Beshbarmak from Kyrgyzstan
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 in 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 Besh barmak. “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 nationals believe should be eaten with the hands. In Kyrgyzstan it is usually made of horsemeat.
INGREDIENTS
Broth and soup 1.5kg lamb or mutton 4l water
2 onions — cut into rings Fresh dill
1 bay leaf
Dough (for noodles) 200ml water
1 tsp salt
1 egg
500g flour
Chyk sauce
1 onion
Freshly ground black pepper Salt
500ml broth
INSTRUCTIONS 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 turn the dough out on to 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 mutton 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, let them drain. Put them in a large serving platter
Put the onion ring in the boiling lamb broth for a few minutes before removing it and topping the noodles with it.
Place the strips of meat in a mount in the middle of the rings of onions.
Chyk sauce
In a pot add one finely chopped onion, pour 0.5 l 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 on the middle of the table and each person is served a bowl of broth.