Kavurma

Kavurma is a broad type of fried or sautéed meat dish found in Turkish cuisine. The name also refers to canned or preserved versions of a similar dish, prepared by dry frying the meat to render down the fat. Similar dishes are known in Central Asia as kuurdak.

Etymology

Its name comes from the Turkic word for the technique of frying, ''qawirma'' (" fried thing")Perry, C. "Korma, Kavurma, Ghormeh: A family, or not so much?" in Hosking (ed.) ''Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009'', p.254 which subsequently was adopted into other languages such as Persian, Arabic, and Urdu. ("kavurma" (frying) is decidedly a Turkish word and ..it is widely used with minor changes in Arabic, Persian and Urdu") Through these, the word - ''kavurma'' in the modern Turkish language - was the root of the names for other widely different dishes, such as the braised korma of the Indian Subcontinent,"korma, n.". OED Online. June 2013. Oxford University Press the stewed qovurma of Azerbaijan and the stewed ghormeh of Iranian cuisine.Perry, C. "Korma, Kavurma, Ghormeh: A family, or not so much?" in Hosking (ed.) ''Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009'', p.254 Despite the use of the same root word, it is quite possible that the dishes themselves are not related.Perry (2009), p.256

Ingredients and technique

In Turkey, ''kavurma'' or ''saç kavurma'' refers to a dish made by sautéing or frying onions and meat such as lamb, beef, hare or other game briskly over a high heat. Peppers such as urfa biber are nearly always used, and the dish is cooked and often served in a shallow two-handled pan or ''saç'' which has its origins in the cooking utensils used by nomads. ''Çoban Kavurma'', "shepherd's kavurma", similarly comprises meat fried with onion, tomato and capsicum, while ''sahanda kavurma'' is served in a small metal pan called a ''sahan''.

A related dish, also known as ''kavurma'', involves frying the finely minced meat slowly to render down the fat in a technique analogous to confit.Perry (2009), p.255 Like confit, the meat can then be stored in jars or other containers sealed with a layer of fat: commercially produced versions are available from Turkish grocers. This type of "winter" ''kavurma'' was in the past an important part of the diet of the Turkish military,''Proceedings of the Armed Forces International Nutrition Conference'' (1958), Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense, p.14 and was particularly used in times when fresh meat was scarce. It was often prepared from the meat of sheep slaughtered in the autumn, for storage during the winter,Halıcı (1999), p.39 when small amounts would be used to flavour vegetable and cereal dishes. In Lebanon and Syria, the same preserving method is known as ''awarma'', and as ''qāwurma'' in Iraq,
though in the latter the word is also used for the simple sautéd meat dish also found in Turkey. The same confit-like technique is also used in Turkmenistan to preserve lamb or camel meat.

Meatless kavurma

In parts of northern and western Turkey ''kavurma'' refers to a vegetable dish. Like other versions, it begins by frying onions, but then adds chopped vegetables, often including pickled vegetables, along with water and cooking everything together. It is possible that this meatless form of ''kavurma'' has its origins in older fast day dishes of the region.

References

{{Cuisine of Turkey, kavurma
Turkish cuisine
Turkish words and phrases
food preservation