Kufta-bozbash according to the classic recipe: ingredients. How to cook kufta bozbash lamb soup in Azerbaijani style according to a step-by-step recipe with photos Armenian kufta recipe

Kufta-bozbash is an incredibly tasty thick soup with large stuffed meatballs made from lamb or beef. The recipe for this soup came from the era of the Ottoman Empire, I liked it and is still popular today.

There are many recipes for making this soup. In each region, when preparing kufta-bozbash, there may be slight deviations from the main recipe and additions of favorite spices. Even the family next door can make this soup their own way. But always and everywhere the basis will be chopped or minced lamb or beef, chickpeas and herbs.

If you are going to cook kufta-bozbash in Azerbaijani style, then soak the chickpeas in water for at least 3 hours. I have adapted since the time I lived in the east to soak it overnight and then, after draining the water and rinsing it, freeze it in the freezer. Very comfortably.

So, put the chickpeas in a saucepan, add water, salt to taste and let them cook for about 30 minutes.

While the chickpeas are cooking, start preparing the minced meat for the “kufta” (large-sized meatballs). Place the prepared minced meat in a bowl. What I have here is a mixture of beef and lamb fat.

Add finely chopped onion, hot chili pepper, dried basil, salt and rice to the minced meat. Some families do not add rice, but instead add boiled and chopped chickpeas.

Form the minced meat into large meatballs. Moreover, they should be the size of a fist. In the middle of each meatball, place the dried fruits you have: cherry plum (ideally), prunes, dried apricots.

Add potatoes cut into large quarters to the prepared chickpea broth.

And immediately add the kofta balls.

All that's left is to fry. Just fry finely chopped onion in vegetable oil and add turmeric to it.

Ideally, if you have saffron, then this is exactly the dish where it would fit perfectly.

Pour the roast into the soup and, without stirring, so as not to disturb the integrity of the kofta, cook the soup over very low heat until the potatoes are ready. This is approximately 15-20 minutes.

When Azerbaijani-style kufta-bozbash is ready, add dried herbs: mint, basil and dill.

The soup is ready! Bon appetit!

Cooking instructions

2 hours Print

1. Pour one and a half liters of water over the brisket and onion and place on high heat. Skim off the foam, add the chickpeas (which should first be soaked overnight in unsalted water) and simmer covered over low heat for about an hour, skimming off the foam periodically. Finally add salt, remove the onion and strain through a sieve. While the broth is cooking, pour boiling water over the saffron, leaving it on a warm stove. Tool Pasta pan The main rule of a good pan for cooking pasta is that it should be large. To cook just half a kilo of spaghetti, you need at least five liters of water. Another problem is draining so much hot water. The problem can be solved by purchasing a pan with a special insert that can be removed along with the spaghetti, and all the water will remain in the pan.

2. Wash the lamb and fat tail, dry with a towel and pass through a meat grinder along with the onion. Season generously with salt and pepper, add washed and soaked rice for an hour, and a pinch of turmeric. Mix thoroughly, throwing the minced meat on the table so that all the air bubbles trapped in the mass come out, and put in the refrigerator for half an hour to an hour. Tool Mechanical meat grinder It is possible to make several kilograms of minced meat in a mechanical meat grinder, but, especially if you are not used to it, this can lead to a dislocated shoulder. However, if large-scale tasks are not required, it is not so bad - at least it takes up much less space than any electric one.
3. Wet your hands well with warm water and form balls from the cold minced meat, each one should weigh about 200 grams. Cut plum or cherry plum into small pieces. Make a depression in each meat ball with your finger and wall up a piece of plum in it.
4. Dissolve half a spoon of turmeric in the broth so that there are no lumps and pour into the pan. Next, put the meatballs into the broth - carefully so that they do not deform. For the first five minutes, do not stir with a spoon under any circumstances, but only move the pan back and forth. Collect the foam and cook for ten to fifteen minutes, covered, over low heat. Then throw the potatoes into the broth.
5. Pour a few tablespoons of brewed saffron into the broth, and place a few of its petals on the meatballs - just for beauty. You can pour saffron from a spoon over the kufta for a while so that it all acquires an even yellowish color. However, the broth should not be too white or too yellow. Remove the pan from the heat.
6. Marinate the onion in wine vinegar for ten minutes. Traditionally, seasonal Govsan onions are used for kyufta-bozbash. But shallots are also suitable. It is similar to it in its small size, elongated shape and bitterness. Bitter onions, cherry plums or plums inside the kofta neutralize the fat content of the dish both on a taste and a chemical level.

I remember bozbash, which I had the opportunity to try at a roadside cafe. This was about 20 years ago. The taste of this soup was long forgotten by me. But a huge meatball the size of a meatball and a whole boiled potato the size of a fist remained in my memory. These two icebergs towered in a bowl of rich lamb broth. It was very unusual and tasty. It's time to prepare this dish. An analysis of published recipes showed that lamb is needed. Cut the lamb into pieces and grind it in a meat grinder.

No matter how the opponents of fatty foods resist, these are the canons. Lamb (preferably fat tail) fat is cut into large cubes and added to the minced meat. Cut a large onion in half. One half of the onion will be used later when cooking the soup.

Add half a glass of pre-boiled rice to the minced meat.

Now you need to add spices. Dried, green cilantro (or basil) and seasoning for chicken with lots of curry would go a long way. In addition, add salt, ground coriander and ground black pepper to the minced meat. You need to finely chop half an onion and also add it to the minced meat. Mix our minced meat. The photo shows an Azerbaijani seasoning made from peppers and tomatoes in a glass bottle. A tablespoon of this seasoning is added to almost finished bozbash soup.

We got a lot of minced meat, divide it into parts and take 250 grams for bozbash. The rest of the minced meat can be frozen.

Let's start cooking bozbash. According to the canons, it is cooked in meat broth. But we ended up with very fatty lamb meatballs. Their decoction will be quite enough to understand the taste of this dish. Place a saucepan with 1.5 liters of water on the fire and pour a glass of pre-soaked chickpeas into it. In many recipes, the chickpeas are cooked separately and then mixed with the meatballs and broth when serving, in a plate or pot. This is an unnecessary complication.

Another deviation from the canonical recipe. For kufta you need sour plum, which is put into each meatball. I decided to replace the cherry plum (which is not available) with pickled lingonberries; you can use cranberries. Each large meatball contains up to half a teaspoon of berries.

The meatballs are ready. Carefully place them in the pan where the chickpeas are cooked. Continue cooking over low heat.

Let's peel a few medium-sized potatoes. If the potatoes are small, then they must be laid whole. Cut large potatoes in half and add to bozbash.

Coarsely chop the remaining half of the onion and add to the soup.

Almost all recipes for this dish indicate the need to add mint. Add a teaspoon of dried mint, a teaspoon of dried dill, a tablespoon of national red pepper seasoning to the soup and continue to cook the bozbash for another 15 minutes until the potatoes are ready. Check the dish for saltiness and add salt if necessary.

Kufta-bozbash is ready. As planned, huge meatballs and very large pieces of potatoes make up its contents. The chickpeas, as always, lay low.

Serve kufta bozbash soup without adding anything to it. It has everything. Even lingonberry sourness, inside a delicious ball of lamb. This dish is made from special meat, so it is served hot.

Kufta is an oriental dish! It is prepared everywhere in many countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia. There are several types and methods of preparation And I don't like this dish, but I'll tell you the method that I liked. Trying to remember the delicious dish that I was able to try in one Azerbaijani cafe, I wanted to repeat it, but perhaps I added rice in vain. Although many recipes show preparing this dish with rice. Therefore, everything is according to your wishes.

Also, kufta prepared in Azerbaijani style has a pleasant mint taste. It is served with clear broth, peas and herbs. But in Uzbekistan, kofta is prepared with vegetables and red pepper. The dish is very bright and tasty. Try it!

Ingredients:

First you need to soak the peas overnight. In the morning, rinse well and cook.

Cut the lamb into small pieces.

Pass through a meat grinder along with the onion.

Add washed and uncooked rice, a little dry mint, pepper and salt.

Pre-soak the dried apricots in water until soft and cut into 4 pieces each, if they are large. Form large balls from the minced meat, unlike meatballs and meatballs, approximately 5-6 cm in diameter. Place a quarter of dried apricots inside each ball. To prevent the kufta from falling apart during cooking, you need to wet your hands in very salty water.

Place the kufta in the pan with the peas, which should already be cooked almost until done.

Place the coarsely cut potatoes in there. Cook until the potatoes are ready. The kyufta should float. You can add one carrot to the broth, but this is not at all necessary.

Pour boiling water over the saffron and let it brew for 10 minutes.

Add the strained saffron to the broth with the kofta. It will give the dish a very beautiful yellow color.

Everything is ready, you can pour into plates and serve, sprinkled with herbs.

Bon appetit!

Fragrant kufta-bozbash in Azerbaijani is a unique dish that can be either the first or the second. In its homeland, this delicacy is considered to be a thick and rich soup. The preparation of kofta-bozbash is very variable due to the use of various spices and other ingredients. Often, even in the same region, neighbors make this dish differently. So there is no need to talk about the classic version. In any case, the traditional Azerbaijani soup turns out tasty and satisfying.

Cooking time – 1 hour 30 minutes.

Number of servings – 4-5

Ingredients

The proposed recipe for kufta-bozbash in Azerbaijani involves the use of the following components:

rice – 55-60 g;
minced lamb – 550 g;
chickpeas – ½ cup;
onion – 2 pcs.;
cherry plum (prunes or dried apricots) – 4 pcs.;
potatoes – 2-2.5 pcs.;
turmeric – 1 tsp;
dried basil – 2 tbsp. l.;
ground red pepper – ¼ tsp;
dried mint and dill, salt to taste.

How to cook kufta-bozbash in Azerbaijani style

Kufta-bozbash is not prepared very quickly, but the finished dish will delight the whole family and guests. Thanks to the step-by-step recipe with photos, you can make a thick and satisfying soup.

First you need to tackle the chickpeas. It must be soaked in water for at least 3 hours, but it is best to do this overnight. Then the water is drained and the product is washed. The chickpeas should be placed in a saucepan or ladle, filled with water, salted and put on fire. It cooks for 30-35 minutes.

In the meantime, you need to make minced meat. It is laid out in a bowl.

In the meat preparation you need to put dried basil, rice, finely chopped onion, chili pepper, and salt. Everything gets mixed up.

From the resulting mass you need to form large meatballs. They should be about the size of a fist. You will need to put prunes, dried apricots or cherry plums in the middle of each piece. The latter option is preferable.

To the chickpeas you need to add potatoes, previously peeled and quartered potatoes.

Kyuftas (meatballs) are immediately added to the broth.

Now you need to do the frying: you will need to finely chop the onion and fry it in vegetable oil, and when finished, add turmeric or saffron to it.

Frying is poured into the soup. No need to stir it! Otherwise the meatballs will fall apart. Cook the dish on low heat until the potatoes are ready.

The finished delicacy is poured into deep bowls.