Mastava

1. 1Rice cooked into the broth so it becomes a thick, porridge-like soup
2. 2Lamb (or beef) as the meat, often with bone for richness
3. 3Tomato-based broth with carrot, potato and onion
4. 4Frequently finished with sour milk / suzma yogurt and fresh herbs at the table
5. 5A spoon soup, brothier than plov but thicker than a clear soup

Browning meat and sofrito

Searing the lamb with onion and tomato builds the soup's savory depth

Simmering rice into the broth

Cooking rice in the liquid gives mastava its characteristic thick, comforting body

Served

In a deep bowl, topped with yogurt and herbs

Temperature

hot

Portion

main course

Pairs with

Non (flatbread) · Suzma yogurt · Fresh herbs and black pepper

• Lamb → Beefadmissible

  Standard interchangeable meat

• Quince → Omit or use a little appleadmissible

  Seasonal addition, not essential

• Rice → No grain at allinadmissible

  Removes the body that makes mastava a rice soup

• Cooking it as dry as plov instead of keeping it soupy
• Under-seasoning the tomato-meat base
• Adding yogurt while boiling so it curdles instead of finishing at the table
• Using too little rice so it lacks the comforting body

A shared Central Asian comfort soup of the sedentary Persianate cuisines, claimed across Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and common throughout the region.

Shared by: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

1. 1.Central Asian culinary references
2. 2.Uzbek and Tajik home cooking

Confidence: high