Kurdish cuisine

Kurdish cuisine ( or Xwarina Kurdî) consists of a wide variety of foods prepared by the Kurdish people. There are cultural similarities of Kurds and their immediate neighbours in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Armenia. Kurdish food is typical of western Asian cuisine.

Culinary customs




Kurdish cuisine makes abundant use of fresh herbs and spices.



Sweetened black tea is a very common drink, along with bitter strong coffee. Another favourite Kurdish drink is Mastaw (in Sorani) or Ava Mast, which is yogurt and salt mixed with water. The fermented version of this is called Dô (Doogh).

Staples of Kurdish cuisine are Berbesel, Biryanî, Dokliw, Kelane, Kulerenaske, Kube, Parêv Tobûlî, Kuki (meat or vegetable pies), Birinç (white rice alone or with meat or vegetables and herbs), and a variety of salads, pastries, and drinks specific to different parts of Kurdistan. Other popular dishes are Makluba, kofta, shifta, shilah/maraga, spinach with eggs, wheat & lentil soup, beet & meat soup, sweet turnip, cardamon cookies, burgul pilaf, mehîr, hûr û rûvî, pel (yaprakh), chichma this dish is common in Erbil (Hewlêr), tefti, niskene and nane niskan.

Sawar, a traditional dish among Kurdish farmers, is made of wheat grain that is boiled, sun dried and pounded in a mortar (curn) to get rid of the husk. The wheat is then crushed in a mill (destarr). The resulting grain food can be boiled and served.

Tepsî is a dish of aubergines, green peppers, courgettes and potatoes in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. Teşrîb consists of layers of naan in a sauce of green pepper, tomato, onions and chillies.

Dairy products
In Kurdish, yoghurt is called mast, and is considered the most popular fermented dairy product.



Bread
In Kurdistan, bread can be found in various forms. Their ingredients differ as well as their shapes, densities, and textures.



Stuffed vegetables
Stuffed vegetables are widely known as Pelpêç or Îprax (Sarma) or Pel (Dolma) in Kurdish regions. It is slowly simmered and they fill the house with an irresistible scent of fresh herbs, aromatics, and tangy lemons.


 * Pel (Dolma)
 * Pelpêç or Îprax (Yaprak or Sarma)

Meat dishes
As nomads and herders, lamb and chicken have been the main dishes of Kurdish cuisine for centuries.

Non-alcoholic beverages

 * Kurdish coffee (Qehweya Kezwanê or Kafêya Kurdî)
 * Chai (Çay)
 * Do
 * Mastaw

Related cuisines

 * Arab cuisine
 * Armenian cuisine
 * Assyrian cuisine
 * Azerbaijani cuisine
 * Balkan cuisine
 * Caucasian cuisine
 * Central Asian cuisine
 * Cypriot cuisine
 * Greek cuisine
 * Iranian cuisine
 * Levantine cuisine
 * Mediterranean cuisine
 * Mesopotamian cuisine
 * Middle Eastern cuisine
 * Ottoman cuisine
 * Turkish cuisine
 * Turkmen cuisine