Armenian snacks: recipes, cooking tips

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Armenian cuisine has a very long history. It began to form more than 2.5 thousand years ago. During this time, it managed to develop its own culinary traditions, completely devoid of foreign influence. A special place in the menu of the local population is given to Armenian snacks, the recipes of which will be presented in today's article.

General Principles

Snacks related to the national cuisine of Armenia are quite specific. Almost all of them are very satisfying, quite spicy and incredibly tasty. As a rule, they are prepared on the basis of meat, poultry, fish or vegetables with the addition of a large amount of garlic and spices.

Greens are considered an integral part of such dishes. Most often, tarragon, green onions, basil, parsley or dill are added to salads and cold snacks. As for spices, cumin, marjoram, black and red pepper are especially popular among local culinary specialists. Nuts, vinegar, sour cream and matsun are often added to Armenian snacks. All of them give the prepared dishes a unique flavor and spiciness.

Meatloaf

Practically no festive feast is complete without this fragrant snack. It is prepared on the basis of beef with the addition of a small amount of tail fat. To create such a roll you will need:

• 450 grams of beef;
• 3 eggs;
• 60 grams each of tomato paste and tail fat;
• s alt, garlic, herbs, red and black pepper.

The washed beef is stripped of fat and tendons, and then beaten well with a kitchen mallet. The meat prepared in this way is s alted and seasoned with two types of pepper. Then it is beaten again until a homogeneous viscous mass is obtained and laid out on a board with a two-centimeter layer. Garlic cloves, pieces of fat tail fat and halves of boiled eggs are distributed on top. All this is seasoned with s alt and spices, and then rolled up and tied with thin twine.

The resulting workpiece is spread on a baking sheet lightly greased with butter. A thin layer of tomato paste is applied on top and sent to bake. To obtain an evenly cooked roll, it is turned over every fifteen minutes and watered with broth. This Armenian appetizer is served chilled, pre-sliced and garnished with herbs.

Baked vegetable salad

In the original, this tasty and he althy dish is cooked on the grill. But in our conditions it can be done on a conventional stove. To create it you will need:

• 5 eggplant;
• a couple of cloves of garlic;
• 5 bell peppers;
• redbulb;
• whole lemon;
• a bunch of cilantro;
• lean oil, s alt and fragrant spices.

Armenian eggplant appetizer is prepared so simply that any beginner can cope with this task. Washed vegetables (blue ones and peppers) are placed on the included burners and turned over as the skin is charred. As soon as they are completely ready, they are literally immersed in cold s alted water for a minute and cleaned of the skin, seeds and stalks.

After that, the vegetables are cut into large pieces and put in a deep bowl. Chopped cilantro, onion and garlic are also added there. A ready-made Armenian eggplant appetizer is seasoned with a mixture of vegetable oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Served with barbecue.

Zhengyalov hats

This dish with an interesting name is a flatbread made of unleavened dough stuffed with any edible greens. Moreover, not only traditional herbs, such as basil, cilantro, dill or parsley, are used as a filler, but also such rare components as quinoa or shepherd's purse. To prepare such an Armenian appetizer you will need:

• 600 grams of flour;
• 350 milliliters of water;
• a teaspoon of s alt;
• a bunch of sorrel, green onions, parsley, dill and jusai;
• a couple of large spoons of vegetable oil.

First of all, you need to knead a dense, but not too steep dough from flour, water and s alt. Then it is wrapped in polyethylene and left for half an hour. Thirty minutes fromthey pinch off small pieces of it and roll them into thick, neat cakes. In the center of each workpiece, lay out a filling made from chopped green s alt and vegetable oil, and carefully fasten the edges. Finished products are flattened, giving them the shape of a cake, and fried in a pan.

Armenian eggplant

This dish does not contain animal fats, so it will be of interest to those who follow a vegetarian diet. To prepare this spicy Armenian appetizer you will need:

• 3 small eggplants;
• 50 ml vegetable oil;
• 3 ripe, large tomatoes;
• garlic clove;
• s alt, spices, dill and cilantro.

The washed eggplants are freed from the stalks and cut on the side so that the two halves are connected to each other. Then the flesh is carefully cleaned from the blue ones, placed in a suitable container and poured with warm s alted water.

The core taken out of the eggplant is crushed with a sharp knife and fried in vegetable oil. Then it is mixed with crushed garlic, chopped herbs and spices. The blue ones themselves are removed from the water, slightly squeezed and filled with the resulting fried mass. After that, they are placed in a heat-resistant form and stuffed with tomato slices, previously peeled. Those tomatoes that did not fit inside the eggplants are laid out side by side. All this is poured into 60 ml of warm water, covered with a lid and stewed over the smallest fire for about a quarter of an hour.

Canned eggplant

As described belowtechnology, you can relatively quickly and without much hassle prepare a spicy Armenian snack for the winter. It consists of simple and easily accessible ingredients sold in any vegetable market. In this case, you will need:

• 60 grams minced garlic;
• a kilo of onions;
• 3, 5 kg eggplant;
• s alt and suneli hops.

Washed little blue ones are cut into strips and put into a large bowl. Then the vegetables are s alted, placed under oppression and left overnight. In the morning, they are fried in small portions in an oiled frying pan and combined with toasted chopped onions. All this is sprinkled with chopped garlic and suneli hops, and then stewed over low heat for half an hour. The finished snack is laid out in clean glass containers, sterilized for thirty minutes and rolled up with lids.

Armenian Eka

This dish can be used not only as a snack, but also as a simple and hearty breakfast. It is prepared on the basis of thin pita bread filled with any available cheese and sausages. This time you will need:

• 30 grams of ham;
• sheet of thin lavash;
• 50 grams of Adyghe cheese;
• raw egg;
• tablespoon of fresh sour cream;
• s alt and herbs (cilantro, parsley or dill).

Lavash is laid out on a dry cold frying pan and smeared with sour cream. on top of an even layer distribute the filling made from gratedAdyghe cheese, raw eggs, chopped greens and chopped ham. Immediately after this, the edges of the pita bread are folded so that an envelope is obtained. The future Armenian eka is fried over moderate heat for several minutes on each side.

Hot Lavash Appetizer

This easy-to-make dish pairs well with almost any drink. It is served exclusively hot and is equally suitable for both adults and children. To create it you will need:

• fox thin Armenian lavash;
• packaging crab sticks;
• 200 grams of soft processed cheese;
• 4 eggs;
• 4 garlic cloves;
• bunch of dill;
• s alt, flour and vegetable oil.

You need to start cooking Armenian lavash snacks by cutting the sheet into four equal parts. Each of the resulting pieces is smeared with cheese, mixed chopped garlic, sprinkled with chopped herbs and chopped crab sticks. Then the parts are stacked on top of each other so that dry pita bread is on top. The resulting multi-layered product is cut into portions, dipped in a batter consisting of flour, eggs and s alt, and fried in an oiled frying pan.

Red Bean Pate

This appetizer of Armenian cuisine is prepared on the basis of legumes with the addition of walnuts. Therefore, it has a pleasant, slightly sweet taste and spicy aroma. To make this pate you will need:

• 300 grams of red beans;
• a couple of large spoons of vegetable oil;
• 70 grams each of toasted nuts and butter;
• ½ teaspoon each of red and black pepper;
• 3 garlic cloves;
• a teaspoon of ground nutmeg;
• 50 grams fresh cilantro;
• tablespoon of suneli hops;
• s alt (to taste).

The washed beans are poured with cold water and brought to a boil. Vegetable oil is added to the bubbling liquid and the fire is reduced. Ten minutes before the end of cooking, the beans are slightly s alted. The warm finished product is put into a food processor and ground together with pre-roasted nuts. The resulting mass is seasoned with butter, and then mixed with crushed garlic and spices. A little liquid is also added there, in which the beans were cooked. Everything is again passed through the combine and combined with chopped greens.

Armenian pepper

This spectacular appetizer goes well with meat dishes. It has a spicy, moderately spicy taste and rich aroma. For its preparation you will need:

• 700 grams of bell pepper;
• 8 garlic cloves;
• ¼ cup sunflower oil;
• pair of ripe tomatoes;
• a bunch of cilantro and parsley;
• large spoonful of fine crystalline s alt;
• ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice;
• a couple of large spoons of sugar;
• ground black pepper (to taste).

Washed and dried peppers are fried whole in an oiled frying pan and put indeep bowl.

In a separate bowl mix chopped greens, crushed garlic, lemon juice, s alt, sugar and spices. Peeled and grated tomatoes and oil, in which peppers were fried, are also placed there. Everything is well mixed.

The resulting marinade is poured into the future Armenian pepper, covered with a plate and pressed with a two-kilogram oppression. All this is placed in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours.