Basturma at home

Basturma is meat cured in spices, a popular delicacy in Armenian, Turkish, Azerbaijani and Central Asian cuisine. Basturma is easy to prepare at home.

The recipe for making basturma is long, but quite simple. A whole piece of meat, previously salted to remove excess water, is covered with a layer of a fragrant consistency of garlic, reddish and dark pepper, blue fenugreek (chamana), and then hung to dry. Served as meat tenderloin or placed on sandwiches.

On this page I have collected 3 recipes: beef basturma at home (recipe with step-by-step photos), pork basturma and chicken basturma (chicken breast). You will also learn where and how to dry and where and how long to store basturma, and other details of making homemade basturma.

Beef basturma

You can salt meat either using the dry method or by soaking it in a salt solution. The first method is simpler and faster, because you don’t have to keep the beef under pressure. Salt will do all the work - it is poured onto a piece of sliced meat and draws out all the water from it. For the first three days, the beef is dehydrated, then the piece is coated with spice paste and hung in a draft to dry. We will cook for approximately 4 weeks, in other words, about a month (in winter, you can speed up the process to 1 week if you dry it in an apartment near the window).

Ingredients

beef cut – 800 g
coarse rock salt – approximately 2 kg
chaman (blue fenugreek, utskho-suneli) – 2 tsp.
ground sweet paprika – 2 tsp.
reddish pepper – 1 tsp.
dark pepper – 1 tsp.
ground garlic – 1 tsp.
khmeli-suneli – 1 tsp.
dried dill – 1 tsp.
whole grain wheat or rye flour – 2 tsp.
water or dry reddish homemade wine – 50-70 ml
vegetable oil – 2 tsp.

Note. The essential ingredient is chaman. It is used as a coating thickener and insect repellent.

How to cook beef basturma

Reddish-colored beef is best suited for basturma - this meat is mature, it has a rich taste and smell. You shouldn't take veal. As a standard, buy a cut, this cut is the most tender, virtually without connective tissue (the structure of tissues of living organisms is studied by the science of histology) and without fat. If you take beef fillet rather than sliced beef, try to choose an even piece with the least amount of tendons (they all need to be trimmed).

There is usually a whitish film on the surface of the cut, which must be carefully removed with a sharp knife. For basturma, I did not use the whole cut, but only the middle part. I divided the meat into two pieces, each one came out to approximately 400 grams, a total of 800 g. (You can take any amount of beef in its entirety; I gave the weight for the convenience of calculating the spices that will be used for coating; they are enough for 1 kg of meat.) “Host “And the “head” of the slice can also be dried if desired, the main thing is that the pieces should be more or less the same thickness and weight for uniform salting. Cut the pieces so that their diameter is no more than 4 cm, otherwise the basturma will take a very long time to dry.

So, let's move on to the first step - dehydration. Take a bowl or mold of a suitable size so that the meat can fit into it freely. Pour coarse table salt onto the bottom and level it with your hands - it should cover the bottom by 0.5 cm and lie in one even layer. Non-iodized salt is suitable, without any impurities or additives.

We place pieces of meat on a layer of salt - they should lie freely and evenly, without any bends or creases; otherwise, during the dehydration process, the meat remains uneven, with twists.

Sprinkle generously with salt on top. There is no need to spare salt, it must cover the meat one hundred percent. Place on the refrigerator shelf for 1 day. After a day, the salt will absorb water from the meat and become moist to the touch. We remove it, simply scrape it off the meat (no need to rinse!) and add fresh salt. The function must be repeated 3 times (in other words, within 3 days). It is necessary to change the salt every day to prevent the formation of brine, otherwise the meat may be over-salted.

After three days, remove the beef completely from the salt. The pieces will become darker in color and tougher to the touch because the salt will draw out the water from them. Don’t be afraid that so much salt will go away, the meat won’t take too much, it will be salted moderately and will absorb as much as it needs. The meat must be washed - thoroughly washed before coating, so that no large crystals of salt remain. And be sure to dry it. I immediately thread it onto the ropes - they will serve as a suspension for us.

Step 2 - coating the meat. First, prepare the spice mixture. Combine chaman, sweet ground paprika, reddish and dark pepper, ground garlic, suneli hops and dried dill in a bowl. For viscosity, I add a little coarse flour (preferably rye) and sunflower oil, which makes the coating more elastic and prevents it from crumbling when drying. You can add another pinch of natural cherry or pomegranate dye for the most representative look. Pour all the spices with boiled cool water or dry reddish homemade wine - 50-70 ml will come in handy, add evenly, stirring until smooth. The result should be a creamy mixture. Let it brew for 1 hour. Please note that there is no need to add salt!

Coat the pieces on all sides. The layer should be plentiful, but do not overdo it, otherwise after a couple of weeks of drying our basturma it will simply fall off. We send it to the balcony for 1-2 days so that the top layer dries and some of the spices are absorbed into the beef.

Next, you need to “swaddle” it in gauze or ordinary snow-white cotton fabric (a medical system of cells and intercellular substance, united by a common origin, structure and functions) . And let the basturma hang for 2-3 weeks until it is completely ready. Then all that remains is to cut into thin, translucent slices and enjoy this delicious home-made delicacy.

Where and at what temperature should you dry basturma?

In the autumn and spring, there are usually no problems with the temperature regime for drying meat. You can hang it on the balcony or outside under a canopy. In the summer, when it is very hot, you have to put it in the refrigerator for a day (with a “no frost” system, where convection is constant).

In winter, there is no need to “swaddle” basturma, because there are no insects, but maintaining the best temperature is very problematic. What should we create? If you have a glazed loggia and there is no severe frost outside, you can dry it there. Or try the express option for winter - 1 day in the cold and 7-8 days at room temperature not more than +18 degrees. Readiness is determined by touch - the basturma must harden (but it does not need to be brought to the state of “stone”), when pressed it should be like raw smoked sausage.

Pork basturma

Instead of beef, almost everyone uses pork to make basturma at home. As for the choice of meat, cut pork or fillet are perfect. It is absolutely necessary to cut off all the fat, otherwise it will harden and the basturma will turn out hard.

The manufacturing technique here will be different - in a salt solution (you can literally salt beef in the same way). The meat is first rubbed with salt and sugar, then left in the refrigerator for several days, put under a press and only then dried.

Ingredients

pork slice – 800 g
salt – 500 g
sugar – 1 tbsp. l.
water – 100 ml
chaman – 1 tbsp. l.
reddish ground pepper – 0.5 tsp.
ground coriander – 1 tbsp. l.
Georgian adjika (seasoning) – 0.5 tsp.
sweet ground paprika - 2 tbsp. l.
ground cumin – 1 tsp.
dry garlic – 1 tsp.

Rub the pork slices with salt and sugar. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate for 3 days. During this period of time, the pork will be salted and release a lot of its own meat juice. It always needs to be drained. We wash the salted pieces and soak them in water for 3-4 hours (the water must be changed every half hour). Place a weight on top and keep it in the refrigerator for another 1 day. During this period of time, the cut will become flatter and harder to the touch. Coat with spice paste and dry in a cold place for 5-7 days.

Basturma

The recipe for basturma - an Armenian, and according to other sources a Turkish meat dish - has been known for a long time. Basturma is an air-dried compressed cut of salted meat, coated with a layer of hot chaman seasoning. Beef basturma is distinguished by its dark color and dense mixture. Read more about basturma .

Beef basturma at home is an excellent meat appetizer for a festive table instead of sausage. According to this recipe, the dried meat comes out not over-salted, not very hard and very tasty. I made basturma for the first time, and I really liked it: the meat is soft, fragrant and, most importantly, natural! Dried beef (basturma) is suitable not only as a substitute for sausage on a festive table, but also as an appetizer for beer.

In order not to take very precious basturma in the market or at the market, I suggest making homemade basturma yourself at home. Everything is as simple as possible, but it takes a long time. But recklessly delicious.

Homemade basturma - spicy, aromatic, tasty. You can hold it in your mouth like candy, swallowing it from time to time.

Homemade beef basturma recipe. We prepare the most delicious jerky at home. A universal recipe for both beef, pork or chicken. Use only fillets (cuts).

Another delicious recipe for dried meat is beef with spices, which are used to make carpaccio and give the meat a special taste.

Basturma or dried meat, a recipe for Armenian cuisine. Such dried meat is also prepared in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia; it is a real meat delicacy that is very expensive. But you can make jerky on your own.

Homemade beef basturma. Simple and delicious. I make this basturma quite often.

Basturma is a dried cut in spices. The beef basturma recipe is typical for Turkish, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Central Asian cuisine.

Thinly sliced dried basturma is usually served as a cool appetizer. Homemade Armenian basturma, the cost of which is quite high, is a delicacy. The recipe for making basturma arose in a hot climate and in the absence of refrigerators. To preserve meat under these conditions, they resorted to producing basturma by salting and drying. How to cook basturma in Armenian? To make basturma at home, only lean, tender meat from young animals is used. By the way, the calorie content of basturma due to its low fat content is not very high. But it’s easier to buy basturma at the market or in a store, because basturma at home will only be ready in three weeks.

From time to time, basturma is a type of sliced kebab called basturma. You can create such basturma from beef, pork, chicken and even fish, and not just lamb.

How to cook basturma at home

Salted and dried beef is considered a delicacy meat, although this snack is not for everyone. If we briefly outline the process of making basturma at home, it is salting meat in a spicy marinade, rolling it in spices and drying - all stages take 2-4 weeks and require not only skill, but also patience. Basturma is added to scrambled eggs and omelets, to salads and entrails for pita bread. And from time to time it is simply served on the table as a meat appetizer, and it is indescribably delicious!

History and modernity

For the first time, basturma began to be prepared according to a special recipe with spices and aromatic herbs in Turkey and Armenia. But a semblance of such meat arose back in the era of Genghis Khan, then wandering Turkic tribes recovered mainly from dried horse meat. Such meat had a long shelf life and was nutritious. It was prepared quite simply - pieces of horse meat were thickly sprinkled on all sides with salt and placed in canvas bags, which, in turn, were placed under the saddle of the horse.

The best meat for basturma

Which meat is the most delicious basturma? Gourmets believe that it is made from beef, but in practice this appetizer can be made even from chicken and pork, the main thing is to carefully cut off all the fat, otherwise the basturma will become very tough. If you take chicken, then choose the breast. In general, chicken basturma tastes like dried fish, so don’t be surprised!

The perfect meat for basturma is the freshest beef of a reddish color, but under no circumstances frozen. It must be free of films, veins and fat; ideally, it is the flesh of the back of the leg or the flesh of the back, in other words, fillet. If there are small veins on the back, it's not creepy.

Take 1.5 kg of beef, wash it well, remove all excess (films and fat), dry the meat with a cardboard towel, and then cut it into pieces weighing no more than 0.5–0.7 kg and about 4 cm wide, otherwise the meat will not be salted. So, from this amount of meat you will get 3 pieces for making basturma.

The magical power of salt

Place the pieces of meat in a bowl with salt, sprinkle it with salt on top too. You will need a pack of salt or more. Don’t feel sorry for it - only what is necessary will be absorbed anyway. The meat must be 100% covered with salt! Place the container in the refrigerator for three days and turn the meat over from time to time, draining the released juice. Do not leave the juice in the bowl, otherwise the meat will turn out very salty. At the end of salting, the salt will become moisturized, as it will draw out all the juices from the meat. Some eastern cooks perform this function three times, completely scraping off the old salt and filling the meat with the newest salt. In other words, this step can take up to 3 days.

Wash the salted meat thoroughly with running water and dry with a cardboard towel. It will become the densest and darkest, because there is practically no water left in it. If you oversalt the meat, soak it in cool water for three hours, remembering to change the water every hour.

Under pressure

The meat has been salted, all that remains is to create it beautiful, in other words, give it shape. Wrap the pieces in clean cotton cloth (a medical system of cells and intercellular substances united by a common origin, structure and functions) and place something heavy on top - a weight, bricks or a giant bottle of water, for example. The basturma must be under pressure all day, and in the cold. When the tissue (medical system of cells and intercellular substance, united by a common origin, structure and functions) becomes moisturized, change it. By the way, this step is not necessary in the process of making basturma at home - at least some cooks do without pressing the meat, which does not affect the quality of the final product.

Now you need to dry the basturma. Pierce any piece of meat in the corner with an awl and thread either a plastic tie or stainless steel iron wire through the hole. You can pierce the meat with wooden skewers and hang it on an iron wire. The pieces of meat should hang indoors at room temperature for about 3 days. Room temperature is 15–25°C, it all depends on personal criteria, atmospheric climate and weather. In some manuals you can find advice to dry meat at a temperature of 8–10°C and avoid drafts, while in others, on the contrary, drafts are recommended. But everyone is unanimous that direct sunlight should not fall on the meat, otherwise the basturma will be covered with a narrow and not very appetizing crust. You can even dry meat on the balcony, if it is not very cold there.

The smell of spices

It's time to prepare the coating mixture by mixing the spices for the basturma. This consistency should contain 0.5 cups of ground chaman (also called fenugreek and shamballa seeds), 3 tbsp. l. ground paprika, cumin, coriander and chili powder. In other recipes for basturma, chili is sometimes replaced with Georgian adjika; garlic, ground bay leaf, mustard, cloves and juniper are also added to the seasoning mixture; a little sugar can be added for piquancy.

Pour boiled or bottled water at room temperature into the spice mixture, constantly stirring and rubbing the fragrant mass. You should get something similar to thick sour cream; for this you will need approximately 1.5–2 glasses of water. If you want to get the most exciting taste of basturma, use cognac or wine instead of water. You can beat the mixture in a blender until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.

Last touch

Now coat the pieces of meat with the spice mixture and hang them again to dry. When the spicy crust dries, you can apply a second layer of seasonings to make the basturma the most delicious and special. If you find a crack in the crust, moisten it with water and smooth it out - until the basturma is completely dry, this can completely happen. Let the meat dry for about 3-5 more days, although this all depends on the air temperature, room humidity and thickness of the meat.

Squeeze the basturma - if it resembles dry-cured sausage in terms of elasticity, then it seems that you can be congratulated on completing the production of the meat delicacy. Now you understand how to dry basturma and can improve your abilities. You see, nothing complicated!

Like the apple of my eye

How to store homemade basturma so that it does not dry out and retains its own taste and smell? After the basturma is completely dry, wrap it in cling film and keep it in the refrigerator for 3 days. This unique delicacy will fully ripen, moisture will be distributed inside the meat, its texture will become more elastic, and its taste will be the deepest and richest. In fact, you can store basturma like this for 3–6 months. From time to time it is recommended to keep this product in vacuum packaging, which is completely justified. Armenians store basturma wrapped in wet tissue (a medical system of cells and intercellular substances united by a common origin, structure and functions) , sometimes moisturizing, because there were not always refrigerators for storing perishable goods. Another method is to hang pieces of meat in a well-ventilated area, but not everyone has this opportunity.

Properly prepared basturma, under a crust of spices, hides tender meat with a spicy or special taste. Serve it as a meat snack with excellent wine and enjoy this unique combination!

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The methods for making basturma are not fundamentally different from each other. First you need to purchase beef cuts. And before you cook basturma at home, you have to be patient. First, the slices are cut into pieces, this is necessary in order to completely immerse it in the brine. The meat is kept in this way for several days. Then it is sprinkled with salt and sent under the press. Naturally, the manufacture of basturma is not described in detail here, but the main stages are clear. Then the salted pieces of meat are rolled in herbs and spices, and only after this comes the moment when it is hung in a room with good air access. Delicious basturma will turn out only after 25 days. It takes a lot of time to make, but the end result is worth it. So, it is very important to have patience and high-quality recipes, which our creators are happy to share.