Delicious dumpling soup called the Chuchvara

Right after I finished writing about the wonderful city of Bukhara (if you haven't read the blogpost yet, please go show some love! it's in my Uzbekistan blog), I started craving some Uzbek food. One in particular - dumpling soup or also known as, Chuchvara!

This is my second attempt at making this soup and I must say it came out pretty darn good. I definitely gave myself a pat on the back because it is not the easiest recipe to follow. Before I go into the steps of making this flavorsome soup, I would like to give you a short background history of this delicious dish.

This dumpling dish is very popular among Central Asian and Euro-Asian countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, where it is usually served in broth soup. In some Middle Eastern nations including Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon, the dumplings are served with yogurt. The Russians have also adopted this recipe and called it Pelmeni and they usually eat it with soup and yogurt. As you can see, the name ranges from one country to another and the recipe has been altered a bit as well, however the main ingredients are pretty much the same throughout the different countries. My roommate also mentioned how she thought this dumpling dish resembled the Italian dish ravioli, but the soup aspect is what makes it different and more oriental.

Now that you are familiar with the background of this appetizing dish, let's make this baby!

Ingredients for the dough:

• all-purpose white flour (300 - 400 grams or as needed)
• an egg
• salt
• water (3/4 cup)
• oil (vegetable, olive, sunflower - doesn't really matter) 1 big spoon

Ingredients for the filling/stuffing:

• ground beef (200 mg) (or your choice of meat)
• 4 onions (small)
• ginger (30 grams)
• 2 potatoes (regular sized)
• 1 tomato
• spices (curry, bell pepper, basil, cumin, etc. ) [up to your preference]
• oil (vegetable, olive, sunflower - doesn't really matter)

Kitchen tools you will be needing:

• bowls (2 or 3)
• cup (with a 1. 5 - 2 inches circular opening)
• rolling pin
• peeler
• utensils (knife and spoon)
• cutting board
• a frying pan (skillet)
• a soup pot
• ladle and spatula/spoon

How long will it take? How many people will this recipe serve?

The time to prepare and cook this dish will differ from one individual to another. It really depends on how fast you work, and if you are an amateur chef or a master cook. For me, it took about 2- 3 hours. Don't be alarmed - it does not take everyone that long! I would not say I am a beginner cook but I am quite slow and very meticulous about my work so that was definitely slowing me down! The part that consumes the most time will have to be the preparing of the dough. Also, you best gather up your strength because you will be needing it when kneading the dough!

This serving size of this recipe is about 8 bowls. So if you would like you can adjust the ingredients accordingly to the number of people you plan or serving (or the number of servings you plan on having yourself! *wink*) I had three bowls and I'm not ashamed of it!

Okay enough! How do you make this damn thing?!

First, we will start out with the dough ~

1. Pour a cup of (cold or lukewarm) water into a bowl.
2. Crack one egg into the water.
3. Sprinkle about 3 pinches of salt into the bowl.
4. Whisk well until the egg and salt have been mixed into the water.
5. Slowly add enough flour to make a soft dough.

   

   For amateur chefs - using your hands, mix and blend until the mixture no longer sticks to your hands. Make sure the consistency of the dough is soft but not sticky. In other words, it is important to maintain the elasticity of the dough and make sure the viscosity of the dough is not too much, otherwise, you will make it more difficult to knead and spread.

   

6. Once you have achieved this correct consistency of the dough, you can make it into this form:

   

   Wrap with a clean light towel and leave for 30 minutes.

While your dough is on standby, you can begin prepping the filling for the dumplings:

• Peel two onions and the ginger. Chop these two items into tiny pieces and set them aside.
• Salt and season the ground beef and mix with the diced ginger and onions. (Be careful not to season too much; the ginger has a pretty strong taste on its own so lots of seasoning may be needless. )
• Pour in a spoon of oil into the mixture so the filling can stick well together.

By now, the 30- minute mark should be up. Now onto the tedious and fun part of the recipe!

• Take the dough and using your hands, split it into 3 pieces. The size of the smaller doughs do not necessarily have to be equal in size, just make sure they are somewhat similar. Shape them into a roundish figure like how they were before and wrap two back with a towel so they do not dry out.

  

• Take one of the doughs and gently roll it out using a rolling pin. Make sure to sprinkle flour here and there to avoid the dough sticking to the rolling pin and the table.

  

  

• After rolling out the dough into a big thin piece, it is time to cut out small circles for the dumplings. You can use any object that has a circular shape; I used the open side of a small plastic cup. The circle needs to be about 1. 5 - 2 inches. Make sure to form the circles near one another so you do not waste too much of the dough.

  

• Take out the excess dough trims and put it aside.
• Put a. 5 -1 inch filling into one of the circles.

  

  Fold over the filling by closing it towards you. Push down, sticking the two edges together and creating a small bump where the filling is supposed to be. Bring the two corners together and pinch. One dumpling down, many more to go!

• Gradually gather all dumplings onto a big plate and make sure to keep them covered with a light towel so they do not dry out.
• Repeat the same steps for the other cut out circle doughs.
• You will have some dough leftover. The Uzbek people do not like wasting food because they believe it is a sin to do so. Thus, they always try to find a resourceful way to do something with the leftover remnants. Here is what I learned to do with my leftover scraps - you roll out the dough and spread it into a thin piece (just like how I did at the beginning of this recipe). And then cut it into fellucine pieces (but not as long) and sprinkle some flour to keep them dry. I was taught to put it aside and keep it for a different soup for another day. However, I was absolutely exhausted today and had no patience or the energy to roll out more dough so unfortunately, I had to discard it. The rolling aspect of this recipe is just very physically draining!

After the dumplings are ready and safely put under a light towel to be kept for cooking, start getting the broth ready!

• Peel two more onions and two potatoes. Dice them into squares (I know my onions are not squared. My husband was assisting me with the broth and he forgot to dice them in mini squares and instead sliced them into thin pieces, which obviously did not ruin the broth but the presentation is indeed not the same).
• Dice a tomato as well.
• Place the frying pan over high heat. Pour in enough oil so it slightly covers the cooking surface of the pan.
• Throw in the onions and fry for roughly 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then repeat the same for the potatoes and then the tomato.

  

• Sprinkle a bit of salt (use your best judgment) and other spices. For instance, I threw in a bit of curry, basil, and bell peppers (all powder form).
• Mix well and then slowly transfer the ingredients from the pan into the soup pot.

  

  Place the soup pot over high heat. Pour in about 2 - 2. 5 liters of cold water over the mixture and blend well.

• Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium. The water should boil for about 15 minutes.
• Check on the seasoning and make sure the salt amount is enough.
• After the 15 minutes has passed, check on the potato. Even if it is not cooked all the way, it needs to be at least a bit softer than the raw potato. If you find that your potato is still pretty hard texture wise, then continue boiling your food for another 5- 10 minutes.
• Finally, it is time to add the dumplings into the broth. Just gently throw the little babies into the soup. Keep the heat moderately the same, make sure it is not boiling too hard otherwise, the dumplings can come apart.
• Boil for 15- 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the soup after the ten-minute mark because the dumplings are quite fragile so they can be easily dismantled. You can try one at the 15-minutes mark to see if it is cooked.

  

The people of Uzbekistan serve Chuchvara with plain yogurt on the side. You can also add some basil leaves to add flavor to the soup. Hope you will all enjoy this recipe and try it out in your homes! Good luck!

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