Silk Road Recipes: Parida's Uyghur Cookbook

36 Pages·4.285 MB·English

by  Gulmira Propper, Welles Propper (editor)

SILK ROAD RECIPES
PARIDA’S UYGHUR COOKBOOK

GULMIRA PROPPER
Photographs by Tara and JT Spradley
Illustrations by Nasira Nebi
For my mother, Parida;
my family, Halida, Sattar, Mardan, and Nasira;
and my dear father, Michael, who helped edit this book

Nadan qazangha qaraydu,
tadan ochaqqa (qaraydu)
The simple man looks at the serving dish,
the cunning man at the oven

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Parida (left) and Gulmira (right)

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FOREWORD
In most of the western world, people learn to cook by following recipes which provide step-by-
step instructions with every ingredient measured to the ounce. Following recipes reminds me
of being in a high school chemistry class. It's technical, and in some ways, fool-proof.

In my household, cooking does not come from written instruction--it is supposed to come from
within. You add a dash of this, you pour a little of that. You master the art of a dish by repetition,
and you know how much to add when you "feel like it's right."

That's how it goes in the Uyghur household. Growing up, cooking Uyghur foods intimidated
me. And it still does today to a certain extent. My mother, Parida, has always been a world-
class, master chef in my eyes. She cooks with tradition and love, and her dishes symbolize the
effort to keep Uyghur culture alive.

My mother and I are from Urumqi, the capital of the Uyghur region of central Asia, once a
major port on the Silk Road, and home to a minority Turkic ethnic group, the Uyghur people.
When I was a child, my family left the Uyghur region to make a better life for me, resettling in
Japan, and ultimately in Nashville, Tennessee.

We moved from country to country and from culture to culture, but my mother's cooking always
remained a constant. I learned to become a cultural chameleon, and no matter what efforts I
made to blend in with my surroundings, I came home to a delicious reminder of my Uyghur
roots.

As an adult, I look back on my childhood, and I appreciate now more than ever how lucky I
was to enjoy the flavors of Uyghur cooking. With the gross human rights violations of the
Uyghur people, I recognize the importance of keeping Uyghur culture alive, and although
Uyghur recipes have survived by being passed on from generation to generation, I realized that
the best chance of keeping it alive is to write it down.

And so I did. This collection of recipes includes quintessential Uyghur dishes, and they are
made exactly the way my mother taught me. They include hand-pulled noodles, lamb, pilaf, and
more. I hope these recipes will help the world to get to know Uyghurs and, above all, keep our
culture alive.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Polo (Pilaf) ……………………………………..………………….…..... 7
Laghmen (Hand-pulled Noodles) …….……………………..………...... 9
Chuchur (“Tortellini” Soup) ….………………………………..….…... 14
Samsa (Meat Pockets) ...…………………………………………...…... 18
Big Plate Chicken ….………………………………………….………. 21
Kawa Montah (Butternut Squash Dumplings) …..………………..….... 24
Suyuk-ash (Handmade Noodle Soup) …...……………………..…….... 27
Gush-naan (Meat Pie) ………………………………………..………... 30
Lamb Chops ...……………………………………………………..…... 33
Uyghur Terrhamek (Cucumber) Salad …...………………………..…... 35
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POLO (PILAF)
Servings: 4 Time: 90 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 lbs. lamb chops (4 pieces) 5 cups water 1/2 teaspoon sugar
5 carrots, large (julienned) 1 cup olive oil 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 onion, medium (julienned) 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 cups short-grain rice 1/2 tablespoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a cast iron or large pot, add the olive oil and butter and heat over high heat.
2. Add the lamb chops and stir for approximately 2 minutes.
3. Add the chopped onion and salt and stir for 3 minutes.
4. Add carrots and sugar. Continue stirring for 5 minutes.
5. Remove the lamb and warm in the oven at 200°F while cooking the rest of the dish.
6. Add the water to the same pot and over medium heat, boil for 10 minutes.
7. Bring the heat to high and add the rice.
8. Using a fork, poke holes in the rice so juices will reduce faster and bring to a boil.
9. Carefully flip the top layer of rice.
10. Turn off the heat and sprinkle in the raisins.
11. Lightly spray or brush the surface of the rice with olive oil.
12. Cover the pot, and let it sit for 5 minutes without heat.
13. On low heat, cook for 30 minutes.
14. Carefully and finely mix, bringing carrots, rice, and raisins from the bottom.
15. Put the lamb chops on top of the rice. Serve warm.

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LAGHMEN (HAND-PULLED NOODLES)
Servings: 4 Time: 120 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon of salt (for boiling noodles)

Stew
2 cups diced beef or lamb 2 jalapeños (diced)
2 cups string beans (chopped into 1-inch pieces) 1 mini red bell pepper (julienned)
4 shishito peppers (julienned) 2 mini yellow bell peppers (julienned)
1/2 cup diced onions 1/4 cup soy sauce
6 small tomatoes (diced) 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 bulb garlic (diced) 1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 teaspoon prickly ash (Sichuan
peppercorn) (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Note: Prickly ash (Sichuan peppercorn) can be found in Asian supermarkets

INSTRUCTIONS
Dough preparation
1. In a large bowl, add flour.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix the salt and water.
3. Slowly add water to flour and mix with hands to make dough. Keep adding water

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