Homemade basturma - general principles of cooking
Basturma is an Armenian dish, and according to other sources - Turkish, cuisine. Basturma is nothing more than aromatic jerky, for the preparation of which various spices and seasonings are used. Basturma is cut into thin plates and served as a cold appetizer. Basturma is a delicacy, and the prices for it in stores “bite”. Why spend money on buying such an expensive treat when it can be easily prepared at home? There is nothing complicated in this, but you will have to stock up on a sufficient amount of time. The average cooking time for basturma is from two to four weeks.
Basturma is prepared by 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, horsemeat, and even chicken. Red pepper, savory, suneli hops, 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 some cognac or wine). The density of the mass should be similar to sour cream. Salted pieces of meat are rolled in this mixture and dried for two to three weeks.
Homemade basturma - preparation of products and utensils
From kitchen equipment you will need a bowl or pan for marinade and preparation of a mixture of spices, a form for meat and a cutting board. Among other things, you need to prepare a heavy load (oppression), hooks for hanging, a dense thread for winding and clean gauze.
Cooking basturma begins with the processing of meat: rinse the fillet, cut off all the excess (films, skins, fat), dry the meat with paper towels. Then the meat is rubbed with a mixture of salt and sugar and left to salted. Next, the process of cooking basturma begins. To do this, you need to make a mixture of the spices used with the addition of water, cognac or wine. The mass in density should resemble sour cream.
Homemade Basturma Recipes:
Recipe 1: Homemade Basturma
Homemade basturma is usually made from beef. Thick pieces of meat are wilted in the refrigerator, the exposure time is several weeks. Long, but what a result!
Ingredients Required:
- Beef tenderloin;
- Garlic;
- Fenugreek;
- Sea salt;
- Sugar;
- Ground chili;
- Lavrushka (ground);
- Grains of coriander;
- Juniper berry;
- Cloves.
Cooking method:
Take a beef tenderloin, wash, cut in half. Mix large sea salt with two teaspoons of sugar. In this mixture, abundantly roll meat, wrap in gauze, leave for 6 hours at room temperature. Then we send the beef to the refrigerator. Leave for 12 hours, after which the meat is turned over and held for another 12 hours. After the specified time, we take out the beef, wash it from salt, and dry it with paper towels. Leave to dry at room temperature. Wrap the beef with gauze again, tighten it with ropes. We put the load on top, leave for one day. Now we prepare the boning: we pass the garlic through a press, mix with a chaman (fenugreek), chili pepper, ground lavrushka, coriander seeds, cloves and juniper berry. We dilute this mixture in cold water, mix. Boning should be like thick sour cream. The mixture should be enough to have enough for both pieces of meat. Bone the meat in this mixture, leave it for 3 hours in the open air (at room temperature), repeat this operation two more times. After the last deboning, we hang the beef in a draft, leave it to dry for 2 weeks. After this time, home-made basturma will be ready. The meat can be cut into pieces and served.
Recipe 2: Homemade Brandy Basturma
Why buy expensive basturma at the store when it can be easily cooked at home? It takes a long time to prepare, of course, but it's worth it! To prepare basturma according to this recipe, you will need any spices and brandy.
Ingredients Required:
- One and a half kilograms of meat;
- Salt;
- Any seasonings;
- The chaman;
- Cognac (you can take wine).
Cooking method:
A piece of meat (you can take pork or beef tenderloin) is washed, make cuts with a knife. Rub salt abundantly so that it gets into the incisions. Leave in the refrigerator for two days to salted. After that we pull it out, tightly wrap it in gauze, put the load on top and leave it for another two days. Then we hang it and leave it to tumble for one week. We take our favorite seasonings, be sure to add a chaman (fenugreek), we dilute it all with wine or cognac (you can add a little water) so that a creamy consistency is obtained. We smear the dried meat with the mixture and remove for a week in a cold place. After 7 days, remove the meat from the marinade, wrap it with a cloth and hang it for a week.
Recipe 3: Armenian Basturma
Try to cook delicious Armenian basturma according to this recipe. The cooking technique is not much different from other recipes, but there are subtleties.
Ingredients Required:
- Beef;
- Garlic;
- Salt;
- Saltpeter;
- Red ground pepper;
- Caraway.
Cooking method:
We wash the meat fillet properly, dry it and cut it into pieces 6 centimeters thick, 10 centimeters wide and about 30 centimeters long. We take a large wide container, put pieces of meat in even rows, pour salt there, add saltpeter. Mix everything so that the pieces of meat are evenly coated with this mixture. It covers 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, put it in the open air and dry it. Now we spread a clean cloth on the table, spread the meat in rows, tightly tighten the fabric and tie it. We put on the board a meat, and on it - a load. We leave it in this state for 6 hours, then we replace the fabric and stand it under oppression for another two hours. After that, we hang the pieces of meat and leave it in the air for 12 hours. The beef should dry well. Caraway seeds are washed, crushed. Chop the garlic finely or let it pass through the press. Mix garlic, red pepper and caraway seeds in a bowl, add a small amount of water, mix. The mass in consistency should resemble liquid sour cream. Rub the dried meat with the resulting mixture, put it in rows in a container, leave for 4 days. We repeat this procedure another two to three times, after which we hang the meat for 10 days. After the specified time, basturma can be served at the table.
Recipe 4: Beef Basturma
Beef basturma according to this recipe turns out to be very tasty! The meat is perfect for any feast and will be a great snack for alcoholic beverages. You can take any seasonings, but according to this recipe, you need to add hops-suneli.
Ingredients Required:
- Beef pulp;
- Iodized salt;
- Sugar;
- Paprika;
- Sunli hops;
- Cognac;
- Garlic;
- A mixture of peppers;
- Coriander.
Cooking method:
We cut meat in large layers, washed, dried. Preparing 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 tablespoons of suneli hop. We put the meat in a pan, pour in a mixture of seasonings, mix, rubbing the marinade into the meat, and place it under oppression. Put the beef in the refrigerator for one day. The next day we take out a pan with meat, drain the juice that has stood out. The meat itself is washed in running water, dried. Now we’ll prepare a mixture of seasonings for boning: chop the garlic finely (or take the dried garlic), add the mixture with pepper, coriander and suneli hops. Pieces of meat are properly rolled in a mixture of spices. We hang the pieces of beef on hooks, leave to dry for four days (if an electric dryer is used). If the meat is dried 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 an appetizer can also be made from chicken meat. Unleash your imagination, experiment with different spices and eventually find the perfect cooking option. And you can use the ready-made recipe below.
Ingredients Required:
- A pound of chicken;
- 3 tablespoons of salt;
- 3 tablespoons of sugar;
- 2 tablespoons savory;
- 2 teaspoons of coriander;
- A spoon of paprika;
- Red pepper.
Cooking method:
We wash pieces of chicken fillet, remove films from them, dry the fillet with paper towels. In a bowl, mix the salt with sugar, rub the resulting filet mixture. We place the chicken under the press, remove for 3 days in the refrigerator. After this time, we take out the fillet, washed with salt, dried. Now we wrap the chicken with gauze, place it under oppression, leave it for one day. Next, mix savory, coriander, paprika and red pepper. Pour so much water into the spices to make a creamy mass. Bone pieces of chicken in the resulting mixture, hang on a hook, leave for 3 days in a cool place. After that, wrap the fillet again with gauze and hang it to dry for another two weeks.
Recipe 6: Homemade Pork Basturma
Basturma can also be made from pork. It turns out no less tasty than if the appetizer was made from beef.
Ingredients Required:
- Pork tenderloin;
- Five tablespoons of brown sugar;
- Four tablespoons of coarse salt;
- Three spoons of savory;
- Coriander - a teaspoon;
- Sumah - slightly less than coriander;
- Paprika;
- Garlic;
- Ground red pepper.
Cooking method:
Mix sugar in a bowl with salt. Pieces of the washed and dried tenderloin are carefully rubbed with this mixture. We put the clipping in the form and send it to the refrigerator for 3 days. After this time, the meat should become denser and tougher. Now we mix savory, coriander, sumy, paprika, ground garlic and red pepper. Add water to the seasonings, 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. Tighten the tenderloin with a rope and roll in spices. We post pork in the open air, leave for three days. Then remove the pork, wrap in cheesecloth, tie tightly and hang out for two weeks already.
Homemade basturma - secrets and useful tips from the best chefs
For the preparation of basturma, it is best to take the meat of young animals - it can be a tenderloin, filet or a wide edge with a layer of fat. The meat can be cut into long strips or layers a few centimeters thick. If basturma is prepared with wine, then about one liter of beef is taken per kilogram of beef. Pieces of meat should be completely covered with wine. The fillet must necessarily stand under the press, so you need to put a plate or plate on the meat, and put oppression on top. In this form, the meat is infused for 3 to 7 days. If the delicacy is cooked from chicken, the drying time is significantly reduced, since the chicken itself cooks faster than beef or pork.
