Local Dishes

1. Palov

   Palov (Uzbek pilaf: rice, mutton, carrot and onion cooked in a cauldron)

   Usage

   ⚠ Menus often print it as "Osh" instead — "Palov, osh" are two names for the same dish. Recipes vary widely by region, so no two shops serve the same thing

2. Shashlik

   Shashlik (meat grilled on a skewer over charcoal)

   Usage

   Also written "Shashlik yoki kabob" — "Kabob" means the same thing. Besides muscle meat, skewers of liver, kidney and tail fat (dumba) are common

3. Qozon kabob

   Qozon kabob (meat and small potatoes fried crisp in a cauldron)

   Usage

   "qozon" is the Central Asian cauldron and "kabob" is grilled meat; it comes in mutton, chicken and beef versions. A standard item at a choyxona (teahouse) — point at the cauldron out front

4. Tandir kabob

   Tandir kabob (meat baked inside a clay tandir oven)

   Usage

   Meat brined, dusted with flour, pepper and zira (black cumin), then baked in the tandir. Not the same as skewered shashlik

5. Somsa

   Somsa (savoury pastry of meat and onion baked in a tandir)

   Usage

   The most common street snack; the word shares an origin with Indian samosa and Arabic sambusak

6. Ko'k somsa

   Ko'k somsa (somsa filled with spring wild greens)

   Usage

   "ko'k" means greens. Filled with freshly sprouted sorrel, mint, spinach, wild onion and the like — a spring-only item. It contains no meat, but some shops add rendered mutton fat (jizza), so ask if that matters to you

7. Lag'mon

   Lag'mon (hand-pulled noodles with meat and vegetable sauce)

   Usage

   From Uyghur "la myan", stretched dough. It comes both as a soup and as a stir-fried version (qovurma lag'mon); most places let you choose

8. Manti

   Manti (large steamed dumplings of thin dough and chopped meat)

   Usage

   Steamed in a stacked steamer called a qasqon. Traditionally the filling is hand-chopped, not minced. Some places also serve a pumpkin version (oshqovoqli manti)

9. Chuchvara

   Chuchvara (small boiled dumplings served in broth)

   Usage

   Much smaller than manti and eaten with the broth. Following Islamic dietary rules, the filling is normally free of pork

10. Norin

    Norin (boiled horse meat tossed with thin hand-cut noodles, served cool)

    Usage

    ⚠ Made with horse meat (or qazi), though some places use mutton or beef. In Uzbekistan the dish is called norin; "beshbarmoq" on a menu usually signals a Kazakh or Kyrgyz kitchen

11. Mastava

    Mastava (thick rice soup with meat and vegetables)

    Usage

    From Persian "most" (yoghurt) + "ob" (water); it began as rice boiled in the whey of suzma and is now made with carrot, onion and rice. Usually eaten with a spoonful of qatiq stirred in

12. Moshxo'rda

    Moshxo'rda (soup of mung beans and rice)

    Usage

    "mosh" is mung bean and "xo'rda" a broth dish. Many places keep the meat light, so it is a good choice for a lighter meal

13. Dimlama

    Dimlama (meat and vegetables layered and slow-steamed)

    Usage

    From "dimlash", to steam-braise. Besides meat there are fish, pumpkin and quince (behi) versions; it is considered light and easy to digest

14. Shavla

    Shavla (a softer, wetter rice dish than palov)

    Usage

    Made much like palov but with tomato added and more liquid left in the pot — a good alternative when palov feels too rich

15. Halim

    Halim (wheat and beef simmered for hours into a porridge)

    Usage

    It is one of the oldest and most prized Uzbek dishes. ⚠ In Bukhara and Samarkand provinces it is called "halisa" — a different name for the same dish

16. No'xatxo'rak

    No'xatxo'rak (thick chickpea and meat dish)

    Usage

    "no'xat" (chickpea) plus Persian-Tajik "xo'rak" (food). The chickpeas are soaked overnight, so it is a slow, special-occasion dish

17. Manpar

    Manpar (soup with small squares of hand-cut dough)

    Usage

    From Chinese "myan" (dough) and "par" (piece) — like lag'mon but with squares of dough instead of noodles; the two are usually on the same menu

18. Do'lma

    Do'lma (grape leaves or peppers stuffed with meat and rice)

    Usage

    The name derives from a Turkic word meaning "stuffed". Cabbage and tomato versions exist too; the dish runs from the Middle East and Caucasus into Central Asia

19. Achchiq-chuchuk

    Achchiq-chuchuk (tomato and onion salad, the standard side for palov)

    Usage

    Sliced onion rinsed in cold water, layered with tomato and green chilli, then salted. ⚠ In the Fergana Valley it is called "shakarob" and includes cucumber

20. Qazi

    Qazi (horse-meat sausage, sliced and served cold)

    Usage

    ⚠ Horse meat. Breast meat and fat seasoned with salt, pepper and zira, then packed into casing. It appears in norin and on festive starter plates — worth memorising if you avoid horse meat

21. Qarta

    Qarta (boiled horse intestine, served cold)

    Usage

    ⚠ An offal dish made from horse large intestine: soaked overnight in qatiq to remove the smell, seasoned with salt, pepper, zira and grape vinegar, then boiled. It belongs to the "yaxna" (cold dish) group

22. Suzma

    Suzma (strained fermented milk, eaten spread on bread)

    Usage

    Qatiq hung in a cloth bag for three to five hours until the whey drains off. ⚠ It also goes by the name "chakki". Served mixed with salt and herbs

23. Obi non

    Obi non (the everyday round tandir bread)

    Usage

    It is filed under "ordinary Uzbek breads": a disc with a thin stamped centre and a thick rim, the pattern pressed with a tool called a chakich. Show the word at a bakery or a bread stall in the bazaar

24. Patir

    Patir (richer layered bread made with milk and fat)

    Usage

    Kneaded with warm milk, salt, yeast and mutton fat or butter — much richer than obi non and it keeps longer. Varieties include shirmoy, qashqari, ko'k and qiymali

25. Shirmoy

    Shirmoy (bread flavoured with milk and anise)

    Usage

    Persian-Tajik for "milk bread": the starter is raised on a chickpea-and-anise (arpabodiyon) infusion and the dough is kneaded with milk. Also spelt "shirmol"

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