Qurutob

Ingredients

Fatir, the flaky flatbread

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 280 mlwarm water
• 100 gbutter, melted, or 100 ml cottonseed oil, for layering

Qurut sauce

• 200 gqurut, dried salted yogurt balls
• 600 mlwarm water
• 200 gthick yogurt or suzma, to loosen and soften the flavour
• salt, only if needed

Topping

• 3onions, sliced in half moons
• 120 mlcottonseed or sunflower oil
• 2tomatoes, diced
• 1cucumber, diced
• 2spring onions, sliced
• 1large bunch of coriander, dill and rayhon (Tajik basil), roughly chopped
• 1green chilli, sliced, optional
• black pepper

To serve

• 1tabak, the wide carved wooden bowl the dish is named for
• green tea

Directions

1. Knead the flour, salt and water into a firm dough, 8 minutes, then rest it covered for 30 minutes.
2. Roll it out as thin as you can on an oiled bench, brush the whole sheet generously with melted butter, then roll it up into a rope, coil the rope into a snail and rest 15 minutes. This layering is what makes fatir flaky rather than plain.
3. Flatten the coil and roll it out to a 25 cm round about 1 cm thick, prick the centre with a fork and bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15 to 18 minutes, or cook it in a dry heavy pan, until golden with dark blisters and clearly separated layers.
4. Meanwhile crumble the qurut into the warm water and leave it 20 minutes to soften. Qurut is rock hard and intensely salty and sour, and it will not dissolve if you rush it.
5. Work it through a sieve or blitz it, then whisk in the yogurt until you have a thick, pourable, cloudy white sauce the consistency of single cream. Taste before adding any salt; qurut usually brings enough for the whole dish.
6. Fry the onions in the oil over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes until deep golden and sweet, keeping all the oil.
7. Tear the warm fatir into rough 3 cm pieces straight into the wooden tabak, crust and all.
8. Pour the qurut sauce over the bread and let it sit 3 to 4 minutes so the pieces drink the sauce and soften but keep some chew.
9. Spoon the fried onions and all their hot oil over the top, which is the moment the dish comes together, then scatter the tomato, cucumber, spring onion, herbs and chilli over.
10. Grind over black pepper and put the bowl in the middle of the table. Everyone eats from the shared tabak with their right hand, no cutlery, working from the edge inwards.

Technique

• Qurut is dried, salted, drained yogurt rolled into balls and sun-dried, a Central Asian preservation method that predates refrigeration by centuries. It is the whole flavour of the dish and there is no close industrial equivalent.
• Qurutob is eaten by hand from one bowl, and that communality is the point; serving it in individual portions is considered to miss what the dish is for.
• Assemble at the last minute. Left to stand, the fatir turns to a uniform mush, and the contrast between soaked bread and crisp raw herbs is what makes it good.

Substitutions

• No qurut: blend 400 g thick strained yogurt with 100 g crumbled feta and 1 tsp salt, thinned with water. It is not identical, since qurut is far sharper and more fermented, but it is the accepted workaround abroad.
• No fatir: any thick layered flatbread such as a good non or a laminated paratha will hold the sauce; thin flatbread disintegrates.
• Cottonseed oil is the traditional fat in Tajikistan and gives a distinctive flavour; sunflower oil is the usual substitute.

Variations

• Qurutob with an egg fried in the onion oil and laid on top.
• Qurutob bo suzma, made richer with extra strained yogurt, served in Dushanbe teahouses.
• Qurutob with extra rayhon and mint in summer, and heavier on the fried onion in winter.

History

Tajikistan’s national dish: qurut sauce poured over torn fatir bread with onions and herbs, eaten by hand from a shared platter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Qurutob?

Qurutob is a main from Tajikistan: flatbread torn into kurut-yogurt sauce with onions; national dish, shared. Tajikistan’s national dish: qurut sauce poured over torn fatir bread with onions and herbs, eaten by hand from a shared platter.

How long does Qurutob take to make?

Qurutob takes 30 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings, one shared bowl. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Qurutob?

Yes, within limits. No qurut: blend 400 g thick strained yogurt with 100 g crumbled feta and 1 tsp salt, thinned with water. It is not identical, since qurut is far sharper and more fermented, but it is the accepted workaround abroad. No fatir: any thick layered flatbread such as a good non or a laminated paratha will hold the sauce; thin flatbread disintegrates. Cottonseed oil is the traditional fat in Tajikistan and gives a distinctive flavour; sunflower oil is the usual substitute.

What is the most important thing to get right in Qurutob?

Roll it out as thin as you can on an oiled bench, brush the whole sheet generously with melted butter, then roll it up into a rope, coil the rope into a snail and rest 15 minutes. This layering is what makes fatir flaky rather than plain.