How To Make LAGMAN

     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