More and more popular dishes of Tatar cuisine. For a long history, she absorbed the best finds of cooks, while retaining the main principles: the abundance of vegetables, a small amount of fat and cooking on low heat. One of the most popular Tatar dishes, along with lagman and katlama , is azu from beef. It spread far beyond its homeland, not only because of the ease of preparation and piquant taste. The caloric content of aza from beef is about 120 kcal, which is not too much for a hearty meal, so you can enjoy your meal in plenty.
How to cook azu from beef?
Ingredients:
- beef (pulp) - 0.7-0.8 kg;
- onion - 2-3 medium bulbs;
- tomatoes - 4-5 medium fruits;
- potatoes - 4-5 pcs. (or 700 g);
- pickled cucumbers - 3-4 pcs. (or 300 g, can be salted);
- garlic - 2-3 cloves;
- tomato paste - 110 g;
- wheat flour - 2 tbsp. l .;
- salt;
- black pepper;
- laurel leaf - to taste;
- fresh greens - for decoration.
National cuisine is always created gradually, from generation to generation, and the same dish may vary slightly depending on the traditions in the family. So, each housewife will most likely give her recipe how to cook aza of beef, because it does not require careful metering of each ingredient, and some of the components, for example, tomato paste or flour, it may not be at all. The main thing here is to observe the proportions of meat and potatoes, and properly perform the cooking process, coming to this with a soul. Then you will definitely get a delicious azu from beef.
Preparation
Do not be scared of the name of the aza of beef - the recipe you will master the first time.
Let's start with the preparation of products. Meat must be cleaned of all tendons and films, leaving only tender flesh. This fillet is carefully cut into small bars, approximately with the little finger thick. Cut better through the fibers - then the beef will turn out to be especially tender. Meat pour the salt and pepper and briefly put aside: now we will deal with onions. It is better to cut it in half rings, so the dish will look more aesthetic, a little fry in vegetable oil. When the onions have acquired a golden color, we add meat to it, and so that it is covered with an easy appetizing crust.
At this time, prepare the sauce: tomatoes without the skin rubbed on the grater, turning them into a homogeneous mass. Here we pour out the chopped garlic, add the tomato paste. Although, you can do without pasta: it will add extra spiciness and sourness, but if you do not like it - let's stop on tomatoes. The resulting mass is poured into a frying pan with roasted meat, add water if necessary, so that the meat is completely covered with liquid, thoroughly mixed and stewed on low heat until half-ready.
While the meat is languishing under the lid, let's pay attention to cucumbers and potatoes. We clean them from the skin and cut them into small pieces - the potatoes are slightly larger than cucumbers. Potatoes, too, for starters are fried separately - so all the ingredients will retain their taste, without turning into a general mess. In general, the preparation of aza from beef is a very simple process, it takes only about an hour,
By this time the meat should be in time. To make the azu more dense, we'll make a simple gravy: brew the flour in a small amount of the broth that was formed when the meat was put out. Now we send cucumbers and gravy to the meat, leave for another 10 minutes at low heat, and finally we add potatoes to the common frying pan. If you want a more pungent taste - now you can add a bay leaf and a second portion of black pepper. That's almost all, it remains to wait another 20 minutes, and your aza of beef with gravy is ready to go to the plates.