Bukharan Cuisine: Oshi Sofi, Halvaitar and the Sweets of the Old City

For centuries Bukhara was a city of merchants, scholars and craftsmen, where Persian, Turkic and Jewish cultures met. All of this shows in its cooking: less heat, more herbs, dried fruit and sweets, and many dishes made differently than in Tashkent or Samarkand. If you have come to Bukhara just for the madrasas and minarets, set aside time for the food too; it is just as much a part of the city's story.

How Bukharan cooking is different

A few traits set Bukhara's cuisine apart:

• Gentle flavours. Fewer spices than in the south of the country, but plenty of herbs: dill, coriander and spring onions.
• Dried fruit and nuts. Raisins, dried apricots and chickpeas turn up in main dishes and sweets alike.
• The heritage of different communities. Tajik-speaking and Uzbek-speaking families lived in Bukhara for centuries, as did Bukharan Jews. Some dishes, such as plov with herbs, are tied to that community in particular.
• A passion for sweets. Bukhara is famous for its confectionery traditions, and local sweets look different and have different names from those in other cities.

Plov, Bukhara style

Bukhara makes several kinds of plov, and each is worth trying.

Oshi sofi. The name means "pure plov". It is one of the festive versions of Bukharan plov, where the quality of the rice and meat is everything, and the recipe varies a little from family to family. It is served on large platters at weddings and family celebrations, and teahouses sometimes offer a lunchtime version.

Bakhsh, or green plov. Rice is cooked with a large amount of finely chopped herbs, meat and liver. The result is a bright green, fragrant dish that looks nothing like ordinary plov. Bakhsh is traditionally associated with Bukharan Jewish cuisine, and it used to be cooked in a cloth bag lowered into the pot.

Plov with chickpeas and raisins. A sweeter version often served on holidays.

Halvaitar: a sweet you eat with a spoon

Halvaitar is a traditional Bukharan dish that few people know outside the region. Flour is fried in fat until golden, then sugar syrup is poured in. The result is a thick, hot mixture that you eat with a spoon or by dipping flatbread into it.

Halvaitar is made in the cold season, for family gatherings and memorial meals, and during Ramadan. It is very rich, so portions are small. If you see it on a menu or are offered it in someone's home, be sure to try it.

The sweets of Bukhara

The Bukhara bazaar is the best place to get to know local sweets:

• Navat, crystallised sugar on strings, amber or white. It is served with tea and considered good for colds.
• Parvarda, small chewy sugar pillows dusted with flour that melt in the mouth.
• Nisholda, a white whipped cream of sugar and egg whites with soapwort root, made in spring and during Ramadan.
• Halva in many varieties, from sesame to nut.
• Almonds and apricot kernels roasted in salt, a classic Bukharan snack with tea.

You will find all of these in the trading domes of the old city and at the central market. Prices are approximate and depend on the season and the place, so bargain politely.

What else to order

• Gijduvan kebab, minced lamb kebab named after the nearby town of Gijduvan.
• Shurpa, a clear soup with lamb and vegetables.
• Samsa from the tandoor, with meat, or with pumpkin in autumn.
• Spiced tea: some teahouses in the old city serve tea with cinnamon, cloves or other spices.

Where to eat in Bukhara

• Lyabi-Hauz. The teahouses around the old pool are a classic. Sitting here in the evening under the mulberry trees is lovely, but prices are higher than in ordinary neighbourhoods.
• The lanes of the old city. Small family cafes and guesthouses where you can ask for a home-cooked dish.
• The central market. For buying sweets, dried fruit and fresh flatbread, and for a simple lunch at a market canteen.

Getting there

Bukhara is one of the main stops on any tourist route. From Tashkent it is about 570 km, seven to eight hours by car. From Samarkand it is about 270 km and four hours.

Yo'ldosh shared rides are published on both routes: Tashkent to Bukhara and Samarkand to Bukhara. Over the long distance from Tashkent it is a convenient way to travel more cheaply than by private taxi, leaving at a time that suits you. You book a seat in the app, and drivers have verified profiles.

Bukharan cuisine is slow food: plov simmered for hours, unhurried tea with sweets, conversations by Lyabi-Hauz. Give it time, and Bukhara will show you a different side of itself.

Cover photo: MarjonaKhidirova, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.