The waiter, he is the assistant cook, escorted them to the vacated place. Only 3 dishes from Dungan cuisine could be ordered at this place. Only local gourmets knew about this cafe.
The Dungans came to Small-An, at the beginning of the 19th century, and remained in the Old City in the capital. Their quarter was known from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 60s of the 20th century, there were many cafes, restaurants, and canteens where immigrants from China prepared their unique writing, which was later adopted by the cooks from Small-An.
Decades passed, only two or three cafes remained in the big quarter at the end of the 20th century, where authentic 19th-century food was prepared and sold.
One of the dishes, it was Yuftangza, the grandfather, wanted the grandson to taste this, while there were still masters of their craft.
Small-Ahn's cuisine was unique. Since the country was in the heart of the Silk Road roads, it absorbed the culinary traditions of Arabs, Chinese, Persians, Türks, and even Caucasians. If historians had searched the archives, they would have been able to restore, or perhaps find in remote villages, old food recipes from the 12-19th centuries.
One of these was the recipe for "yuftangza", the late 19th - early 20th centuries. More simply it was "Steam Pampushkas".
Local chefs tried to copy the recipe, but they could not make a steam dumpling with the same taste and texture. And all from what? You need to know the secret, but it is simple, you need to use basic knowledge, prepare the foundation correctly, and do not regret using quality products for cooking.
"Do you know what we will order now?" grandfather with a sly smile asked his grandson.
"Not! How should I know! My legs hurt"! the grandson whimpered, he got hungry, tired, was angry that he was promised royal treats and as a result, he had to walk along dusty streets for an hour. He just wanted to eat, did not want to talk, and waste extra strength.
Grandfather did not hear his grandson, he wanted to share his joy, grandfather wanted to raise a patient, restrained person from his grandson. But the grandson wanted joy and fun.
"So, my grandson heeded the words, I will tell you a simple secret. To cook "yuftangza" we need 1 kg of premium flour. It needs to be sifted through a sieve twice, the quality of the dough texture depends on the correct sifting! " Grandfather shared his knowledge.
But this was not interesting for his grandson, he wanted to eat - well-fed, hungry, not a comrade, as the Persians said: "Sir ashole gurustne, habar na dorat"!
The language of Small-An was called the Esperanto of the Silk Road. It was a mixture of old Persian 16th century, Arabic 8-10 centuries, and Turkic languages of 18-20 centuries. Previously, all official writing was conducted exclusively in Persian, but with Arabic writing. Only from the end of the 18th century, official documents were written in the language of "Small-An" in the Arabic alphabet.
Therefore, the population of Small-An often used proverbs and sayings of the Persians in their speech. Also, part of the country's regions, people spoke Persian there.
Grandfather, according to his grandson's absent glance, understood that he had not been inspired, did not understand the importance of today's walk. To attract attention, he casually remarked that the dish was a dessert.
The attention of the grandson was attracted. Children have always loved sweets.
"Grandfather, what does it mean there is a recipe"? the grandson asked suddenly.
Ah, that fool, got caught!
On the lips of his grandfather, a subtle smile appeared.
Meanwhile, a cozy atmosphere reigned in the cafe. The visitors silently ate. The source was cool to this small place. People ate to the pleasant songs "cake-cake-cake-cake-cake" of mountain
partridges, who were having fun in wooden cages, on fruit trees. Sometimes interested visitors peeped out of the corner from the line, they waited for the seats to be vacated.
But this did not spoil the cozy atmosphere.
"The recipe is simple! You can even try to make it yourself at home! "
"I AM? I can?"
"Why not? You're learning cooking now! Only experience will give you a solid foundation! "
Still smiling, the grandfather said.
"Well, how to cook it, do not languish!" there was a sonorous, childish voice.
"You need sifted flour, 500 grams, 15 grams of yeast, 1 teaspoon of salt 100 grams of melted butter"!
If it were in the 21st century, ShirAli would have cried out that this is all bad cholesterol, which clogs blood vessels and meridians. But it was the 20th century, then other concepts of healthy eating prevailed.
"And then you just make yeast dough." Let him get there. Sprinkle powdered sugar with a dock, and roll the dough on it with a little flour! "
"How small is that?"
"Well, one or two whispers!"
"Yeah, got it, and what's next?"
"The dough needs to be divided into two flat parts, two balls, roll them up. It's important to let the dough rise a bit, so it will need to be maintained in a napkin for about 3 minutes. "
"Roll two balls, thinly. From one rolled dough, cut the noodles into 1 cm, and from the other cut into squares of the dough, mix the noodles with thick sour cream and powdered sugar, but make sure that the noodles do not wrinkle "!
"And what will not be any other filling"? asked the grandson in surprise.
"What would you like?" I heard a little displeased grandfather.
"Well, adzuki, for example, red beans, sweet, like Aunt Marina did, she is Korean, she treated us to rice flour donuts, they were sweet inside!"
"Wow!" "No, in these donuts, the filling is only made from flour and noodles!"
In Small An, in the early 40s of the 20th century, about 400 thousand Koreans were exported from the Far East. At the beginning of the 21st century, about 37 thousand of the Korean diaspora remained. The rest returned to South Korea. At the same time, the local diaspora preserved Korean food recipes from the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Like the diasporas of the Arabs who settled in Small Ahn in the 8-14 centuries, their language is different from modern Arabic. This is an old Arabic from the middle ages.
As there was one settlement on the southern slope of the Svet Mountains, about 100 inhabitants of Abisinia lived there, resettled them at the end of the 15th century.
There were also settlements of Chinese merchants, Indian, Punjabi, Afghan, Tibetan, Persian, Turkish in the 19th century.
Therefore, the cuisine of Small-An is very diverse, it includes both sedentary and nomadic dishes.
"Well, here, put the stuffing from noodles into squares, make from them manti, square shape. Put the prepared test dumplings in a double boiler, greasing the bottom with oil. Soak for 20 minutes. Serve with hot, drenched butter "!
"That's all"!
"Grandfather, don't you think that donuts are very fatty?" the grandson asked naively.
"Well, you are a real gourmet, grow and grow!" stretched out disappointedly, grandfather.
And then on the table, they put two plates, on each of which lay three donuts from which steam was emanating. The fragrance was attractive.