Kalmyk cuisine

Programme Episodes (02.07.2011)

Kalmyk cuisine

This cuisine belongs to the Mongolian style of cooking as it is based on using meat, milk, and flour. Nomads have similar methods of processing these products, but still have their differences. Today we will discover the cooking peculiarities of the Kalmyk people.

INTRODUCTION

The Kalmyk cuisine is a cuisine of the nomads. Due to this, cooking these dishes in an urban environment does not always work. However, if you live in a private house, you can try to cook using some of the recipes.

-The Kalmyk people have a very ancient meat dish. It is made of mutton. An adult sheep is slaughtered; the skin is removed from the carcass. Meat is separated from the bones and people salt, pepper it to taste, and add nutmeg. All of this is packed into sheep’s entrails. Then they make a hole in the ground, throw it in the fire, the fire burns, the entrails with mutton meat, which already has salt and pepper in it, are put on the coals. Ash lies on the entrails once again and it is all covered with soil. This meal cooks for 20 hours.

IN THE KITCHEN

Raisa Mamoshina has been living in Kazakhstan for over 30 years. She didn’t forget the recipes of beloved Kalmyk dishes over the time she lived far away from her historic homeland. Today, their taste and cooking details are known to all of her friends and colleagues in Kazakhstan.

-None of the Kalmyk dish is complete without a traditional tea. Its components are able to satisfy both thirst and hunger. Raisa, tell us why this drink is so special?

-Every nation has their own special dishes. Kalmyk tea called Dzhomba and is one of such dishes of my people. It is made of pressed green tea brick. It is grounded. It also contains nutmeg, salt, bay leaf, butter and milk. Once water starts to boil we will put Kalmyk tea in it. It depends on the person who cooks it. There are families who enjoy a rich, thick tea. And there are families who love tea that is not that strong. We cook it at a ratio of 50% of water to 50% of milk. Once tea boils, we pour milk in straight away.
There are some purely technical tricks in making this drink.

Kalmyk people call it “north khe” and there’s no literal translation into Russian for this. It is necessary to do so 108 times. 7:35 - 7:43 Traditionally, when tea is being made there is some air left, that results in the tea becoming soft and have a rich taste. Once the tea is boiled with milk we add the ingredients, which are salt, bay leaf, nutmeg and butter and mix it all really well.

The first portion of any meal cooked in the house of Kalmyk people is presented to gods and the next to the most respected guest.

- Tea is served at any occasion whether it’s a wedding or just a dinner. Everything should necessarily begin with Kalmyk tea, because people say good wishes called yeryals. They take a cup of tea and say good wishes to the land and ancestors, and then the main course is served. I would like to introduce you to yet another Kalmyk dish today. It’s a meat dish called Borg. Mincemeat contains lamb, beef, and pork. Be sure to add salt to the minced meat.

- We make the dough separately. We take some milk and add salt there, stir it, and add eggs here. Directly into the milk? Yes.

The dough should be very stiff for this dish. After stirring it carefully it should be left for some time.

-After forming such a plait we start molding. It starts very similar to dumplings.

The Kalmyk Borg, differs from its counterpart, a dumpling, only by its form to a large extent. The hand-made molded products have almost identical filling, wrap, and even the heat treatment method. However, there are some subtleties in eating them.

-Generally speaking, be sure to start eating a Borg from its tail, because by doing so you first drink all the juice inside it. So you bite it, drink the juice, and then begin to eat the meat.

And now we’re having master class training on making traditional Kalmyk dumplings!

-This is how we press the tail and go like this here - one, two, three, four. So you eat it like this as well. Oh! Look at that dumpling and compare it to the first one. Well, it’s the Borg evolution!

The size of these creations depends on the taste and mood of the one who cooks it. You may want to make them bigger. Well they are almost ready, we just need to cook them. 7-10 minutes in boiling water, it is salted and contains a bay leaf.

RECIPE

Dzhomba (Kalmyk Tea)

20 g of pressed green tea

1 g of nutmeg

1 litre of water

1 litre of milk

3 g of salt

2 bay leaves

50 g of butter

Borg

Pastry

2 eggs