16 Tasty Dishes You Need To Try In Uzbekistan Tours

Even as Uzbekistan started as a nomadic community, it developed into a strong ancient civilization which practised farming, livestock in the oasis in between the deserts and mountains when Central Asia was in its earliest phases. This allowed the nomadic community, mostly Turkic, to start experimenting with their cuisine.  Through centuries of influence from, the dishes got changed and came to be known as we know them today. This updated 2018 list of 16 delicious dishes are consumed throughout Uzbekistan and are available in almost all of the restaurants. When you're on an Uzbekistan Tour, don't forget to give these dishes and munchies a try which will surely leave you drooling.

Besides Uzbekistan, most of these recipes are now consumed in neighbouring countries of Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and even Russia with a slight or significant variation.

·        Lagman Soup

This is an Uzbek dish that has some Chinese influence in it as it contains noodles as the main ingredient. It is an aromatic broth filled with vegetables and meat strips, usually of beef or lamb. It is said that the noodles were brought in by Chinese Muslims into the region of Uzbekistan from where it got its Uzbek-style meat touch. Call it as a Central Asian version of ramen. A relatively easy dish, you can cook it within half an hour.

·        Eggplant Salad

Also known as Baqlajon salad, in Uzbek tradition, it serves as a salad appetizer which is usually eaten before a meal. This can even be eaten as a side dish or a standalone salad. It is served both as hot and cold. This dish combines a freshly sliced eggplant with radishes and peppers on a bed of greens sprinkled with a garnish of parsley. Other raw ingredients include onions, coriander, garlic, and sometimes carrot.

·        Chuchvara Soup

You may have seen these before as they're a variant of Italian ravioli or Chinese dumplings. But in Chuchvara, these are immersed in a soup in which is boiled in salt water or bouillon and served with sour milk. To make the soup better, these are then seasoned with pepper, onion, tomato paste, black pepper, and sour cream. But you can order it with or without the soup as per your preference.

·        Plov/Pilaf

The national obsession of Uzbekistan, you can probably find this dish in every nook and corner of this country. It is also served in almost every other occasion. This is a remarkable delicious dish in which rice is cooked with meat, vegetables alongside other aromatic spices all of which give off a strong mouthwatering smell and flavor. Not only in Uzbekistan, but this dish is really popular all over Central Asia. This signature dish tastes best in the hotel where professional chefs prepare it for tourists who're on a luxury Uzbekistan Tour Package.

·        Tashkent Salad

This trademark salad bore the name of the capital city of Tashkent is made from boiled beef tongue or normal meat, radishes, and fresh greens. Then it's usually spiced up with peppers, salt, and other optional ingredients.

·        Manty/Manti

Another form of dumpling, it is a traditional meat dish which consists of finely chopped juicy meat and fresh vegetables stuffed within thin dough and cooked under steam. Stuffing may also include greens, turnips, pumpkins, tomato, and sweet pepper.

·        Samsa

One of the favorite dishes of Uzbeks, it is a triangular dough pastry filled usually with spiced potatoes that's baked in a tandoor oven. The result is a somehow both crunchy and super-soft outer bread and equally soft inner stuffing.

·        Achichuk Salad

Another salad in the list, this is much strictly on the vegetarian side which Uzbek cuisine considerably lacks. This dish is made up of thinly sliced tomatoes and onions sprinkled with spices which offers a light, healthy, but still flavorful option and appeals to a diehard vegetarian.

·        Naryn

An example of pure oriental cuiine, the dish is composed of hand-spun noodles mixed with horse meat typically served with minced onions and black pepper. This is maily popular in Tashkent and the surroundings.

·        Shurpa

Among the most delicious soups in Uzbekistan, it is made out of fatty meat (usually mutton) and fresh vegetables like tomato, carrot, and sliced onions. It is also topped with herbs and spices to give it a strong taste.

·        Dimlama

It is a hearty stew made of meat, potatoes, onions, vegetables and sometimes fruit all prepared in an earthy clay pot which gives it a distinctive flavor. This dish has a Turkic origin and is both tasty and healthy as it undergoes very less processing.

·        Kutabi (Qutab)

It is actually an Azerbaijani dish but can be well incorporated into Uzbek cuisine because of the similarities. In this recipe, the fluffy flatbread (or dough) are deep-fried and served with either meat or vegetables stuffing.

·        Kebab

Kebab or Kabob are chunks of lamb, chicken, or beef which are served on steel skewers and topped with chopped raw onion. The meat is usually marinated in spices which give it a juicy flavorful feel once you put it in your mouth.

·        Exotic Fruit Platter

Not technically a dish, but you can compare it with a plate of fruit salad. You'll find that patrons of Uzbek restaurants typically end their meal with a serving of exotic sliced fruits like watermelon, pineapple, grapes, and mangoes along with competing, a glass of fresh or dried fruit juice.

·        Holvaytar

A famous sweet of Uzbekistan which you ought to try if you have a sweet tooth. Also available is the Uzbek version of halvah, a flour-based confection which has a creamy nut flavor. It is both delicious and healthier.

·        Tea And Sweets

Last but not the least, you have to give a try to the Uzbek tea which comes in a wide assortment of green, black, and herbal varieties. The sweets include, (besides Holvaytar) nisholda, sumalyak, kush-tili, katlama and chak-chak.

Even though these Uzbek dishes are not as popular as other cuisines, they nevertheless come good when it comes to pleasing the taste buds. Minzifa Travel is a reputed tour agency in Uzbekistan based out of Bukhara providing both Uzbekistan Budget And Luxury Tours since its inception. To book Uzbekistan Tours, kindly visit our Contact Us page and send us an Email. And one of our representatives will get back to you as the earliest.