🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · the same dumpling is known across Central Asia under related names
ChuchvaraUzbek dumpling soup
Small ear-shaped meat dumplings, smaller than manti, cooked in a lamb or beef broth with fried vegetables and served with chopped fresh herbs and often sour cream.
Origin and history
Chuchvara belongs to the family of small ear-shaped dumplings found across Central Asia and Iran under names such as chuchpara, tushpara, dushbara and goshebarreh. A food-history article gives the original name as Persian joshpara and says the dish came to Central Asia under Persian rule, but gives no date; it also calls the soup the most common way to eat it.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 2 h
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 250 g2 cups wheat flour, sifted, for the dough
- 150 ml2/3 cup water, for the dough
- 1/2 tsp salt, dissolved in the dough water
- 250 g9 oz lamb, ground, or chopped very fine, for the filling
- 1 onion, ground or minced with the lamb, for the filling
- ground cumin (zira), ground coriander, black pepper and salt, to taste, for the filling
- kurdyuk (fat-tail fat), optional, a little, minced into the filling
- 1 onion, cut into half rings, for the soup
- 1 carrot, small dice
- 2 sweet bell peppers, small dice
- 3 to 4 potatoes, medium pieces
- 2 tomatoes, small dice
- 15 to 30 ml1 to 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 to 2.5 L2 to 2.5 qt hot lamb broth
- salt, black pepper, paprika and cumin, to taste, for the broth
- fresh herbs (dill, coriander), chopped, to finish
Method
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1. Dissolve the salt in the water, stir it into the flour and knead a firm dough. Wrap it and let it rest for 30 minutes.
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2. Mix the ground lamb and onion with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander, adding a little kurdyuk if you have it.
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3. Roll the dough into thin sheets and cut out small rounds.
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4. Put a little filling on each round, pinch the edges shut and join the two opposite corners to make the small ear shape.
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5. Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and fry the onion for 4 to 5 minutes until golden.
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6. Add the carrot and fry 3 to 5 minutes, then the peppers for another 3 to 5 minutes, then the potatoes for a few minutes more.
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7. Pour in the hot broth, season with salt, pepper, paprika and cumin, bring to a boil and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
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8. Slide in the dumplings and cook 5 to 6 minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook 3 to 4 minutes more.
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9. Take the pot off the heat and leave it covered for 10 to 15 minutes, then serve with chopped herbs.
Notes
- Shape: Uzbek cooks start from squares of dough, which give more folds and the lamb's-ear look; rounds are common in Kyrgyz versions.
- Beef or a lamb and beef mix works for the filling; Folkways says the filling is traditionally lamb and/or beef, chicken is a substitute, and pork is not used.
- Make-ahead: shaped dumplings freeze well on a floured tray and go into the simmering soup straight from frozen, with a few more minutes of cooking.
- The same dumplings are also fried as finger food, especially at celebrations. Other versions differ: a recipe by chef Hakim Ganiev (AiF) puts an egg in the dough and uses a lot of tail fat, and a fb.ru recipe boils the dumplings about 15 minutes in a strained bone broth and serves them with sour cream. The Azerbaijani cousin is dushbara, which has its own page. Sour cream at the table is a common addition.
Adapted from Lifehacker (Russian): Chuchvara, uzbekskiy sup s pelmenyami, Folkways Today: Chuchvara, the dumpling of Central Asia, and AiF (Russian): Chuchvara ash, recipe by Hakim Ganiev.
At the festivals
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