D secondary special republic of the republic of uzbekistan ministry of education mamun-university

Chuchvara

Chuchvara (dushpara, dyushbara, tushpara, chuchpara) is a dish with a very strange name for a traveler, which means dumplings only. It can be compared with Russian dumplings or italian ravioli. However, Uzbek chuchvara have several important differences from Russian dumplings and ravioli:
- chuchvara is much smaller in size;
- chuchvara stuffing is made of finely chopped meat instead of forcemeat, they also never use pork;
- chuchvara is boiled not in “clean” broth, but in broth with fried meat, vegetables and greens, so it turns out that chuchvara is a soup, almost "shurpa with dumplings";- chuchvara also differs from dumplings with its form: dough for chuchvara is never rolled out separately for each dumpling, but a single large piece of dough is rolled, which then is cut into small squares (as small as you can use for shaping the dumplings).
Uzbek cuisine is rich in diversity and colors, so the stuffing for chuchvara can be absolutely different, as there are several ways of cooking chuchvara. For example:
- for classic chuchvara, lamb or beef cut into small pieces can be used, then onions cut into small cubes should be added;
- to cook osh kuktli chuchvara, you will need finely chopped greens with onions and tail fat. Sauté the ingredients on a low heat. Then add 2-3 finely chopped hardboiled eggs to the fried green stuffing.

- kovurma chuchvara (fried chuchvara). This type of chuchvara is mainly cooked for the religious holiday of Eid for a treat. Cooking procedures are the same as for common chuchvara, but the stuffing is pre-fried and then, after it has cooled, it is used for “molding” chuchvara. Then chuchvaras are put into the hot oil (in kazan or deep fryer) and fried until ready. The ready dish may be dusted with powdered sugar;

- ugra chuchvara is cooked using the same recipe, but meatballs and noodles should be added into the broth.
There is such a variety of chuchvara alone in the national cuisine of Uzbekistan. Chuchvara is served with sour cream or sour milk and greens.
While Uzbek flatbread and samsa is a single cooked and not factory-made product, factory produced chuchvara can be purchased in almost every supermarket and small shops in Uzbekistan. Therefore, if you are in Uzbekistan and suddenly want (which is unlikely, but still) to cook typical dumplings, then look for packages with the "chuchvara". They can be with beef (mol gushtidan) or with lamb (kui gushtidan) stuffing, but you will never meet chuchvara with pork in Uzbek cuisine.

You can also cook chuchvara at home. Here is a simple chuchvara recipe: