it does not dry out. After the specified time, you will need to knead it again and, adding a little flour to the bottom of the bowl, let it rest for 10 - 15 minutes. And finally, process again for the third time and leave so that after 5-6 minutes you begin to roll out the dough into a regular pancake, like manti.
In the meantime, take out another deep bowl and carefully beat all 8 eggs into it, carefully making sure that there are no spoiled ones among them. Now we take an ordinary kitchen knife in our hands and begin to “chop” the egg mixture with it. Just chop (make methodical progressive movements from top to bottom), tilting the bowl slightly on its side for convenience and gradually rotating it around its axis. Two or three minutes, no more. Do not under any circumstances try to “make things easier” for yourself by using a mixer or electric beater! In this case, you can safely pour the mixture into the sink and start all over again.
If you try to ask me: “Why, in fact, chop, and specifically with a knife?”, then I will simply and frankly have to admit to you: I don’t know. I really don’t know based on what laws one should do exactly this, however, I firmly believe that our ancestors didn’t just invent anything and everything has a reasonable basis. In a separate small bowl, mix regular store-bought milk with sesame oil. Attention! Sesame oil must be refined and diluted with any vegetable oil in a ratio of 1 to 10, respectively. If you can’t get sesame oil, then you’ll have to replace it with vegetable oil. The result, accordingly, should be expected to be a little worse. Don't forget to add a little salt to the mixture.
Finally, while continuing to “chop” the eggs, slowly pour into them a mixture of milk, butter and salt. Continue stirring for some time (1 - 2 minutes), after which you can put the bowl with the mixture aside and rest a little.
Place a cauldron or aluminum pan on the stove, fill three-quarters with water and, while the water is boiling, begin rolling out the dough. In order not to repeat myself, I suggest looking at the recipe about “manti”. The whole procedure proceeds “one to one”, with the exception of the last moment: there we cut into “squares”, and here we should cut into “rectangles”, the length of which is twice the width. Now we prepare a small tray, which we cover with a clean linen or waffle napkin, place our “rectangles” on it in small piles (so as not to stick together) and cover the top with another napkin so that the workpieces do not become airy.

Pour water, a little salt into a small cup and stir the contents thoroughly. Take the first “rectangle” of dough, lay it out in front of you (you can on a cutting board), dip your finger in salt water and moisten the long edges of the “rectangle” with it. Then we fold it almost(!) in half (not level, but slightly, 2 mm lower) and press the edges of the resulting “envelope” tightly. The appearance is reminiscent of an unsealed mail envelope, the only difference being that it is square rather than rectangular.
And now all we have to do is carefully pour a little of the prepared mixture inside the envelope with a tablespoon, cover the top edge of the dough, press tightly (as if to glue it together) and... lower the “sealed envelope” with the mixture into boiling water. And immediately start the next one.
In general, as you probably already guessed, this dish is also a family dish. That is, it is very difficult to cope here alone. Therefore, you should divide into two (or even better, three) groups: one quickly molds empty envelopes, the other pours the mixture into them, seals them tightly and passes them to the third, whose task is to lower these envelopes into boiling water and monitor so - which of the previous “barracks” that have surfaced to the surface are already ready, so that they can be removed in time and placed on a wide flat dish. The latter must also be lubricated with vegetable oil. If any of the envelopes is not completely sealed tightly, then during cooking the entire mixture may leak out of it, and for this you can safely hit the forehead of the person standing at “post No. 2” with a ladle.
He, of course (if not a fool), can quickly “turn the switch” to “post No. 1”, as a result of which a normal home environment is created in which we are most accustomed to swallowing our “barracks”. The “extreme”, as always, can be very difficult to find, but this only unites and strengthens the team.
Finished tukhum barracks should be laid separately from each other, in a maximum of three layers. Moreover, each layer of “barracks” must be generously lubricated with sesame oil. Having filled one dish, you should take another and so on until all the preparations are finished. They usually cook for 3-4 minutes, no more.
In conclusion, I would like to express my admiration for those who decided to prepare this dish, despite the relative complexity and labor-intensiveness of its individual stages. Just for one determination - to bring the matter to its logical conclusion - I can safely enroll you as a candidate for the title of “professional lover of oriental cuisine”, with the award of the “Order of the Young Lamb”, III degree.

Tukhum-barak in translation means boiled egg, and in appearance it reminds some of envelopes with filling, some of dumplings or dumplings, and some of ravioli. The peculiarity of the dish is that the eggs used as a filling are not boiled, but raw!

I have wanted to cook tukhum-barak since I received the book “Markhamat” from its author, Golib Saidov, in one of the competitions three years ago. Every time I made dumplings, I thought, shouldn’t I make a few Uzbek “egg dumplings” at the same time as a test?... Finally, I got around to it. I’ll say right away that it turned out to be easier for me to make a hundred ordinary dumplings than to make several tukhum barracks!

They seemed to turn out quite well, but due to the lack of real sesame oil, I did not fully experience the fullness of the classic taste. Sesame oil is added to other vegetable oil in a ratio of 1 to 10. I used one type of oil - cottonseed oil, but you can use almost any oil.

Tukhum-barak is served both hot and cold, i.e. cooled down Just like the author of the book, I was undecided which way I liked best.

To prepare tukhum-barak, prepare the ingredients according to the list.

Knead a stiff dough from flour, water (or milk) and eggs.

To make the filling, you need to break the eggs into a bowl and mix them in a special way. Fearing that I wouldn’t succeed, I didn’t take all the eggs at once, but a couple.

Then I prepared a portion of milk and vegetable oil proportional to two eggs. I just mixed them together, adding a pinch of salt.

Combine the egg mixture and milk-butter mixture while stirring, i.e. Chop with a knife until smooth.

Roll out oblong ribbons from the dough in any convenient way and cut into rectangles of such a size that when folded in half you get squares or something close to this shape.

Place a pot of water on the stove. It is more convenient if it has a wide bottom. Turn it on and, closer to boiling, begin to form a tukhum-barak.

Grease the two edges of the rectangular piece of dough and press them together. You need to mold it tightly so that the liquid filling does not leak out. Then take the dough “envelope” either in your fist, or press the bottom part against the table, holding the sides with your hand. Pour in a portion of the egg filling (I use 2-3 tablespoons per envelope). Seal the edges and place in boiling water.

Immediately begin forming and cooking the next tukhum barak for a serving or several servings. The cooking time for the last envelope should be at least three minutes. Someone will think that all tukhum baraki will be cooked differently, but this is how this thing is prepared... It is unrealistic to prepare several pieces at once and then cook them, because the filling will simply begin to flow out of the preparations.

Place the finished tukhum baraki on a dish in no more than three layers or on portion plates. To prevent them from sticking together and for even greater deliciousness, grease with sesame oil or butter.

Tukhum barracks is ready.

Bon appetit!

If you collect everything Uzbek cuisine recipes together, we will get a real atlas of Uzbekistan, with all its ethnocultural colors, traditions and characteristics of the indigenous inhabitants of each region separately.

Tukhum-barak- an original dish of Uzbek cuisine, which is prepared exclusively in the Khorezm region. Essentially, tukhum-barak are square-shaped dumplings with a very unusual egg filling.

The name of this dish comes from two derivative words “tukhum” - “egg” and “barak” - “boiled”, that is, “dumplings with egg”. The main ingredients of the filling are raw eggs with spices. How to prepare such a dish? We will share with you the recipe tukhum-baraka- “Khorezm dumplings”.

To prepare dough for tukhum-barak, You will need:

For filling:

Before preparing tukhum-barak, you will need to prepare the dough and filling, and it is better if a few more deft hands help you. Let us explain the difficulty.

First of all, you need to knead the dough, like for dumplings. To ensure that the salt is evenly mixed in the dough, it can be dissolved in water, which you will then add to the flour.

To prepare filling for tukhum-barak, You will need to break 7-8 eggs into a cup and beat them with a whisk or fork (not with a mixer!). Gradually pour a little milk and melted butter into this mash. You can add a little sesame oil. Next we move on to the spices. Add salt, pepper and other spices to taste, and for beauty and to improve the taste you can add finely chopped green onions.

When the filling is ready, place a pan of water on the stove. While you are sculpting, the water will boil, which is what we need.

So, everything necessary for preparing the dish is ready, let’s proceed to the most important stage - sculpting. Roll out a thin layer of dough, the thinner the better, then cut into strips about 10 cm long and 5 cm wide, maybe a little smaller/more. It is more convenient to make these ribbons of the same width and length if you fold the rolled out layer of dough like an accordion, and then a few strokes with a sharp knife - and our pieces are ready.

Then fold each ribbon in half and sew only the side seams, you will get bags of 5x5 cm. To prevent the first batch from weathering before the rest are completed, it is better to cover it with a towel, polyethylene, or whatever you find convenient and familiar.

The next stage is the final one, which is best done with several pairs of hands and concentrate all the work near boiling water. Place the cup with the filling and the tray with the envelopes stuck on next to the boiling water. Make sure all side seams are sewn together properly. Next, use a tablespoon to pour a little filling into the envelope. Before the liquid mass begins to unstick the seams, quickly seal the top of the envelope and lower it into boiling water. If you do this alone, and especially for the first time, they will cook unevenly, so it’s good if the whole family gets involved. This is how a family hearth will bind a family together in a common and tasty activity.

You don’t need to cook “Khorezm dumplings” for long, just so that the dough has time to cook, since the egg filling will be ready in the first minutes. The finished tukhum barracks will float to the top on their own. Take these unusual dumplings out onto a plate and brush them with butter to prevent them from sticking together. Can be served with sour cream or herbs.

There are still many dishes in Uzbek cuisine that never cease to amaze with their recipes and excellent tastes of the East!

And you eat pilaf at home with meat, not eggs! - this is how they sometimes reproach careless students in Uzbekistan. Like, you have complete wealth at home, there is meat on the table, why don’t you study properly?

In general, academic issues are, of course, very important! But let's talk about why a dish in which meat is replaced with chicken, and chicken, say, with eggs, is considered the worst? I think this is unfair!
And the injustice of this popular opinion is most clearly visible in one very simple dish called tukhum-barak. Nowadays, only low-income people prepare such food, and even then, it is so rare that it has almost been lost. Meanwhile, for people who have already eaten their fill of shish kebab, pilaf and all sorts of different stuffed geese, this dish will seem both original and very tasty - I assure you! Such is the nature of simple peasant food that after all sorts of restaurant perversions, a dish prepared from the most ordinary but high-quality ingredients suddenly sparkles with new colors and you think: this is the real thing!

Look what a tukhum-barak looks like - leaves with eggs, if translated literally. Well, there are dumplings! There are only two differences - the shape is not a crescent, but a square, and the filling is not potatoes with onions, not cottage cheese, not cherries, but ordinary eggs.
You say, what’s so complicated about this? Boil eggs, chop them into pieces, add rice, onions, and make dumplings - it’s a well-known thing, who hasn’t eaten such pies? But the whole point is that the tukhum barracks are filled not with boiled eggs, but with raw eggs!

See how it's done: As usual, a thin sheet of dough is rolled out with a long rolling pin. The dough is rolled onto a rolling pin, and then laid out in layers, as if like an accordion.

And then it is cut into ribbons, the ribbons are laid out on the table, and the ribbons are cut into identical rectangles. If all this seems like unnecessary complications to you, then take it and cut the dough in the way that seems easier to you. Only I assure you: what the people invented is the simplest!

After the dough is cut, wet the two sides of the rectangle with water and glue the envelopes together. The corners of the envelopes are folded and glued - after all, if the liquid minced meat leaks, then the weakest point of our dumplings will be the corners!
What about minced meat? Do you think these are just loose eggs? No, everything is a little more complicated, but much tastier! For each egg add a tablespoon of good vegetable oil and a tablespoon of milk. Of course, the mixture should be salted and peppered to taste.
You can also add whatever greens you want to the eggs - from spinach to green onions. Of course, I understand everything - we live well now and almost everyone sticks out their fingers and says, “Well, I’ll add not just anything, but basil, sage and even rosemary of any kind!” And he will be wrong! The simplest greens, like green onions, would be most appropriate here - after all, the dish comes from very culinaryly unsophisticated places, and it is prepared by simple people, not ostentatious ones! So I took plain green onions and added a little turmeric, and I haven’t looked back!
Now look more carefully, and don’t yawn while cooking!

Bring the prepared envelopes to the stove. The filling goes here. Let salted water boil in a saucepan.
Pour the filling into small envelopes, seal the envelope, moisten its edge with the egg mixture and immediately into boiling water! And so one by one, quickly, quickly, just have time! It will not work to seal them in advance and store them until they are cooked at the same time - the filling will leak. And in boiling water - well, let it try to flow, from boiling water the protein will immediately brew and the seams will turn out stronger than the middle.
- Ahah! - lovers of Italian cuisine will exclaim. - Some dumplings will be overcooked, others will not be cooked enough and we won’t have any al dente!
Well, even if it’s not al dente, even if in someone’s opinion one or two are overcooked, but if we judge from the point of view of simple people who have preserved this recipe for us, it’s just cooked as it should be!

To prevent the dumplings from sticking together and become even tastier, pour melted butter on them on a plate, with bread crumbs fried until golden brown and serve immediately, rather, while everything is still hot and showers the eaters with clouds of steam and the delicious smell of simple, folk, real food!