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Tashkent Non (Soft, fluffy Uzbek bread)

Name: Tashkent Non (Soft, fluffy Uzbek bread)
Prep time: 3 h
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 3 h 15 min
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 loaves
Cuisine: Eastern European
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons Active yeast; 2 cups Lukewarm water; 1.5 teaspoons Salt, more to taste; 1 cup Whole wheat flour; 3.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; 1 splash milk or oil or rendered lard (not more than a couple tablespoons); 1 tablespoon Nigella (kalonji) seeds (optional)

by: solmstea

April 3, 2010

2 Ratings

Photo by Bobbi Lin

Prep time 3 hours
Cook time 15 minutes
Makes 4 to 6 loaves

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Author Notes

I spent 5 weeks in Uzbekistan for research and in that time became obsessed with the light, airy breads that are baked in every corner of every street in the city. Tashkent non is the typical bread sold everywhere in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Everywhere you go you can see bread sellers wheeling these around in old-fashioned, big-wheeled baby strollers straight from the tandyr ovens that are tucked away in the crevices between buildings in the old city.

A word about non - Tashkent non is light and fluffy and addictively delicious. It's got a chewy, glossy crust and an open, airy crumb and when it's piping hot, there's nothing more delicious. It is served with every meal, the toroidal loaves broken up into chunks and placed around the table. An individual can effortlessly put away 2-4 loaves (or I can...), either plain, dipped in honey and butter, or helping to transport shashlyk/plov into your mouth.

The other main kind of non is Samarkand non, which is a whole different story: it is dense, dry, and lasts a long time. Might be good for a stew, but not good for just snacking. Samarkand non, which looks like a giant bagel, is what most people tend to make at home and the predominant kind of bread found (of course) in Samarkand markets. The main difference in the recipe is that they use milk in place of water, which for some reason makes it more dense.

These breads do usually require a single specialized piece of equipment called a Chekich, which is a wooden handle with a pattern of metal spikes on one end. The chekich is used to stamp the center of the bread and keep it from rising. Since most people probably don't have one, you can replace it with a fork. This recipe makes about enough for dinner with up to 4 people. The bread is very fast to make and multiplies easily if you're serving more people and is pretty forgiving of mistakes. It's derived from a mixture of a recipe given to me in Uzbekistan, "Silk Road Non" from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Homebaking, and that of The Art of Uzbek Cooking blog (http://uzbekcooking.blogspot.com/). - solmstea —solmstea

Test Kitchen Notes

Don't let the ease with which this bread can be put together fool you into believing it has no taste. That is one of the reasons I like non breads. They are always delicious but you do want to eat it the same day, and preferably hot out of the oven. I am not a big nigella seed person so I switched to poppy seeds, but I could see cumin, black pepper or sesame seeds as well. I used the lard to brush the dough because I love the flavor of lard and bread. Solmstea's recipe is right on all the way around. Clear, concise and yummy. Definitely get out the honey and good butter for this one. - thirschfeld —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

2 teaspoons Active yeast
2 cups Lukewarm water
1.5 teaspoons Salt, more to taste
1 cup Whole wheat flour
3.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 splash milk or oil or rendered lard (not more than a couple tablespoons)
1 tablespoon Nigella (kalonji) seeds (optional)

Directions

Dissolve the yeast and salt in the warm water.
Mix whole wheat flour into the water until the mixture is smooth.
Add all-purpose flour a cup at a time and mix until smooth. Keep adding flour until you have a very soft dough. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead it until the dough is smooth. It should be a little sticky but if it's sticking to your hands, just wet them a bit.
Place in a clean bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm spot for 2 hours.
Dust a surface with flour and break the dough up into 4 - 6 equal pieces (I prefer bigger loaves, but size does not alter the cooking time or final bread consistency much). Form the pieces into low-domed rounds, lightly cover, and allow to rise for 20 minutes.
While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven, preferably with some kind of baking stone, to 425°F.
Just before baking, press your fist into the center of the dough and then pierce the center with a chekich or a fork in a 2-inch round pattern. Then brush the top of the bread with either milk, oil, or lard and sprinkle with nigella seeds (or any other seasoning you might want). Transfer to the baking stone and bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned. Spraying water into the oven once in a while has also shown good results making a slightly firmer crust.
Often the Uzbeks wipe the bread with oil or lard upon removing them from the oven (I don't). They're best if eaten immediately or within a few hours of baking. Piping hot, they are unbeatable!

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I like to cook simply, especially cooking with things I can find (or at the very least, find at the farmers market which, in SoCal, contains every kind of produce on earth!). I like ingredients like lambsquarters, which grow in every alley and once-tilled ditch but are overlooked as weeds. Or I like scuba diving for lobster - lobster you catch with your bare hands just tastes Great! Generally, I don't like overly fussy recipes and tend to just improvise with whatever I have on hand and few meals come out of my kitchen without green garlic, cayenne, orange zest, or either fresh mint or dill.

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32 Reviews

Jim D. April 2, 2018

I now put all my breads on parchment paper on a wood bread paddle (lifting). That way I just slide it on to my large clay-ware Cloche. That way they keep their shape! The Uzbek and others who make this in a Tandoor, have a padded form that holds the indentation when they "slap" it onto the clay sides of the Tandor. We have an Ubek friend who has made her version for us in her conventional oven. Even that does not match the "real" thing we've have in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Jan April 1, 2018

Hi the receipt was good. But i had great difficulty to move the bread from the resting pan to the stone. I It lost its shape in the process :( . Please advice how it should be done. Thank

solmstea April 2, 2018

Yes, this is a challenge! it is a soft dough and often hard to transfer. If it lost its shape completely, then you probably need more flour, but if it is just getting misshapen because of sticking when you try to transfer it, I'd suggest two things. I started resting mine on the back of a cookie sheet (for those of us who don't have a room in their kitchen for a wooden peel...). Also, use plenty of flour under it when resting (or semolina...I find the flour sometimes gets a bit smokey if you use too much). You'll probably have to beat the extra flour off the bottom when it comes out of the oven, but at least it will have a nicer form. See if that works!

Shakhista September 21, 2017

Came across this recipe while researching what foreigners interested in Uzbek cuisine might need when making their own Uzbek food. I was considering a step-by-step video tutorial on how to bake Uzbek bread in home conditions. You might find it published sometime soon on my Etsy shop where you can also find some Uzbek bread-making tools like bread stamps. Just google "artsyuzbek etsy". Thanks!

Ortiq A. October 14, 2017

Thanks

Devanshi July 16, 2017

This is concerned to the author of this blog. I recently saw similar content about Tashkent non on a Facebook profile (I can mail you the screenshot). It seems to me that that person has copied and pasted your content into his post. Being a content creator myself, I just wanted to draw your attention towards this in case you have an objection towards someone plagiarising your writing. You may contact me for further details on [email protected]

sabina March 14, 2016

rahmat

Jim D. August 2, 2014

Its now two years later and several more quires of Uzbeckian bakers in Moscow and St. Petersburg. This year we even bought a a chekish and another similar wood tool (can't remember the name) for making the depression, usually done with the fingers or fist, before using the stamp. What we learned is from these folks is that they are using more flour (about 8 cups, not 4) for a similar recipe. And they are using the finest grade flour with no whole wheat flour. It is also not "enriched" flour, which sounds like it's better, but is actually the opposite (See Dr. Davis' "Wheat Belly."). I am now using Antimo Caputo Italian Superfine "00" Farina Flour, and have also used a similar grade Russian flour, also not "enriched." They also use a small amount of sugar. I used 1/4 cup for my 4 loaf recipe. Since I have had great success with my Italian rustic breads using a clay Romertopf, I purchased two very large clay pot "saucers" (In case I'd need a cover to simulate a clay oven or Tandor). Now I am making leproski that closely remembers what we get in Russia, and am just experimenting with the recipe and cooking time/temperature (now about 20 mins at 500 degrees) to get it even closer. I use parchment paper now with all my breads for easy transfer to the oven where the clay dish or saucer, first rubbed lightly with olive oil, has heated along with the oven.

solmstea October 26, 2014

absolutely agreed! They would never use whole wheat bread. I just add it for my conscience... :)

Dasha May 10, 2014

Wow, i just saw this by accident! I am from Uzbekistan, and bread is one of the things I miss most (the other ones are strawberries and melons - but can't make those :( ). Anyway, here is a question before I proceed: you are suggesting whole wheat flour - why? It was my understanding that the better (whiter) the flour, the better Lepeshka would be... That's what Uzbeks were saying...

solmstea May 10, 2014

The bread is definitely really nice a fluffy with all white flour. It rises a lot more (so you can let it rise for a shorter time) and is lighter. I like to add some whole wheat flour, though, because it's a little more nutritious than white flour. It should work either way, it's just a matter of taste, and all white flour will probably be a more literal copy of what you'd get in Uzbekistan.

P.S. I hear there's a grower in Arizona who grows Uzbek melons. I can find them in my local Afghani market, so maybe there's hope for you too!

Dasha May 10, 2014

The really huge ones?

solmstea May 10, 2014

Yeah, the white-fleshed ones that are like the sweetest honeydew you've ever had. The ones I have gotten at the Afghan market aren't quite as delicious, but I probably didn't wait long enough to cut it open.

Like these: https://www.flickr.com/photos/esoterica/2967314725/in/set-72157610947378987

Jim D. February 17, 2013

Bread-makers know that a number of things can affect the outcome: the flour, the altitude, the relative humidity,the ratio of water to flour, and, of course, Serendipity. Most flour products today are 1) "enriched" and 2) made from genetically altered wheat. The harmful effects of both have been widely discussion on the net. Just Google them. The Uzbeck bakers I know in Moscow and Saint Petersburg are using non-altered wheat. It is not easy, but is possible to find "old-fashioned" wheat flour. It is expensive. I am now using an imported Russian flour (MyKa Mooka)that seems to do the trick as far as flavor and texture is concerned. However, I still have the problem of keeping centers from rising. Maybe the authentic Checkish non stamp my wife is bringing back from Russia will be the magic I am looking for!

Isab February 16, 2013

Wow, thank you so much for this recipe. I've never been to Uzbekistan, but I've read a comic set in this country, I was very intrigued by the shape of the bread in the comic... I wanted to know if such a bread really existed. I started searching on internet and I found your recipe. Today was the second time I baked Uzbek bread and it was even more delicious than the first time (I added about ¼-½ cup more water today, last time, the bread was heavy, but today, it was incredibly soft)! When I look at your picture though, I get the feeling I should add even more water to get the same dough consistency as yours (or use about 1 cup less flour). I've read somwhere that the type of wheat used to make the flour has an impact on bread recipes. I guess that's true! Well, I just wanted to let others know that the recipe might need some tweaking because if they're not getting the absolute most delicious cloud-like bread they've ever eaten out of this recipe, they're doing it wrong ;) I'm glad I found your recipe, thanks a ton!!

solmstea February 17, 2013

I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe and didn't give up after the first try! I think it differs not just with the type of flour, but for me it will just vary from time to time when I make it. Some days it needs 4 cups of flour, sometimes 3. I have learned a lot of recipes on foreign travels, and most of those people from whom I've learned recipes don't use exact measurements, but just approximate quantities and then a feeling, like "it should feel like an earlobe" (something I was once told while making Mexican corundas). I guess translating that gut instinct cooking into a regularly replicable process is the heart of most travel food writing. Still...tricky :)

solmstea February 17, 2013

Oh, and what was the comic? Something by Ted Rall?

Isab February 17, 2013

It was in fact a manga: A Bride's Story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bride's_Story

Jim D. January 20, 2013

Your recipe is great. However I use a yeast made from onions, broth and flour which gives a taste more like I'm used to from Uzbeck bakers in Moscow and St.Petersburg. Also have the problem with centers rising, which baker in Moscow tells me is because I'm using oven rather than Tandor. I'm not sure I believe this. Any info on bread cushion for leproshka shape (which Uzbeck baker uses to slap leproshka against wall of Tandor)?

solmstea January 20, 2013

Hi Jim, yeah, sometimes I have the problem of centers rising, but I associate it with giving it too long to rise after punching the center with the chekich (though I don't know for sure). If I punch down the center before pricking it, it usually does not rise much. The bread cushions I saw bakers using for placement in the tandyr were convex, I want to say leather topped (though that doesn't make much sense), stuffed with cotton, and rubbed with or dipped in milk so that the bread doesn't stick. Then they put it on the wall with a rolling motion. I have thought about making one of these in order to stick it on my baking stone, since when I slide it off the plate, the round shape gets messed up. I haven't taken that step yet, but if i give it a try, I can let you know how it works. I'd say more likely it's a problem of letting it rise too long after you punch it down and prick the center.

Melusine September 4, 2011

Just finished my first batch -- used white whole wheat with high-gluten bread flour, and I'm devouring one of the small loaves as I'm typing this. I lived in Tajikistan for two years, and the only food I miss is the bread and the better-made plot. I didn't get the shape correct (they look like over-grown bagels), but the flavor and texture are dead-on. As soon as the KitchenAid bowl and mixing blade come out of the dishwasher, another (double) batch will be on its way. Seriously yum -- thank you for this.

solmstea September 5, 2011

So glad you enjoyed it and that the bread came out as you remember! I'm making some right now myself, to go along with the shashlyk I'm about to cook up. Anyway, thanks!

student E. April 6, 2010

fantastic! this brings up memories of when i spent time out in kashgar and urumqi in xinjiang . can't wait to try this out!

monkeymom April 6, 2010

We made these this weekend and they were very good. Pretty easy to put together. A bit different than the Indian naan - airier and fluffier, though mine didn't look as fluffy as the pictures you have. If you have tips on how to get a better 'fluff', let me know. Even so, the kids and adults alike really enjoyed it. Thanks for the recipe!

solmstea April 6, 2010

Hmm. Well, your loaf may look more or less fluffy depending on how big an area you punch down in the center. If you press down a circle *just* larger than the chekich (or the area you'll pierce with the fork), then it tends to be rise higher. If you on the other hand punch down a slightly wider area, then the whole loaf ends up a bit flatter. Actually, the loaf probably should be slightly flatter than the one in the picture, but I can never divide the dough properly and always end up with the first loaf being really big! But as long as it tastes good, that's all that matters! Glad y'all liked it!

solmstea April 9, 2010

Ok, I made this again last night and realized another trick: It helps to form the rounds on a well-floured plate (or peel or back of a baking pan) so that when you transfer the loaf to the baking stone it doesn't get stretched out (which removes some of the fluffiness). The dough is so soft that it was hard for me to transfer a round so that it kept its shape. This might help out the problem as well!

monkeymom April 9, 2010

Excellent! Thanks for the extra tips, I will try them out because I really liked this recipe.

Fresh T. March 6, 2017

I agree with this last tip, I'm making it tonight. It would be good if you amended the recipe up top.

monkeymom April 3, 2010

This looks wonderful! What would you suggest serving it with?

solmstea April 4, 2010

Well, if you want to do something traditional, I'd suggest some osh plov (a carrot and mutton pilaf) or chuchvarra (dumpling soup), but really it would be good with anything saucy, like a tikka masala or that mexican tomato and almond sauce. Or for breakfast with olives, feta cheese, jam and butter. When it's fresh out of the oven, I just eat it plain.

testkitchenette April 3, 2010

This looks great and very delicious. A Turkish restaurant by me makes something very similar.