Azu in Tatar style with pickled cucumbers, step-by-step recipe. Beef azu with pickled cucumbers Pickled cucumber azu

…. This list can be continued endlessly.

Today we will prepare a traditional Tatar dish called azu - a hearty, tasty, aromatic and healthy dish!

It’s not difficult to prepare, especially if you have at least a little culinary experience. But even if there is none, I guarantee you that you will succeed the first time. And everyone who is lucky enough to try this dish in your rendition will simply gasp with delight.

What kind of dish is this? Essentially, this is meat - beef, lamb, less often chicken, with potatoes, tomatoes and pickles, quite spicy. You can, of course, cook it from pork, but in the original this is not encouraged, since the birthplace of the dish is the area where Islam is preached. But in this religion they do not eat pork.

This is a classic cooking option that can be enriched with, for example, carrots, bell peppers, and young zucchini. That is, the recipe can be varied according to the season, food availability and taste preferences.

The cutting of ingredients can also be different - into cubes, large cubes, pieces. At the same time, we try to cut all the ingredients into the same shape and approximately the same size, so that the dish is not only tasty, but also looks presentable.

The peculiarity of the preparation is that all the ingredients are first fried, all separately. And then they are all stewed, in a certain sequence. The dish can be prepared with more liquid or less, depending on your cooking preference.

And if you are interested in this recipe, then in order not to waste your time, let’s move on to the recipe.

Azu in Tatar style with lamb, potatoes and pickles

Today I will cook a lamb dish. Personally, I like it best from this meat. Lamb cooks quickly, the meat is moderately fatty, at least not as lean as young veal or beef. And the most important factor is the end result, which invariably amazes the taste imagination of everyone who eats the prepared food.

Of course, I only give preference to lamb if I have a great piece of meat, preferably fresh or frozen. Or frozen, but on your own. In this case, I know for sure that the meat was no longer defrosted and retained all its best qualities.

If I don’t have such meat, then I calmly buy young veal, or, as a last resort, beef, which will take a little longer to cook.

By the way, stores now almost always sell meat cuts for the basics. You buy a package, or by weight, and in this case the issue with meat is generally easily resolved. You come home and quickly cook.

We will need:

lamb (beef) pulp - 600 gr
onions - 1 - 2 pcs
potatoes - 600 - 700 gr
tomatoes - 2 - 3 pcs (or tomato sauce or paste)
pickled cucumbers - 2 - 3 pcs
garlic - 2 cloves
broth - 1 - 1.5 cups
vegetable oil – 100 ml + 50 ml
ghee - 2 - 3 tbsp. spoons
red capsicum - 1 small
spices
salt, ground black pepper - to taste
bay leaf - 1 pc.

Preparation:

1. If you use fresh meat, you need to wash it, drain it and dry it with a paper towel. This must be done, since it will subsequently be fried in hot oil. And the water remaining on the meat will interfere with the formation of a “quick” crust, and there will also be a lot of hot splashes that can burn you.

If the meat was previously frozen, then it should be properly defrosted. This can be done by placing it in the refrigerator in advance. Or defrost at room temperature.

You should not defrost meat in hot water or a microwave; this will destroy the structure of the fibers, and the meat may turn out tough and tasteless.

2. Cut the meat across the grain, first into layers 1 cm thick, and then into long strips, also 1 cm thick.

3. Peel the onion and cut into thin half rings. If you cut it thinly, then during the cooking process it will become almost invisible, and certainly will not be felt and crunchy on the teeth. But it will give all its juice and taste to the meat and sauce.

Take a large onion head, or two medium ones. In general, in such matters there is never too much onion. It is he who enriches meat with its taste and makes any dish more juicy, aromatic and tasty!

4. As we can see from the recipe, we need tomatoes or tomato paste. Tomatoes give the dish not only taste, but also color, so it is important that they are ripe and red. What color will the prepared dish have from pink tomatoes?

Therefore there are several options. The first and best are red, delicious tomatoes.

After all, a delicious dish is made only from delicious ingredients!

But where can you get them if it’s not the season? If you are cooking in the winter, like I am now, then use tomatoes and prepare a spoonful of store-bought tomato paste. It is highly concentrated and will certainly give the required color.

Well, I always have mine. This is not even pasta, but fresh tomatoes twisted through a meat grinder, which I prepare in large quantities in the fall. And I have enough of them until the summer, and even until the time when new tomatoes ripen.

5. If you use fresh tomatoes, you must first remove the skin and cut them smaller. It is easy to remove the skin, you can make a cross-shaped cut on top of the fruit and scald it with boiling water, to be sure, keep it in it for another 3 - 4 minutes. Then rinse with cold water.

You can not remove the skin, but simply grate the tomato. All the skin will remain in your palm.

6. Well, let’s finally start cooking. We will clean and prepare all the other ingredients during the process so as not to waste extra time.

Pour 100 ml into a frying pan with a thick bottom. vegetable oil (about 3 - 4 tablespoons). Heat it to a bluish haze; the oil should be well warmed up.

7. Carefully add the meat and stir immediately. Our task is to quickly fry it until a crust forms, that is, to “seal” the juice inside. In this case, the meat will turn out juicy and tasty.

If the meat is fresh, this process will happen very quickly. If it is frozen, a small amount of liquid may appear, which must be evaporated as quickly as possible. Therefore, in both cases, fry the meat at maximum heat.

Stir occasionally so that it cooks evenly.

8. As soon as the meat reaches the desired condition, transfer it to a plate, being careful to leave all the oil in the frying pan. We will fry onions on it. If you put the meat together with oil, then you will have to pour a new portion for the onions, but this is not advisable, the dish will turn out to be too fatty.

There is one more nuance here that I want to draw your attention to. When frying meat in a regular frying pan, even a cast iron frying pan, a brown coating from frying may form on the bottom and walls. It's okay, you don't need to wash the pan. Fry the onion directly in it. It will collect all the “fried” residue and add flavor to the dish as a whole.

I now have a very good frying pan with thick walls and a bottom, in which practically nothing burns. Therefore, plaque did not form in it, and I cannot show it to you.

9. And so, after placing the meat on a separate plate, fry the onion in the remaining oil until golden brown.

10. In the intervals while the meat and onions are fried, you can peel the potatoes. For now, just clean it and place it in cold water. We'll cut it and fry it later, but for now let's not be distracted so that nothing gets overcooked.

11. When the onion is fried, add meat to it.

Then add the prepared tomatoes, or in this case, add my own tomato sauce. There is one small nuance here: if you have already prepared store-bought tomato paste, now is not the time for it. I'll tell you when it needs to be added.

12. Stir, reduce heat to medium and fry everything together for 4 - 5 minutes.

13. Add broth. It is best to add meat broth, but you can also add vegetable broth, or, in extreme cases, boiled water. I add broth frozen in molds; I always have it in the freezer in reserve.

The broth or water should cover the meat and onions. But not much, we don’t need a lot of liquid for this dish.

14. Wait until it boils, reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid. It is necessary to simmer until the meat is ready. If it is lamb or young veal, then the time may take from 30 minutes to an hour, but if you cook it from beef, then the time may increase to 1.5 hours.

Don't add salt, it's not time yet. Don't forget that we haven't used pickles yet.

15. While the sauce with the meat is stewing and gaining flavor, let’s start with the potatoes. If it has already been cleaned by then, then we cut it into strips, not very thick, but not thin, of course!

Are you tired yet? Is everything clear in the description?... I hope everything is fine. Then let's move on!

16. In a separate frying pan, you need to heat the remaining vegetable oil - 50 ml. When warm, place the potatoes in the oil and add ghee. It will give taste and aroma, so if you have oil, be sure to add it. If not, then pour in a little more vegetable oil. But just enough to fry the potatoes on it, and so that there is not too much oil.

Fry until done, or almost done. The potatoes should remain unchanged, that is, in the form of straws. If you fry it until it is fully cooked, it will begin to break and the dish will lose its attractive appearance.

Therefore, fry and carefully stir with a silicone spatula, so as not to damage it, until it is almost ready. After the end of frying, the potatoes will continue to simmer along with all the ingredients for 10 minutes. During this time, the almost finished potatoes will be completely cooked.

About halfway through the frying and turning process, salt the potatoes to taste.

17. Meanwhile, we need to chop the garlic, prepare the red capsicum and spices. Since the dish is Asian, I will prepare a spice mixture of ground cumin and coriander, and also add a little paprika for color and extra flavor.

You can add any spices, but the best ones are those that go well with the meat. You should also add them to taste. My mixture amounted to less than a teaspoon.

18. Also cut the cucumbers into small strips. It is believed that only pickled cucumbers should be used to prepare azu. I try to stick to this rule. But sometimes I break it and make it from my homemade canned cucumbers, this time I have an open jar. Unification!!!

I think such cucumbers cannot harm our dish in any way. So I calmly take and use them.

19. Add garlic, pepper and spices to the sauce with meat about 30 minutes before it is ready. At the same time, check the amount of liquid. If it has all evaporated, add a little more. If, on the contrary, there is too much of it, then 10 - 15 minutes before it is ready, you need to open the lid and turn up the heat. Excess liquid will evaporate.

20. After the allotted time, namely, when the meat becomes soft and completely cooked, add cucumbers, and if you prepared store-bought tomato paste, then add that too (1 - 1.5 teaspoons is enough). Stir and fry everything together for 5 - 7 minutes. Then taste for salt. If required, add salt to taste. By the way, I didn’t need this; the sauce turned out just right.

By this time, there should be virtually no liquid left in the pan.

21. Place bay leaf into the sauce and add ground black pepper to taste. Also carefully, so as not to break, lay out the potatoes. Mix carefully with a silicone spatula. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes. In the middle, mix gently again.

22. Turn off the gas, do not open the lid. Let stand for 10 minutes.

23. Chop fresh herbs and serve, sprinkling them on the dish as desired.

I served the basics along with a salad of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and radishes with fresh herbs and onions, seasoned, which has an excellent balanced composition of nutrients, microelements and vitamins.

The dish was a success. But as always! That’s what’s good about it, it can’t turn out bad! Everyone ate with pleasure and pleasant smacking. Well, good! I fed my family another delicious dinner and shared the recipe with you!

Azu in Tatar style with beef in the form of soup or sauce

As I said above, the basics can be prepared not only without liquid, but also in the form of a thick soup, which will replace both the first and second courses at the same time.

In fact, this dish is prepared in almost the same way as the first recipe, but with its own little twist. And of course, since this is a soup-sauce, more liquid will be required.

A very good and tasty recipe that I am sure everyone will like without exception.

By the way, take note that the basics can be cooked in a slow cooker. Many people use this method, and it is their priority.

And for variety, it can also be cooked in pots. And it will be a completely different delicious dinner.

But today we will not waste our time, but will fully enjoy this very tasty recipe. And we will leave all subsequent options for other articles. Moreover, knowing the entire mechanism for preparing the main dish, using any other variations will not be difficult.

Friends! Well, how do you like the recipe? What do you think? Did you like it?

I will be eternally grateful to you if you share this article with your friends on social media. networks. For me, this is always a kind of virtual assessment of my work.

I will also be glad to receive all comments with your opinions, wishes and remarks. After all, communication is always so great!

And in conclusion, I would like to tell you - cook the basics in Tatar style, and eat to your health!

Bon appetit!

Thank you for reading the article to the end.

Let's prepare a delicious beef azu with pickles. Of course, you will have to spend time in the kitchen, but the result in the form of beef basics will please you. The dish will turn out juicy and very tender, which all meat lovers will appreciate. This basic dish can be served with any side dishes, as beef and pickles will give a unique taste.

This dish will contain many flavors - the sweetness of carrots, the spiciness of the sauce, the slight sourness of pickles and the beef that melts in your mouth.

🍲To prepare you will need:

Ingredients:	Quantity:
Fresh beef -	1 kg;
Carrot -	2 pieces;
Onion (yellow) -	1 onion;
Tomato paste -	120 grams;
Pickled cucumbers (preferably homemade) -	3 pieces;
Laurel leaf -	1-2 pieces;
Salt -	taste;
Black peppercorns -	a few peas;
Wheat flour -	1 heaped tablespoon.

🍴Cooking process:

It is best to take fresh meat for cooking the basics, not frozen, otherwise the meat will be rubbery.

Rinse the beef well in cold water and cut into small pieces.

Take a frying pan and pour a small amount of sunflower oil, then heat it well.

Place the chopped meat in a frying pan and fry.

Fry the meat over high heat until white. It is important that the beef is fried and not stewed in its own juices.

First, fry without stirring, and then when one side is fried, mix everything. Then we begin to reduce the heat and add a little boiling water so that the meat begins to simmer until soft.

We take pickles, it’s best to take homemade ones, not store-bought ones, with a lot of vinegar. Cut the cucumbers into small pieces. If necessary, remove the skin. Then take a small frying pan and pour a glass of water into it, then boil the cucumbers in it.

When cooking cucumbers, they will become soft and give off excess acid and salt, which is very important for preparing a tender and tasty base.

Chop the onion into small cubes and fry until golden brown. The onions must be caramelized. In order for everything to turn out correctly, first fry it over medium heat, and then reduce it to low heat.

Wash the carrots well, peel and cut into small pieces.

Carrots must be chopped and not grated, so that when cooking they do not turn out to be porridge.

Add carrots to the fried onions and fry everything together. There should be no liquid left in the onion pan for proper frying.

When the carrots and onions are fried in a frying pan, you need to add tomato paste.

Mix everything well and fry for 10 - 15 minutes or until the taste of raw tomatoes and acid disappear. If you move the vegetables apart and look at the bottom, a small soot should form there.

The most important thing is not to overcook it until it starts to burn, but to choose the right time for the formation of caramel soot.

Pour 100 - 150 milliliters of water into the fried vegetables and stir so that the carbon deposits move away from the bottom. The caramelized carbon deposits should also dissolve.

Now you need to add cucumbers to the vegetable sauce, and then add the water in which they were boiled. Now we need to mix everything well and taste it. If in your opinion something is missing, then it is best to add it. Sometimes you need to add a little sugar and salt.

Add pepper and bay leaves to the meat, and also check the meat to ensure it is soft.

Be sure to make sure that the meat is soft, as after adding the sauce the beef will stop cooking.

When the meat is soft, add vegetable sauce to it.

Let our basics simmer a little over low heat, about 12 minutes. During this time, the beef will be saturated with all the flavors from the sauce, and if necessary, add a little salt.

After the allotted time, we need to add flour to thicken the beef base.

Mix everything well and let it simmer a little over low heat for about 5 minutes.

Well, our beef basics with pickles are ready.

Add it to the side dish and serve.

Bon appetit!

Azu in Tatar style with pickles, a hearty and appetizing dish. This is a popular dish on the Tatar cuisine menu, the main ingredients of which are various meats and vegetables that are stewed over low heat.

This dish has a very rich, rich taste. The main ingredient is often beef or pork. Less commonly used is lamb or horse meat, and sometimes even chicken.

Traditional azu is prepared in a cauldron, and it can also be prepared in a pot, pan or frying pan. The easiest way to cook is to cook in a slow cooker, which does not require special skills.

It usually takes about 2 hours to prepare all the ingredients and cook them. The success of cooking is largely determined by the quality of the meat.

Most varieties of azu in Tatar style are prepared with pickles. You can also use pickled cucumbers, but this will not be quite the traditional basics, so it is recommended to still use personalized pickled ones. It is recommended to take medium-sized cucumbers themselves.

How to cook basics in Tatar style with pickles

Cooking consists of several simple steps: slicing and frying meat, frying onions and potatoes, chopping tomatoes, browning potatoes, slicing cucumbers, stewing process.

Required:

Beef – 0.5 kg;
Vegetable oil – 80 ml;
Meat broth – 100 ml;
Potatoes – 0.5 kg;
Pickled cucumbers (medium) – 3 pcs.;
Tomatoes – 3 pcs.;
Onion – 1 pc.;
Salt – a little less than 1 tsp;
Pepper to taste;
Bay leaf – 1 pc.

Step-by-step recipe with photos

A dish for the whole family is ready! It looks very appetizing and is waiting to be served!

Traditionally, beef is used in preparation. You will also need tomatoes, yellow peppers and carrots, but no cucumbers are required in this recipe.

How to cook beef basics

This recipe is not at all complicated - you first need to chop all the ingredients, mix them, adding seasonings and salt, and then bake in the oven.

Required:

Beef – 0.5 kg
Onions – 1 medium onion;
Tomatoes – 2-4 pcs.;
Yellow pepper (sweet) – 250 g;
Carrots – 1 pc.;
Vegetable oil – 1 tsp.
Salt - to taste

Step-by-step cooking instructions

Peel the onion and carefully cut into small pieces.
Cut the tomatoes into two halves and pass through a coarse grater so that the peel remains in your hands.
Wash the carrots and grate them.
Cut the pepper into small pieces.
Cut the beef into long pieces. Place all ingredients in one container. Salt everything, add oil and mix well.
Place everything in a special baking bag, poke a few holes in it with a fork, and then put it in the oven. Baking temperature – 200 degrees. Baking time – 45 minutes.

The preparation of a simple and very tasty dish is completed! Azu with beef is served as a main dish; the prepared quantity is enough for 5 servings.

Another classic version of the basics in Tatar. This time the main ingredient is pork. The dish turns out to be more fatty and high in calories. Served in small portions, because... has high satiety.

How to cook Tatar-style pork from pork

It is prepared in a frying pan, where all the ingredients are added one by one and simmered evenly. If you use garlic instead of onions, the dish will acquire a more specific taste. It is better to take smaller cucumbers.

Required:

Pork tenderloin – 500 g;
Potatoes – 0.5 kg;
Onion – 3 small onions;
Garlic (instead of onion) – 2 cloves;
Salted (not pickled) cucumbers – 3 pcs.;
Pepper (black) - to taste;
Bay leaf – 1 pc.;
Tomato paste – 1 tbsp. l.;
Vegetable oil – 50 ml;
Salt - to taste.

Cut the pork into large strips.
Pour the required amount of oil into the frying pan, heat it and lightly fry the meat, then reduce the heat to low and add liquid (water or meat broth).
Chop the onions or cloves of garlic, place them in a frying pan with the meat and add salt.
Peel and cut the potatoes into strips, then place them in a frying pan (you can also brown them in another frying pan first).
Grind the pickles and add to the rest of the ingredients.
Add tomato paste, bay leaf and pepper to everything, mix evenly and simmer everything together for another 15 minutes.

A richly flavored meat dish can be served. It will definitely delight your family and guests!

The simplest and most modern way to prepare a traditional dish. Even a person far from being a cook can cook it without much difficulty.

How to cook basics in Tatar style in a slow cooker

The cooking process is a simplified version of the traditional basics. All products are chopped or grated and then placed in the multicooker bowl.

After the preparatory procedures, you just need to press the desired button and wait for the readiness signal.

Required:

Meat – 0.5 kg;
Onion – a couple of larger onions;
Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l.;
Pickled cucumbers – 3 pcs.;
Garlic – from 2 to 4 cloves;
Potatoes – 300 g;
Carrots – 1 pc.;
Tomato paste – 2 tbsp. l.;
Ground hot pepper - optional;
Ground paprika – 1 tsp;
Salt - to taste.

Step-by-step instructions for cooking

Pour oil from the bottle into the multicooker bowl.
Chop the onion into thin rings and place them on the bottom of the bowl.
Wash and chop the carrots into small pieces, then put them in a slow cooker.
Thinly slice the meat into strips (it is preferable to cut across the grain). Add to the rest and stir the contents of the bowl.
Select the “Frying” mode in the multicooker menu and set for 20 minutes.
Coarsely grate or chop the pickled cucumbers and add to the rest of the ingredients.
Chop the garlic cloves and place in the slow cooker.
Add prepared herbs and spices.
Peel and coarsely chop the potatoes. Mix it with everything else, pour water into the bowl. Achieve mixing of components.
Select the “Stew” option in the multicooker menu and let everything simmer for 1.5 hours.

After the multicooker has signaled that it is ready, the delicious-smelling meat dish can be distributed into portions and set on the table.

Azu cooked in a pot retains the traditional culinary flavor and looks aesthetically pleasing. Such basics become especially tasty and unusual.

The aroma wafting from the slightly opened pot is incredibly appetizing.

How to cook basics in Tatar style in a pot

It is very interesting to prepare such basics. There is a certain atmosphere of history. A good solution when you want to cook something like that. All ingredients are placed in a clay pot in which they are mixed. Next, the pot is placed in the oven.

Required:

Meat (pork, beef, you can take lamb) – 400 g
Bulbs – 2 pcs.;
Pickled cucumbers – 4 pcs.;
Vegetable oil – 60 ml;
Potatoes – 1 kg;
Medium carrots – 1 pc.;
Chili pepper – 1 pc.;
Black pepper – 6 pcs.;
Bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
Tomato paste – 1 tbsp. l.

Step-by-step instructions for cooking

Cut the selected meat into strips and place in a heated frying pan with oil poured into it. Fry lightly (about 5 minutes). While frying, add salt and a little chili pepper.
Chop the cucumbers into small cubes. Place them at the bottom of the pots.
Place the fried meat in pots on top of the cucumbers (you can also prepare a sauce from ketchup and mayonnaise and pour the meat on top).
Add black pepper and bay leaf.
The onion is cut into thin semi-rings.
Grind the carrots on a medium grater.
Place the onions and carrots in a frying pan and fry a little for no more than 3 minutes, medium heat). Transfer to meat and cucumbers.
Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into cubes. Place in a frying pan and cook over high heat for 5 minutes.
Place the potatoes in a pot, add water (150 ml) and add tomato paste.
Mix all the contents of the pot, cover with a lid and place in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees.

Azu from a pot will be as rich in flavor as possible, and the additional aesthetics will increase the pleasure of the meal!

An interesting option for chicken lovers or when you only have it on hand. Chicken is cheaper than beef or pork, so this variety is more economical. It is lower in calories, but at the same time just as tasty as the basics from traditional types of meat.

How to cook basics with chicken

Chicken fillet will add extra tenderness to the dish. The dish is easy to prepare because... Chicken fibers are more pliable.

You don’t need to be a chef to be able to make the basics with chicken; all you need to do is carefully chop all the ingredients and send them to simmer.

Required:

Chicken meat (fillet) – 600 g;
Vegetable oil – 50 ml;
Potatoes – 1 kg;
Pickled cucumbers – 4 pcs.;
Tomato paste – 4 tbsp. l.;
Pepper and salt - a pinch

Step-by-step instructions for cooking

Wash the chicken, dry it and cut into medium cubes.
Pour a layer of oil into the frying pan and heat it well, then fry the chicken fillet for five minutes.
Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into small pieces (can be into strips).
Transfer the browned chicken to the pan and place the chopped potatoes in the pan. Stir and keep in the pan until a golden crust appears on the sides of the potatoes.
Place the potatoes in the pan with the chicken, add tomato paste (sometimes they add a little sugar, but this is optional).
Chop the pickled cucumbers into small pieces and add to the pan.
Stir the contents of the pan and taste. If there is not enough salt from the cucumbers, add some salt (you shouldn’t add salt before this stage, because it’s difficult to tell in advance how much salt the cucumbers will give. Therefore, to prevent the dish from being over-salted, add salt a little later).
Add pepper and mix everything evenly again. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 30 - 40 minutes.
Once ready, let the dish sit for 15 minutes - this will make it even richer and tastier.
For beauty, you can add greenery.

A non-traditional basic Tatar-style chicken recipe!

Azu in Tatar is an interesting and not very difficult to prepare dish that can saturate and delight with taste.

If you regularly eat meat, preparing various versions of the Tatar basics can significantly diversify your daily diet.

For the meat component of the dish, I used a beef neck to make the basics juicier and tastier. But you can also use other parts of beef.

Cut the meat into small cubes and fry over high heat with a little oil.

By frying over high heat, the beef will brown a little on top and will not have time to release its juices, but will remain juicy.

Peel the onions and carrots. Cut the onion into half rings and the carrots into quarter rings. Add to the meat, reduce the heat a little and continue frying everything together, covering with a lid.

Cut the tomatoes into small cubes.

Transfer the tomatoes to the meat and vegetables.

Pour in half a glass of tomato juice and stir.

If desired, you can also add a little tomato paste.

Cut the canned cucumbers into half rings and pour into a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients. Continue to simmer, covered, over low heat.

Peel medium-sized potatoes and cut into cubes. Fry in a frying pan with vegetable oil. You can also simply boil it.

The potatoes do not need to be cooked in the pan, they just need to brown a little.

Add spices, salt and sugar to the base. For spices, I used Caucasian seasoning, but you can use the ones you like best. If desired, you can add more garlic at this stage.

Place the vegetables and beef into a saucepan and add a little boiled water. Water should not cover vegetables and meat. Simmer until the meat is cooked over low heat.

At the end, add half-cooked fried potatoes and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Check to taste, add what is missing, and remove from heat.

Serve the basics in Tatar style with pickles and beef in a deep bowl, sprinkled with finely chopped herbs. You can use fresh or dried parsley as a herb.

Bon appetit!

The azu recipe is considered one of the most ancient in Tatar cuisine. There are dozens of its variations, and every housewife is sure that only her basics are “correct” and the most delicious! According to tradition, the dish is prepared from horse meat, lamb or beef (pork is not used, since most Tatars profess Islam). The meat is fried and then stewed in a spicy or not very spicy tomato sauce. It is accompanied by fried potatoes and pickles, without which a real basic is simply unthinkable! Yes, yes, beef basics with pickles is a classic and authentic recipe.

In addition to the three basic ingredients, the dish may include carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, cabbage and other vegetables. In this case, the consistency can also be different, both thick and more liquid. In the latter case, a spoon is served with the basics so that you can enjoy the sauce to your heart's content.

Basic rules for delicious food

The meat is first fried and then stewed.
The onions are sautéed in the same frying pan where the meat was fried.
The beef is stewed in tomato sauce until cooked and only then combined with fried potatoes.
Pickles are always added, which give the basics a special, recognizable taste.
Garlic, herbs and spices are added at the very end of cooking.

What kind of container should I cook in?

It is better to fry meat in a cast iron frying pan, which heats well and holds the temperature for a long time. For long-term stewing, a thick-bottomed saucepan, stewpan or cauldron is suitable. You can cook the basics in clay pots in the oven - it will turn out very tasty, especially if you add a spoonful of sour cream or yogurt at the very end.

Ingredients

beef 500 g
vegetable oil 2-3 tbsp. l.
onions 1 pc.
tomatoes 2 pcs.
tomato paste 1 tbsp. l.
hot water 0.5 tbsp.
potatoes 500 g
pickled cucumbers 2-3 pcs.
salt 0.5 tsp.
bay leaf 1 pc.
garlic 1 tooth.
ground red pepper 2 chips.
ground black pepper 2 chips.
garlic 2 teeth
parsley 5 g

Recipe for basic beef with pickles

Cut the beef across the grain into long pieces 1 centimeter thick. Beef tenderloin or pulp, without tendons and films, is ideal.
Take a frying pan, heat it until red hot and pour in a little vegetable oil. We spread the meat in one layer, that is, fry it in several stages, in portions. If you put all the beef into a frying pan at once, it will not get a beautiful crust, but will begin to lose juice and stew. But to prepare the basics, this is unacceptable; the meat must be fried, “sealing” all the juices inside. Be sure to cook without a lid, over high heat, for 2-3 minutes, without adding salt! When the first portion is ready, add a little oil again and fry the next one.
Place all the fried meat in a cauldron or pan, where the basics will be stewed.
In the same frying pan where the meat was cooked, we will sauté the onions. There is no need to wash it or wipe it with a napkin - all the fat and meat juices will be absorbed into the onion during frying, which will make the taste of the azu very rich. Cut a large onion into cubes and fry for 2-3 minutes until soft, stirring with a wooden spatula. Combine onions with fried beef.
Next, prepare the tomatoes. Peel a couple of large tomatoes and then grate them. Pour the resulting tomato puree into the pan with the meat. There we add 1 tablespoon of good tomato paste (without starch in the composition), diluted in 0.5 cups of hot water. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand, you can replace them with tomatoes from a can, canned in their own juice - you will need 200 g of grated tomatoes.
Place the pan with the fried meat, onions and tomato sauce on low heat and simmer under the lid. If there is not enough liquid to completely cover the meat, you can add a little boiling water.
Young beef will cook in 30-40 minutes, older and tougher meat will take more than 1 hour. No need to salt! We will add salt at the very end of cooking, focusing on the degree of salinity of the cucumbers and potatoes. The beef should be fully cooked, that is, become soft when pressed and easily divided into fibers.
While the meat is stewing, we prepare the potatoes. Peel the tubers and cut into strips or large pieces. Fry in hot oil until almost done. There is no need to fry until soft and crumbly, since the potatoes will still be stewed with the meat. But it shouldn’t be raw, otherwise it will remain too hard when immersed in tomato sauce. During frying, salt the potatoes by adding 2-3 pinches of salt.
Place the fried potatoes in a pan with the fully cooked beef. We also put pickled cucumbers there, cut into strips. Salt and pepper to taste, add bay leaf. Gently mix everything, cover with a lid and simmer over low heat for literally 5-7 minutes - this time is enough for all the ingredients to combine and the potatoes to reach perfect condition.
At the very end, add finely chopped garlic and parsley, stir and remove the pan from the heat.
Let the basics brew for 10 minutes under the lid.