Damlyama (Uzbek dish)

Damlyama

I’ve never eaten an Uzbek dish that isn’t tasty. They just don’t exist. This is also a layered dish. I guess we had a subconscious theme today with this dish and Nora’s Salad. So, here’s another finger-licking goodness and this one packs a TON of veggies.

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs of lamb
2 zucchinis
2 yellow zucchinis (summer squash)
2 large onions
4 or more tomatoes
2 large carrots
2 red bell peppers
1/2 – 1 eggplant
1 head of cabbage (remove core)
Spices (salt, cumin, freshly ground black pepper)

Steps:
1. Cut all vegetables into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the eggplant a little thicker otherwise it gets too soggy.
2. Cut the meat into 1 inch pieces. Salt & pepper the meat. Sear it over high heat, especially if the lamb has fat, put the fat side down so it can melt & brown-up what’s left. If the lamb doens’t have enough fat, add some oil while browning.
3. Layer the ingredients as follows:

• Lamb
• Zucchini
• Summer Squash
• Onion
• Tomato
• Carrots
• Bell Pepper
• Eggplant
• Cabbage

The main thing here is that the meat is on the bottom and that the cabbage covers everything. I don’t know if it matters what order the veggies are between the meat and cabbage layer.

Season each layer.

Cover with a heavy lid and cook on a low heat for about 1 and a half to 2 hours. If you like your veggies crisper, cook less, but make sure the meat is cooked.

As you can see in the picture, my dutch oven is a tad too small, so we had to improvise since the dish basically steams. So we put a serving platter on top and covered with the lid. In order to capture the steam, we put 2 clean kitchen towels around the rim.

Layer of Veggies

Layer of Veggies

Layer of Veggies

I need a bigger dutch oven. And a bigger kitchen

Finished Damlyama