Kazakhstani recipe
How to make Beshbarmak
Бесбармақ (besbarmaq), also simply ет (et, 'meat')
All of Kazakhstan, the national dish
Large pieces of boiled mutton or horse meat, often with horse sausage, served on a wide platter over sheets of thin boiled dough and topped with onions softened in the rich broth. The broth itself, sorpa, is drunk from bowls alongside. The name means 'five fingers', because it was traditionally eaten with the hands.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg lamb on the bone (shoulder or neck), or a mix of lamb and beef
- 2 onions, 1 whole and 1 sliced into rings
- 1 bay leaf, salt and black peppercorns
- For the dough: 300 g plain flour, 1 egg, about 120 ml water and a pinch of salt
- A small bunch of parsley or dill, chopped
Method
- Put the meat in a large pot, cover with about 3 litres of cold water and bring slowly to the boil, skimming off the foam. Add the whole onion, bay leaf and peppercorns, and simmer gently for 2 to 2.5 hours until the meat is very tender. Salt towards the end.
- Meanwhile mix the flour, egg, water and salt into a firm dough, knead for a few minutes and rest it for 30 minutes under a bowl.
- Roll the dough out very thinly and cut it into squares of about 7 cm.
- Lift the meat out, keep it warm and cut it into large pieces. Put the onion rings in a ladle of hot broth with some pepper and let them soften.
- Cook the dough squares in the simmering broth, a few at a time, for 3 to 4 minutes, and lay them on a large platter.
- Pile the meat on the dough, spoon the onions and a little broth over the top, and scatter with herbs. Serve the rest of the hot broth in bowls.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
The host carves the meat and hands out the pieces in order of honour: the most respected guest may be offered the boiled sheep's head, and shares it out with others at the table.
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