Qovoqli Manti

When I lived in Uzbekistan, my host mom used to make me delicious homemade qovoqli honum (is this the correct spelling??), which is a steamed, rolled dumpling filled with pumpkin. I recently had the chance to eat at an Uzbek restaurant in Tatarstan and was excited to see that they served qovoqli manti, pumpkin-filled dumplings that are similar to honum.

These qovoqli manti were delicious and tasted very authentic, minus the chunks of beef fat I sometimes found in pumpkin manti in Uzbekistan. I am used to eating manti and honum with qatiq (a type of plain yogurt) on top. Here they were served with an herb yogurt, which was also delicious.

In addition to manti, we had Uzbek flatbread and black tea that the server poured into a teacup and back into the pot three times, as is a tradition in Uzbekistan. The food was served on traditional blue-and-while Uzbek china, and in the background there was Uzbek music playing. All of this made me miss Uzbekistan and my friends there!

Armenian Lavash

I have found two types of "lavash" in Russia -- Georgian and Armenian. Georgian lavash is more or less like Central Asian flatbread -- relatively flat leavened bread. Armenian lavash, on the other hand, is like a giant tortilla. The picture I have here is of Armenian lavash made in a tandir (clay oven), so it has darkened spots from the high heat of the oven. Lavash not made in this way is more homogenously white and looks exactly like a tortilla (although larger)! In fact, it is made with flour, water, and salt, just like a tortilla! Versions of lavash are also eaten in Iran, Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

Although lavash is often eaten with kebabs as a kind of wrap, I personally enjoy mine by itself with a little melted butter spread on top. They could also be used as tortillas to make Mexican food, but I haven't tried that here, since my favorite part of Mexican food is cheddar cheese and is pretty difficult to come by in Russia. The lavash dries out quite quickly, though -- faster than tortillas -- so you have to eat it fast!