Dish · Nationwide
Plov (osh)
The centrepiece of any Uzbek meal: meat, onions and yellow carrots are cooked into a rich base in a kazan, then rice is steamed on top. UNESCO-listed since 2016.
Dish · Nationwide
Manti
Large dumplings steamed in a tiered qasqon, filled with knife-chopped lamb, plenty of onion and tail fat — or pumpkin in autumn.
Photo: Mirzoulug'bek · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The art of steam
Manti take patience. Thin dough is cut into squares, each filled with knife-chopped lamb, lots of onion, a nub of tail fat, cumin and pepper, and the corners are pinched together in a characteristic pattern. The dumplings are laid on the oiled trays of a qasqon, a tiered steamer, and cooked over boiling water for about 40 minutes. Good manti have translucent skins and release their juices at the first bite.
Pumpkin manti are a favourite in autumn and winter, and there are versions with greens or potato. Russian sources also list small ‘mayda manti’ and khanum, a steamed rolled pastry.
How they are served
Manti come with qatiq (thin yoghurt) or sour cream and a pinch of black pepper, and are eaten carefully by hand. Canteens make them for lunch; at home they are a family job — one person rolls, another fills, and the children learn to pinch.
Photos
Dish · Tashkent (city), Tashkent Region
Tashkent plov
The capital’s style of plov: everything is fried first and the rice is mixed into the base; wedding plov adds kazy sausage, chickpeas, raisins and sometimes quail eggs.
Dish · Samarkand
Samarkand plov
A layered plov in which nothing is stirred: the rice stays pale, and the carrots and meat are served on top of it.
Dish · Bukhara
Bukhara plov and oshi sofi
Bukhara’s own plovs: oshi sofi, made with separately boiled and drained rice, and plov cooked with mung beans.
Dish · Fergana, Andijan +1
Fergana plov
The dark plov of the Fergana Valley: a bone, meat, onions and carrots are fried long and hard until the zirvak turns deep brown.
Dish · Khorezm
Khorezm plov
Khorezm’s plov tradition, including suzma palov, in which the rice is boiled separately and drained before it meets the zirvak.
Dish · Nationwide
Samsa
Flaky pastries baked on the inner wall of a tandoor, filled with hand-chopped lamb, tail fat and onion — or wild greens in spring and pumpkin in autumn.
Dish · Jizzakh
Jizzakh samsa
Jizzakh’s culinary calling card: a large dome-shaped samsa made from three layers of dough, packed with lamb and tail fat and dipped in sunflower oil.
Dish · Nationwide
Kabob (shashlik)
Skewered meat grilled over embers — lamb, beef, meat with tail fat, liver, minced qiyma (lula) kabob — served with onion, vinegar and hot bread.
Dish · Bukhara
Gijduvan kebab
The famous minced-meat kebab of Gijduvan in Bukhara Region: the meat is minced twice, frozen, chopped and pressed onto skewers.