Local Dishes

1. Палав

   Pa-lav

   Palav (rice cooked down with meat, carrot and onion; plov)

   Usage

   Defined as a Tajik dish of rice, meat, oil, carrot, onion, cumin (зира) and barberry (зирк), with many regional ways of making it. Described as one of the national dishes of the Tajiks, made across Central Asia and beyond. The phrase "oshi palov" refers to the same dish

2. Ош

   Osh

   Osh (a dish with liquid in it; in an eatery it usually means palav)

   Usage

   Defined as a food with liquid in it, made from grains, fat and vegetables. It commonly heads a dish name — oshi palov (plov), oshi ugro (noodles). Note that the identical spelling Osh is also the name of a city in Kyrgyzstan

3. Қурутоб

   Qu-ru-tob

   Qurutob (torn fatir bread soaked in dissolved qurut, topped with vegetables)

   Usage

   Described as one of the national dishes of Tajikistan, originally shepherds' food, made mainly in the southern districts and the mountains. The article lists fatir bread, qurut, milk, cucumber, herbs, onion, salt and pepper. The name comes from qurut plus ob (water)

4. Мастоба

   Mas-to-ba

   Mastoba (rice soup finished with yoghurt and herbs)

   Usage

   Defined as a liquid osh of rice, minced meat, onion and potato (or turnip or carrot), eaten with jurghot (yoghurt) and herbs stirred in. Also written "mostoba"

5. Лағмон

   Lagh-mon

   Laghmon (hand-cut noodles under a meat-and-vegetable sauce)

   Usage

   Defined as dough cut into thin strips and boiled, served under a qayla (sauce) of minced meat, onion, carrot, potato and chickpeas. The article also gives the spelling "lagman"

6. Угро

   Ug-ro

   Ugro (noodle soup)

   Usage

   The article is a one-line stub: "oshi ugro, ugro — a well-known dish of the Tajik people", with no ingredient list. The alternative name "oshi burida" (cut osh) redirects to it. Menus usually write it as "oshi ugro"

7. Манту

   Man-tu

   Mantu (large steamed dumplings with minced meat)

   Usage

   Described as a Tajik national dish: firm dough rested 30 minutes, rolled to 1–2 mm and cut into 10×10 cm squares, each filled with a spoon of minced meat, a little fat and onion, then steamed

8. Тушбера

   Tush-be-ra

   Tushbera (small dumplings simmered in broth)

   Usage

   The article is titled "Barak" and opens "Jushbarak, barak, tushbera — a kind of Tajik dish", giving three names. This card uses "tushbera" because "barak" on its own is easier to mistake for something else. Smaller than mantu and eaten in its broth

9. Самбӯса

   Sam-bu-sa

   Sambusa (tandoor-baked savoury pastry)

   Usage

   Described as a dish of the Tajik kitchen, usually filled with meat and potato with onion; there are many kinds, and in early spring some are filled with wild greens such as jajak, which the article calls good for the health. The standard spelling has ӯ (sambusa with plain u has no article)

10. Кабоб

    Ka-bob

    Kabob (skewered meat grilled over coals)

    Usage

    Defined as a dish made from the meat of livestock and birds (chicken, partridge, quail): the meat is cut into 25–35 g pieces, salted, peppered and vinegared, then kept somewhere cool for one to two hours. The term "sihkabob" (skewer kabob) redirects to the article on shashlik

11. Шакароб

    Sha-ka-rob

    Shakarob (tomato, cucumber and bread tossed together)

    Usage

    Described as a Tajik national dish made by mixing bread, tomato, cucumber and assorted vegetables. It usually arrives as a side on the table

12. Дамлама

    Dam-la-ma

    Damlama (meat or fish layered with vegetables and steamed)

    Usage

    Defined as meat or fish with vegetables cooked by dampartoi — covered and steamed in its own moisture — which the article says keeps the vitamins, minerals and sugars in the dish. There are meat and fish versions

13. Атола

    A-to-la

    Atola (flour browned in fat and loosened with milk)

    Usage

    Given as "atola, ordbiryon, ordob, hadir — a well-known Tajik dish": flour browned in fat (tail fat is preferred), then milk and a little water added and simmered gently. For white atola the flour is barely browned. The article notes it is also eaten as a restorative

14. Ҳалиса

    Ha-li-sa

    Halisa (wheat and meat simmered for hours into a paste)

    Usage

    Given as "halisa, halila — a kind of Tajik national dish": wheat washed and boiled an hour and a half, dried slightly and ground; separately mutton and beef simmered two to three hours, then the ground wheat and onion added on top

15. Гандумкӯча

    Gan-dum-ku-cha

    Gandumkucha (a spring dish of cracked wheat, pulses and herbs)

    Usage

    Described as a traditional Tajik dish of spring and of the Navruz new-year table. It is called gandumkucha in the Hisor valley and has other names elsewhere — dalda in Kulob, gucha in Panjakent, oshi kucha in Shahrinav. Made from cracked wheat, chickpeas and beans with basil, mint, coriander and onion

16. Суманак

    Su-ma-nak

    Sumanak (sprouted wheat simmered overnight into a sweet paste)

    Usage

    Given as "sumanak, sumalak, samanu — a Navruz dish made from sprouted wheat (sabza)". The wheat is washed and sprouted at home two weeks before the festival, then cooked in a large cauldron for a full day and night, with the song "Sumanak dar deg, mo kafcha zanem" sung over the pot. You will not see it outside spring

17. Фатир

    Fa-tir

    Fatir (unleavened flatbread)

    Usage

    Defined as a kind of bread baked from unleavened dough. Qurutob is built on torn-up fatir. It is not the same thing as the risen bread called non

18. Кулча

    Kul-cha

    Kulcha (small round tandoor bread)

    Usage

    Defined as a smallish round bread baked in a tanur, usually of wheat flour enriched with milk and fat. The article names kulchai raghani (rich in fat), kulchai shirmol and kulchai qandin (sweet)

19. Ширбиринҷ

    Shir-bi-rinj

    Shirbirinj (rice cooked in milk)

    Usage

    A one-line article: a dish cooked from shir (milk) and birinj (rice) — the name is simply its two ingredients. Usually served at breakfast or to children

20. Чакка

    Chak-ka

    Chakka (strained yoghurt)

    Usage

    Defined as a dairy product: dugh is hung in a cloth bag until the whey drains away and chakka is left; in some places it is made from jurghot instead. The article calls it nourishing and easy to digest, and the base from which qurut is made. Often served to spread on bread

21. Қурут

    Qu-rut

    Qurut (hard, sharply sour dried dairy balls)

    Usage

    No article of its own, but the Chakka article says qurut and other products are made from chakka, and the Dugh article says chakka and qurut are made from dugh; it is also listed among the ingredients of qurutob. Sold in heaps of white balls at bazaars. Note that this is not the Uzbek word qurt, which means a caterpillar

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