Book of Days Tales

The first Saturday in November is designated as Health Day in Turkmenistan. Here is a recipe for a noodle and lamb dish called lagman that has variants throughout central Asia. It is made with hand pulled noodles, which is traditional, but you can use store bought ones if you wish – but it’s not the same.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus 1 tsp
1 tsp cornflour
150 gm lamb leg, cut into chunks
½ onion, peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
30 gm dried black mushrooms, rehydrated in boiling water and sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp tomato purée

For the noodle dough

250g plain flour (with a protein content of about 10g/100g, check the pack)
vegetable oil, for brushing

Instructions

For the noodles, use a fork to combine the flour with 130 ml water and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl until it forms a rough dough. Knead for 5-10 mins until smooth. Cover and leave to rest for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, combine the 1 tsp vegetable oil and the cornflour in a large bowl with a pinch of salt and ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper. Tip in the lamb and massage into the meat. Leave to marinate while you make the noodles.

Roll the noodle dough into a flat, round shape, then cut into 1cm strips. Brush vegetable oil over each strip before shaping into a 10 cm-long rope. You can do this by rolling it with your fingers against the worktop, moving it outwards to help it stretch. Put each rope on an oiled plate so they spiral out from the center, with one end touching the other. Leave to rest for another 20 mins.

Bring a pan of water to the boil over a medium-high heat. Taking one rope of dough at a time, pull from each end until it stretches to a 0.3cm-thin string, about 35cm in length. Add to the boiling water, then repeat with the rest of the dough. Drain the noodles, reserving the water, and set both aside, keeping the noodles warm.

Heat a little oil in a large pan over  medium heat and brown the lamb on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Using the same pan, heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil, add the onion and cook for around 2 mins to soften slightly before adding the garlic and cooking for another minute. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, red pepper, cumin, tomato purée and a good pinch of salt. Cook for for 5-8 mins until the red peppers have softened.

Add 4 tbsp water reserved from cooking the noodles, mix well and bring to the boil. Cook for 30 seconds-1 min until thickened. Remove from the heat. Divide the noodles between bowls, then pour the lamb stew on top.