In West Turkistan, the hearth is considered sacred. Certain things, such as onion skins, litter swept from floors and human hair are never burned in the hearth. It is believed that if floor sweepings are burned the hearth, the firstborn child will die. Besides the hearth, foods may also be cooked indoors when necessary on gas burners.

Soup is called suyuğaç in West Turkistan, and meat soup is called şorva (Turkish: çorba). The most commonly prepared soups are meat soup, hulled wheat soup and yüzük (ring) soup, made with a pasta doug. Rice soup with ground meat is called mestava; another soup made from tomatoes, green peppers and rice with no oil or meat is known as horta.

Almost every possible variety of vegetable is raised in Turkistan. Some of the local names for these are:

One of the favorite meat dishes in West Turkistan is kebap. To make it, cut the meat into cubes and marinate in a mixture of ground onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic, with the addition of 1.5-2 spoons of yogurt, ¼ c vegetable oil, a handful of flour, cumin, black pepper, and salt. After an hour in the marinade, place the meat on the skewers and cook over hot coals.

An example of a meat dish is Et Şorvası.

Cut the meat into largish cubes. These may be from meat with the bones in as well. Place in a pot with water, bring to a boil and skim the foam off as it forms. Add onions cut into rings, finely chopped tomatoes and green onions, 2-3 crushed cloves of garlic, carrots in 5-cm pieces, cumin, salt, black pepper and tomato paste, and simmer till meat is nearly done. At this point add peeled potatoes cut to the desired size, and simmer till done. Serve with lemon juice.

One of the favorite dishes cooked in Yavuzlar is Turkistan Pilaf:

Wash rice well, and soak in lukewarm water for 1-2 hours.

Put a generous amount of oil into a thick-walled pot. Add onions, cut into rings, and sauté till transparent, then add cubed meat or meat with the bone in. When the meat has browned, add some black pepper and cumin. Continue to sauté. Before the onions actually begin to brown, add finely chopped tomatoes, and a bit of tomato paste. To this, add finely cut carrots (cut to matchstick size) and stir well. Add add some water and partially cooked chickpeas, cover and allow to simmer.

Strain water from rice and add to the pot, and the amount of hot water appropriate for the rice (1 ½ c water for each cup of rice). Add salt, and cook, without stirring at all, on a high flame till the water is absorbed. Then cover the pot and reduce the heat to low, put a thin piece of tin (such as a round from a large can) between the pot and the flame, and cook for ½ hour. Turn off the flame and let stand for 10 minutes. When serving, first lightly stir the top part of the pilaf and place on the platter, then stir the bottom part and add to the platter. If meat with the bone in was used, arrange this over the top and serve. This pilaf is also called aş.

Another common dish among the Uzbeks is Kiçiri.

Saute the onion as for Turkistan Pilaf. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and salt and cook, then cold meat broth or water, and bring to a boil. Add up to one cup of mung beans and boil till the mung beans split. Then add up to 3 cups of rice, and cook, stirring, till it reaches a porridge-like consistency. Turn off the heat.

Meanwhile cut and fry potatoes as for French fries.

In another pan, sauté finely chopped onion add ground meat. Add cumin and black pepper, and three grated tomatoes. When the tomatoes have cooked down, add the fried potatoes, and cook for 5 minutes on low heat, then turn off the heat.

To serve, spread the rice and mung bean mixture on a serving dish. Add a layer of garlic-infused yogurt, and top this with the ground meat and potato mixture. Garnish with parsley.

Kiçiri

Put milk in a pot and add sugar to taste. Bring to a boil, and for each liter of milk, add 1 ½ c rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches a porridge-like consistency, and pour into serving dishes. Serve with sugar over the top. The same dish may be served with salt.

“Dough-Based” Dishes

Samse

Place flour into a bowl, make a well and add one egg, salt and water to make a medium dough. Roll out into thin round sheets with an oklava. Brush the dough with softened shortening/margarine and wrap onto the oklava, then remove the oklava to leave a roll of dough. Cut this every five centimeters. With a regular rolling pin, roll from the uncut side into 8-cm squares. Into the center of each square, put a filling of ground meat, spinach, or spinach and finely chopped onion. Bring the corners together and seal, arrange on a greased baking pan, brush with egg and bake.

Çuçvare

Make the same dough as for samse, roll with an oklava and cut into 4-cm squares. As for samse, fill with a spinach, purslane or ground meat filling, and fold in half diagonally. Then take the outer points and set one over the other and pinch together so that it has become a circle. Heat meat broth, and add the çuçvare. Boil till done, then put into serving bowls. Serve with a tomato sauce, yogurt and finely chopped parsley.