Tuhum-Barak s a traditional recipe from the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. Barak means dumpling in Uzbekistan, and these incredible boiled pockets of dough are filled with a soft and delicious egg filling.
While I was in Uzbekistan, I ate so many different variations of barak, but tuhum-barak was by far my favorite.
Traditionally, Tuhum-Barak are very difficult to make, but I have created a variation that is much simpler for the home cook to prepare.
Traditional Tuhem-Barak
Traditionally, Tuhum-barak is made by filling dumpling pockets with liquid egg mixture. After trying it multiple times, I can confirm: this is incredibly difficult!
Not only is it tricky to fill the dumplings, but it also is difficult to ensure that they are cooked properly, as the boiling water often cooks the dough far before it cooks the egg mixture. This results in overcooked dough or undercooked, runny egg filling.
After much experimentation, I realized that this dish could be made so much easier by slightly cooking the egg mixture before filling the dumplings. It tastes the same, and it makes the preparation process so much easier.
To prepare simple tuhum-barak, you slowly cook the egg mixture over a very low heat. This helps to create a puree that is easier to use as a filling, and it also ensures that the egg filling is fully cooked by the time the dumplings are done cooking.
What ingredients are needed to make Tuhum-Barak?
Barak Dough: The dough is made of a simply mixture of white flour, egg, water, and salt.
Egg Filing: The egg filling is made of egg, milk, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, salt sesame oil, and lots of melted butter.
How to make Tuhum Barak?
The first step to making tuhum-barak is is to make the dumpling dough. You first knead the mixture together until a smooth ball forms.
Afterwards, you want to prepare your egg mixture. All of the ingredients for the egg mixture are cooked on a stovetop at a very low heat. You want to ensure that you are stirring the mixture constantly, as this will ensure that no hard egg chunks form, and that the mixture remains light and fluffy.
Next, you’ll need to roll the dough until it is very thin. The thinner you can make the dough, the more delicious it will be. Ideally, the dough will be a bit thicker than heavy cardstock paper.
You will then cut the dough into four inch circles. Place 1 tablespoon of the cooked egg mixture in the middle of the dough circle. Fold the circle in half, creating a half- circle dumpling. Be sure to seal the edges of the dumpling very well.
Once the dumplings are made, you will drop them, a few at a time, in boiling water. Once each tuhum-barak floats to the top, the dumplings are ready to serve.
Eat them with lots of sour cream!
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This recipe is adapted from the blog about Tuhum-Barak on centralasia-travel.com, which is a great source for all information about Uzbekistan!
Interested in cooking more recipes from around the world? Check out all of my travel-inspired recipes here!
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Tuhum-Barak: Savory Egg Dumplings from Uzbekistan
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
Instructions
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Make the dough
Mix the dough. Combine flour, egg, water, and salt until a rough dough forms. On a clean surface, need the dough for about 5 minutes until a smooth ball of dough is formed.
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Prepare the filling
Combine the eggs, milk, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, salt, and sesame oil. In a large pan, add the melted butter. Add the egg mixture to the melted butter. Stirring constantly, cook the egg mixture on the lowest heat possible for about 10 minutes, or until a puree-like texture forms. The goal is not to make hard-cooked and lumpy scrambled eggs. Instead, by cooking on very low heat and stirring constantly, we seek to emulsify the egg and butter mixture and cook the eggs. The end result should be almost puree-like, with no noticeable chunks of egg.
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Roll out the dough and prepare the dumplings
Roll out the dough very thin, until it is almost paper-like. Using a bowl that is about 4 inches in diameter as an outline, cut circles of dough.
To fill the dumplings, add one tablespoon of egg mixture in the center of each dough circle. Fold each dumplying in half, pressing the edges together to form a half-circle. Make sure the edges are very well sealed.
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Boil dumplings
Fill a deep cooking pot with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, drop in 3-4 dumplings at a time. Cook until dumplings float to the top of the water. Once dumplings float, the dough is fully cooked and ready to eat.
Eat tuhum barak warm and fresh with sour cream.
