Beef azu is a very tasty, juicy and aromatic dish that will suit both a dinner and a festive table. It is very important to cook it correctly, and for this you need to familiarize yourself with all the traditional secrets and nuances.
It just so happened that the Tatar cuisine has undergone a lot of changes throughout its history. The way and living conditions of the Tatars during their existence led to the exchange of products and the emergence of new recipes for dishes. Due to their practicality and availability, many of the recipes of this people were adopted and mastered by other nations.
Useful Tips for Delicious Beef Azu Cooking
Meat with a huge amount of fat is not typical for Tatar cuisine. Hot dishes consist of stewed or boiled meat. It is not necessary to use beef to prepare the basics. Caucasian cuisine suggests replacing it, for example, with mutton. Horse meat may also work. Tatars love to add potatoes and other vegetables, although they are not in the classic recipe. It is important to use spices when cooking. Only thanks to them, the meat will really reveal its taste to the fullest.
The more vegetables, the more useful vitamins and substances in the finished dish. During cooking, the pepper is cut into strips only. Young meat takes less time to cook.
What you need and how to cook beef basics
For cooking, you will need the following ingredients:
- beef pulp - 1 kg;
- potatoes - 0.8 kg;
- pickles and tomatoes - 0.3 kg;
- vegetable oil - 90 g;
- tomato puree - 120 g;
- onions - 2-3 pcs;
- garlic - 4 cloves;
- wheat flour - 1 tbsp. l.;
- bay leaf - 1 piece;
- salt, ground and allspice - to taste.
Now you need to figure out how to properly cook the basics from beef. First, cut the meat into cubes. Tomato puree is fried in vegetable oil. Separately from the tomato, the meat should be fried, salt and pepper it. When a light golden crust forms, the fried pieces of beef are poured with broth (part of the broth must be left), after which the ready-made tomato is added. Now you can stew the dish with the lid on and without removing it almost until the dish is ready. Next, you need to dry the flour in a pan and cool it. After that, the flour is diluted with the rest of the broth. Pickled cucumbers are peeled and cut into thin strips. Onions should be cut into half rings by frying in oil. The potatoes are cut into cubes, and then sent to the pan until the crust forms.
If you are cooking potted beef dishes, add sour cream and tomato juice instead of mayonnaise and ketchup. For dietary nutrition, you do not need to fry potatoes. Better to cook it until half cooked in a separate saucepan.
At the last stage of cooking, it is necessary to add cucumbers and onions, along with diluted flour sautéing, to the meat that is already stewing. Everything boils together for 10 minutes. Then add potatoes, peppers and bay leaves. All ingredients are still cooked for a maximum of half an hour. 5 minutes before the end, you need to add the tomatoes cut into wedges along with the crushed garlic. When serving beef basics, sprinkle with chopped herbs.
