Beyond Kebabs - making Azerbaijani food my way

Growing up, I was a bit of a culinary rebel—or maybe just stubbornly picky. My mom faced the ultimate kitchen challenge, serving a kid who seemed determined to reject half the menu. Living in a culture where meat is practically its own food group didn’t help. Kebabs, dolma, lamb—it didn’t matter. If it had a hint of animal fat, I’d take one sniff and shake my head. On the rare occasions, I actually liked the taste, I’d still stop at two bites.

My favorite meals back then were as simple as they come, usually starring about three ingredients max. Fried potatoes with turmeric, lemon juice, and heaps of greens. Plain pasta with ketchup.. (I know, I know—I owe an apology to all the Italians reading this—I’ve grown since then, I promise! I was just a kid trying to survive. I don’t make such silly things anymore). Savory pancakes with walnuts or herbs (called Kükü in Azerbaijani), different types of dishes that involved only vegetables, and of course, plov.

Ah, plov—truly the most delicious food of my childhood. My mom is from Vendam in Gabala, a village famous for its incredible variety of plovs. She and my aunts were practically plov specialists, and every visit to the village came with the sweet anticipation of my favorite Chestnuts Plov (Döşəməli aş). Chestnuts, dried fruits, and some chicken (which I mostly ignored unless I could pick out pieces without skin).

In this post, I’ll share two of my favorite food recipes that are based on authentic Azerbaijani cuisine, but which have been amended to suit my own taste buds.

P.S. Dear Mom, thanks for putting up with my picky eating. I love you.

“Ana, uşaqlıqda mənim hər nazımla oynadığın üçün sənə təşəkkür edirəm, səni çox sevirəm.”

Recipe 1: Red Bean Soup a.k.a Şırtılı (Hello to Gabala)

Ingredients:

1 cup dry red beans
1 medium-sized yellow onion chopped
1 tbs tomato paste
1 handful of your favourite type of pasta
Vegetable oil to cook the onions
salt & pepper
Optional chopped fresh herbs (coriander, parsley or dill)

Directions:

Step 1: Soak the dry red beans over night

Step 2: Boil the red beans in 3-4 cups of water in a pot. The water will turn from clear color to reddish brown. Once started boiling reduce the heat let it simmer

Step 3: Saute the chopped onion in a vegetable oil (I usually just eyeball the ingredients like oil, salt and pepper). Once the onions starts to cook and become golden add the tomato paste and fry them a little bit more. Once done set it aside.

Step 4: Check the beans and see if they are soft and cooked (at this point the beans don’t have to be cooked entirely). Add the fried onion in a tomato paste and oil into the pot where the beans are cooking. simmer them all together a little bit more and finally add the pasta and let it cook.

Step 5: Once the pasta is also cooked the soup is ready to serve. I usually like to serve it with chopped coriander, parsley or dill and bread on side.

I was so hungry I forgot to put chopped fresh herbs on top of it

Recipe 2: Plov with ‘Chicken’, Chestnuts, and Dried Fruit (Ash qarali plove)

Ingredients:

‘Chicken’ pieces
1 cup cooked chestnuts
0.5 cup dried apricots cut into 4 pieces
1 cup dried raisins
0.5 cup dried plums cut into 2 pieces
2 cups vegetable stock
2 medium-sized onions sliced
2 tbs turmeric (1 tbs for rice and 1 tbs for the topping)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup rice and water to cook the rice
Vegetable oil to fry
1 tbs vegan butter for rice

Directions:

Step 1: Cook the rice according to your preference. I gave up on cooking rice in any other pot/way than my beloved rice cooker. I got this while I was living in China and didn’t even think twice about packing it to bring to the UK.

Once the rice is cooked add some vegan butter and turmeric on top. After butter melts lightly mix the rice and the turmeric.

Step 2: Add some oil to a pan and fry the ‘chicken’ pieces. Once cooked set aside.

Step 3: Add some oil to a pan and cook the onions until translucent. Once cooked add some salt, pepper and turmeric. Mix well until all onions are coated in spices.

Step 3: One by one add dried fruit (raisins, apricots and plums) and every time you add a new ingredient fry everything together for 1-2 minutes and mix well. I forgot to add chestnuts at this step but you can add them and follow the same concept as dried fruits.

Step 4: Finally add the fried ‘chicken’ pieces and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat cover the lid and let it simmer. Luckily, I remembered about the chestnuts at this point so added them into the pan.