My name is Ghadeer Bukhari. I’m from Saudi
Arabia, but originally I came
from somewhere
else, because my grandfather came from Turkistan, specifically Uzbekistan,
which is a country near Turkey. The Bukharese, my ancestors, migrated from
their country, and most who lived in Turkistan left because of the war.
Therefore, my grandfather and grandmother came to Saudi Arabia and lived there
until they passed away.
Bukharese people in Saudi Arabia have a
special type of food. They are known for their unique ways of cooking. One of
their main dishes is called Lagman.
Lagman basically is noodles with a meat
and vegetable soup. It looks familiar, but it’s not. To cook Lagman we have to
spend at least four hours, why? Because we make the noodle ourselves, turning
the flour to thin noodle with only our hands. Lagman has several main steps
that I would like to describe for you.
First, before cooking you have to prepare
the ingredients. You need to cut the meat and any vegetables you like in small
pieces. Basically we use potato, green beans, cabbage, celery, and bell pepper.
Cut all of them in small cubes. Also, we need tomato sauce, flour, salt and
pepper.
In the beginning, to make the soup; cook
the meat with a small amount of Ground onion, salt, and pepper until it well
done. Then put the vegetables all together without stirring until they are
almost completely cooked in the tomato sauce, adding water if needed. Then,
stir everything together. You should be done with the soup for now.
After, make the noodle
using only flour and water. Add a small amount of water gradually to the flour
until you finally end up with almost solid dough. For the next step, stretch the
dough progressively using vegetable oil or margarine to help. Wait for 15-20
minutes between each stretching. After the noodle is ready; boil the noodle for
3 minutes. Then, put it in a bowl with the soup was made earlier. Then serve
the Lagman before it gets cold.
If
you don’t know how to eat with chopsticks, start learning now to become one of
the Bukharese people who like to use chopsticks to eat Lagman with.
Finally, one alternative to shorten the
time it takes to make Lagman is to use any kind of ready-made noodle you like,
and it will still be delicious, but not as good as the traditional Lagman the Bukharese
make. When Lagman is cooked at any house, you should know that there is a
special occasion, and there are many people helping each other and spending wonderful
time while they are making Lagman. When you try it, you will never be regretted.
Thank You
GHADEER
BUKHARI
Jan 31,13
