Tandoor: what is it and how to do it?

Mankind invented not so many ways of processing food for cooking. Even fewer are the "instruments" involved in cooking. We are now talking not about the devices that facilitate the work of the cook, but about the most important thing in the kitchen - the stove. Most of the old versions of it have approximately the same structure, whether it's a fireplace or a Russian stove. And here the tandyr stands apart. What is it, the Asian people know very well. However, recently he has quietly begun to "sneak" into the economy of thoroughbred Europeans.

Tandoor: what is it?

A furnace of this type has been used for centuries in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Mongolia and even Japan. Let it be called "Tanuj" from Tajiks, Georgians have "Tone", and Armenians have "Tonir", but most people are more familiar with "name" tandyr. What it is, many know except that from books and films, but sometimes it's far from Asian expanses people used to eat the dishes cooked in it.

In former times, like any other oven, tandyr was used not only for cooking, but also for heating. Now he has only one functional purpose left. And cooking in it has become so popular that the industry began to produce electric tandyr, and of different sizes, design and mobility - from portable dacha to stationary, intended for restaurants. Pleasure, of course, is not cheap - a compact small oven costs about 60 thousand rubles - but people are always ready to pay for their pleasures.

Connoisseurs of authenticity can buy a real clay Uzbek tandoor: they are brought to Moscow from sunny Uzbekistan in sufficient quantities. The cost of it, however, is not much different from the price of electric.

Secrets of the right tandoor

All secrets of making a pitcher-like stove of the master are not opened to anyone - they are inherited and carefully guarded. Probably, therefore, the clay tandyr can not be made independently - the material will crack from the temperature. There are two well-known secrets:

1. The clay, from which the Uzbek tandoor is created, is carefully sieved - almost more carefully than the flour for a whimsical test. This is done to ensure that the walls were not only flat, but also of equal density. So the heat will be distributed evenly along the stove, the walls will not crack, and the food will be prepared from all sides simultaneously.
2. Combed sheep or goat wool is added to the clay. It reinforces the material, and after burning, when the wool burns out, a kind of pores remain inside the walls. They promote uniform heating and proper humidity during cooking. It is thanks to these pores that the tandyr cakes are soft, but with the correct ruddy crust.

However, even if you observe these subtleties, it is unlikely that your clay tandyr will last long. If at all it will withstand at least the first warm-up. And not the fact that the dishes from it will please you - you still do not know all the secrets.

Advantages of tandyr

Why is this oven so consistently gaining popularity? The fact is that cooking in tandoor, first of all, somewhat resembles an oven. That is, no harmful and undesirable substances in tandyr food are formed. You can say, diet preparation, even if the barbecue is fried.

The second advantage is that the dishes in the tandoor are prepared very quickly. The products are affected not so much by the coals as by the heat from the walls. As a result, juicy and fragrant meat will be ready in a quarter of an hour, fish - in ten minutes, and vegetables - and after five.

It is also important that you do not need to monitor the cooking. The shish kebab is hung vertically, the heat goes to him from all sides - neither turning, nor sprinkling, nor else "conjure" is not required. So everyone who has installed a tandoor, reviews leave only enthusiastic.

Terms of use

Whatever you buy tandyr - electric or clay - the first ignition should be done carefully, raising the temperature in it gradually and using in the case of the clay version only dry firewood. They are laid not higher than two thirds of the tandoor. The oven should be heated from half an hour to an hour.

Before sending products to it, you should always make sure that there are no unburned logs left in the tandoor. The resulting coals should be evenly distributed along the bottom (on the grate or under them).

A couple of times using a stove, it needs to be warmed up again, since the heat has already slept a little. And the second portion will be prepared longer.

Cool the tandoor naturally. Do not pour water!

Do not put the oven in closed rooms or close to flammable objects - gas cylinders or a garage.

Children should be kept away from the working tandyr - its walls are strongly heated, and the baby can get serious burns.

Necessary materials and preparation

Since, as we have already explained, it is impossible to build such a miracle oven from clay alone, there is nothing else left to do than tandoor made of bricks. It's even a little easier than putting together a conventional stove. Materials will need the same: refractory bricks, sand with clay, grate (grate) and cement under the foundation. Preliminary it is necessary to make the drawing, to choose a place and to calculate the necessary quantity of building materials.

Foundation for tandyr

If possible, place under the stove is better to choose sandy - this is the least humid soil, which after rains quickly dries up. In the absence of sandstones on the site, a shallow round foundation pit breaks out under the foundation, the bottom is leveled and wakes up with sand. The site is rammed and the foundation is laid: laid out with a brick or poured with concrete (cement). When laid out brick tandyr, the reviews are most positive when using a reinforced concrete slab. However, at the same time, the price of the furnace increases, and additional hassles arise on its even laying.

Construction of tandyr

When the foundation is ready and dried (if it is required), a drawing of the future tandoor is drawn on it, and the laying of its walls begins. On the circumference, the first row of bricks is laid on the end and fixed with a mortar. For reliability to dry, you can fix a series of wires. As an ashtray, an asbestos pipe is used - it is inserted in the second row of bricks. It would be more reasonable to immediately carry out the internal coating of the tandyr - for example, a chamotte blizzard, but the clay will also go. If you do this after the erection, you will significantly add difficulties. On the second row of bricks are mounted grates. In total you will need four rows in height.

Fixing

At the laid out and dried up oven, all joints are sealed from the outside. For this, a solution of cement with clay is used. To ensure that the brick does not "suck" water from the clay, it is sometimes necessary to moisten it when it is soiled. After drying of this layer, the second layer is applied - from clay mixed with straw. It will act in some way reinforcing and insulating wall. Day after two or three tandyr covered with a third layer - the composition is the same as for the second one. If during rain and drying it rains, the oven should be covered with polyethylene. In principle, your oven is ready. It remains to make a cover for her: you can from an iron sheet with a handle, you can from a suitable boiler - that you have enough imagination. To load products, stands are made, the oven is burnt for the first time - and is ready at least for daily use. If you want, in order to make the tandoor outwardly more attractive, you can overlay it with a natural stone. In this case, before the first burn, you will have to wait until the lining dries.

Earth Tandoor

It is considered even more convenient to use, since there is no danger of being burned, and it is more convenient to lower the stand with the same skewers. The principle of its laying little changes, just a pit digs to a depth of three-quarters of the height of the furnace. The pipe for the puff is taken longer and out. Exterior finishes will require only a "cap" left over.

Leg of lamb

Inexperienced users who have not yet accumulated their own recipes can cook meat in tandoor in such a way: take a leg of lamb, rub it with olive oil mixed with sea salt and fresh herbs - rosemary, cilantro, parsley, lard with garlic plates and hold ten hours in a polyethylene Cullet. At the right time, warm up the tandoor and hang the lamb on the oven guide for about fifty minutes.

Tandyr-nan

These are the real Uzbek cakes from the tandyr. The dough is prepared from six glasses of flour, one and a half - salted water, and yeast. When it settles down and becomes lush, hands, without a rolling pin, it stretches into fairly large layers and is baked in a heated tandyr. Do not be discouraged if for the first time a cake does not want to cling to the wall - it still needs some dexterity and skill.

Whatever you cook, in tandoor they are more fragrant and tender. Even beef will never be stiff and will cook much faster than on a conventional stove. So if you have a dacha or a country house, do not hesitate - buy or put the tandoor yourself. What is it and how to use it, we told you. Envy of friends and neighbors will be assured for sure after the first preparation in it.