Home basturma - general cooking principles
Basturma is an Armenian dish, and according to other sources - Turkish cuisine. Basturma is nothing more than a fragrant jerky, for the preparation of which different spices and seasonings are used. Basturma is cut into thin plates and served as a cold snack. Basturma is a delicacy, and prices for it in the shops “bite”. Why spend money on the purchase of such an expensive treat when it can be easily prepared at home? There is nothing difficult in this, but you will have to stock up enough time. On average, the preparation time for basturma is between two and four weeks.
Preparing basturma salting and drying. For such purposes it is better to use the meat of young animals. Most often, basturma is made from beef, but you can take pork, lamb, horse meat, and even chicken. Red pepper, savory, hops-suneli, garlic, paprika and coriander are usually taken from spices. All spices are mixed in a bowl and then diluted with water (you can also use a little brandy or wine). The mass of the density should be similar to sour cream. Salted pieces of meat roll in the mixture and wilt within two to three weeks.
Home basturma - preparing food and dishes
From the kitchen equipment you will need a bowl or casserole for the marinade and the preparation of a mixture of spices, a form for meat and a cutting board. Among other things, you need to prepare a heavy load (opp), hooks for hanging, thick thread for winding and clean gauze.
The preparation of basturma begins with the processing of meat: we wash the fillets, cut off all the excess (films, skins, fat), dry the meat with paper napkins. Then the meat is rubbed with a mixture of salt and sugar and left to salted. Then the process of basturma preparation begins. To do this, you need to make a mixture of used spices with the addition of water, brandy or wine. Mass density should resemble sour cream. Home basturma recipes:
Recipe 1: Homemade Basturma
Homemade basturma is usually made from beef. Thick pieces of meat curl in the refrigerator, the aging time is several weeks. Long, but what is the result!
Ingredients Required:
- Beef tenderloin;
- Garlic;
- Fenugreek;
- Sea salt;
- Sugar;
- Ground chili;
- Laurel (ground);
- Coriander seeds;
- Juniper berry;
- Carnation.
Preparation Method:
Take beef tenderloin, wash, cut in half. Large sea salt mixed with two teaspoons of sugar. In this mixture, we roll abundantly meat, wrap in cheesecloth, leave for 6 hours at room temperature. Then we send the beef in the fridge. We leave for 12 hours, after which the meat turns over and we endure another 12 hours. After the specified time, remove the beef, wash it off with salt, dry it with paper towels. Leave to dry at room temperature. Wrap the beef again with gauze, tightly tighten the ropes. We put the load on top, leave for one day. Now we are preparing deboning: skip the garlic through a press, mix with chaman (fenugreek), chili pepper, ground lavrushka, coriander seeds, cloves and juniper berries. Dilute this mixture in cold water, mix. Dipping should turn out like thick sour cream. The mixture should be enough to cover both pieces of meat. Meat rolls in this mixture, leave for 3 hours in the open air (at room temperature), repeat this operation two more times. After the last deboning, hang the beef in a draft, leave it to fade for 2 weeks. After this time, the home basturma will be ready. Meat can be cut into pieces to serve.
Recipe 2: Home basturma with cognac
Why buy an expensive basturma in a store when it can be easily prepared at home? Preparing, of course, for a long time, but it's worth it! For the preparation of basturma for this recipe will need any spices and brandy. Ingredients Required:
- One and a half kilograms of meat;
- Salt;
- Any seasoning;
- Chaman;
- Cognac (you can get wine).
Preparation Method:
A piece of meat (you can take pork or beef tenderloin), wash, make cuts with a knife. Liberally rub with salt so that it falls into the incisions. Leave in the fridge for two days to wake up. After that, we pull out, wrap tightly in gauze, put the load on top and leave for another two days. Then hang and leave to fade for one week. We take your favorite seasonings, be sure to add the chaman (fenugreek), dilute it all with wine or brandy (you can add a little water) so that you get a creamy consistency. The resulting mixture we coat dried meat and remove for a week in a cold place. After 7 days, remove the meat from the marinade, we wrap it with a cloth and hang it for a week.
Recipe 3: Armenian Basturma
Try cooking delicious Armenian basturma using this recipe. The cooking technique is not much different from other recipes, but there are some subtleties.
Ingredients Required:
- Beef;
- Garlic;
- Salt;
- Saltpetre;
- Red ground pepper;
- Cumin.
Preparation Method:
Meat fillet as it should be washed, dried and cut into pieces with a thickness of 6 centimeters, in width - 10 and in length - in about 30 centimeters. We take a large, wide container, put the meat pieces there in even rows, pour salt into it, add saltpeter. All mix so that the pieces of meat evenly covered with this mixture. Cover the beef with clean gauze, leave for 3 days, then turn over and leave for the same amount. After the specified time, we take out the meat, rinse it under water, lay it out in the open air and dry it. Now we spread a clean cloth on the table, lay out the meat in rows, we firmly tie the fabric and fasten it. We place a board on the meat, and a load on it. We leave it in this condition for 6 hours, then we replace the fabric and we maintain it for another two hours under the yoke. After that, the pieces of meat are suspended and left in the air for 12 hours. Beef should be properly dried. Cumin seeds washed, pound. Garlic finely chopped or skipped through a press. Mix in a bowl, garlic, red pepper and cumin, enter a small amount of water, mix. The mass of the consistency should resemble liquid sour cream. Rub the dried meat with the mixture, put it in a tank in rows, leave for 4 days. This procedure is repeated two or three times, after which we hang the meat for 10 days. After this time, the basturma can be served.
Recipe 4: Beef Basturma
Beef basturma for this recipe turns out very tasty! Meat is perfect for any meal and will be a great snack for alcoholic beverages. You can take any seasonings, but according to this recipe, it is necessary to add hops-suneli.
Ingredients Required:
- Beef pulp;
- Salt iodized;
- Sugar;
- Paprika;
- Hops-suneli;
- Cognac;
- Garlic;
- A mixture of peppers;
- Coriander.
Preparation Method:
Meat is cut into large layers, washed, dried. Prepare the marinade: mix 50 ml of brandy, one and a half tablespoons of large iodized salt, half a tablespoon of sugar, four tablespoons of paprika and two spoons of hop-suneli. We put the meat in a saucepan, pour in a mixture of seasonings, mix, rubbing the marinade in the meat and place it under the oppression. We remove the beef in the refrigerator for one day. The next day we reach the pan with the meat, drain the separated juice. The meat itself is washed in running water, dried. Now prepare a mixture of seasonings for deboning: finely chop the garlic (or take dried garlic), add the pepper mixture, coriander and hops-suneli. Chunks of meat as you roll in a mixture of spices. Hang the pieces of beef on hooks, leave to dry for four days (if using an electric dryer). If the meat is withered in the usual way, the drying time is increased to ten days. Beef basturma is ready.
Recipe 5: Chicken Basturma
Usually, basturma is made from beef, but contrary to popular belief, such a snack can also be made from chicken meat. Unleash the imagination, experiment with different spices and eventually find the perfect cooking option. And you can use the ready-made recipe presented below.
Ingredients Required:
- A pound of chicken fillet;
- 3 tablespoons of salt;
- 3 spoons of sugar;
- 2 spoons of savory;
- 2 teaspoons of coriander;
- Spoon of paprika;
- Red pepper.
Preparation Method:
Wash chunks of chicken fillet, remove films from them, dry fillets with paper towels. In a bowl, mix salt with sugar, rub the fillet mixture with the resulting mixture. Put the chicken under the press, remove for 3 days in the fridge. After this time, we get the fillets, rinse them with salt, dry them. Now we wrap the chicken with gauze, put it under the oppression, leave it for one day. Next, mix savory, coriander, paprika and red pepper. Pour in so much water to the spices to make a creamy mass. Roll the chicken pieces in the resulting mixture, hang on a hook, leave for 3 days in a cool place. After that, the fillet is again wrapped with gauze and hung to dry for another two weeks.
Recipe 6: Homemade pork basturma
Basturma can also be made from pork. It turns out not less tasty than if the appetizer was made from beef.
Ingredients Required:
- Pork tenderloin;
- Five spoons of brown sugar;
- Four spoons of coarse salt;
- Three spoons of savory;
- Coriander - a teaspoon;
- Sumy - a little less than coriander;
- Paprika;
- Garlic;
- Ground red pepper.
Preparation Method:
Sugar mix in a bowl with salt. The pieces of washed and dried tenderloin are carefully rubbed with this mixture. We lay out the tenderloin in the form and send in the refrigerator for 3 days. After this time, the meat should become denser and harder. Now mix savory, coriander, sumac, paprika, garlic powder and red pepper. Add to seasoning water, mix. The mass should turn out like thick sour cream, i.e. such that the mixture can be easily applied to the meat and spread. Overtighten the tenderloin with a rope and roll in spices. We hang out pork in the open air, leave for three days. Then remove the pork, wrapped in cheesecloth, tightly tied and hung out for two weeks.
Home basturma - secrets and useful tips from the best chefs
For basturma preparation, it is best to take the meat of young animals - it can be a tenderloin, fillet or a wide edge with a layer of fat. Meat can be cut into long strips or layers several centimeters thick. If the basturma is prepared with wine, then about one liter of drink is taken for one kilogram of beef. Chunks of meat should be completely covered with wine. Fillets must be kept under pressure, so you need to put a plate or a plate on the meat, and put oppression on top. As such, the meat is infused for 3 to 7 days. If the delicacy is prepared from chicken fillet, the withering time is significantly reduced, since the chicken itself is cooked faster than beef or pork.
