Azerbaijan International



 Autumn 2000 (8.3)


Dumplings
Dushbara

 

Feeling under the weather? A steaming bowl of dushbara is just what the doctor ordered. Dushbara is a soup made with tiny dumplings stuffed with lamb, which look much like tiny ravioli. The comforting broth, flavored with fried onion, cilantro, mint and dried sour cherry-plums, may be served with gutabs as a first course (See Gutab). At the table, one may add vinegar mixed with finely chopped garlic-two basic ingredients that are believed to assist in recovery from a cold.

Each dumpling in the dushbara is carefully shaped by hand by placing a pinch of minced lamb into a small square of dough, folding the dough in half to make a triangle and then pinching the two ends of the dough together. Making the dumplings is a time-consuming process. For a large family, a cook must prepare hundreds of dumplings, just for a single meal! It's impossible to try to cheat by making fewer, dumplings that are larger. If the dumplings are too thick, they won't cook and will remain raw in the middle.

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From Azerbaijan International (8.3) Autumn 2000.
© Azerbaijan International 2000. All rights reserved.

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