Qovurma is a cooked dish that is part of the

cuisine of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani cuisine ( az, Azərbaycan mətbəxi) refers to the cooking styles and dishes of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The cuisine developed significantly due to its diversity of agriculture, from abundant grasslands which historically allowed f ...

. There are several varieties, all of which involve

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and ...

ing meat with fruit, herbs, or vegetables. Despite sometimes being translated as "kourma", the dish has no culinary relationship to the

korma Korma or qorma (; ; ) is a dish originating in Indian subcontinent, consisting of meat or vegetables braised with yogurt ( dahi), water or stock, and spices to produce a thick sauce or gravy. Etymology The English name is an anglicisation of Hind ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, although both names are derived from the same Turkic root.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

Etymology

The word "qovurma" is one of many, in several languages, thought to have descended from a prototypical Turkic root ''qawirma'', first recorded in the 13th century,Perry (2009), p.257, citing Athir al-Din abu Hayyan al-Andalusi, ''Kitab al-Idrak li-Lisan al-Adrak'' and which may have been spread across the region by the upper classes in the

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of C ...

era.

Preparation

In Azerbaijan, "qovurma" refers to a number of related dishes, most of which are begun by frying meat in butter and which often include dried fruit. In addition to fruit, verjuice, sour grape juice, is often used as flavouring. Similar stews flavoured with fruit are found in the adjacent country of Iran, where they are referred to by the name ''khoresh''. Varieties include lamb ''qovurma'', liver ''qovurma'' and ''sabzi qovurma''.Qovurma
Explore Azerbaijan, accessed 30-01-18 ''Sabzi qovurma'', or lamb stew with herbs, is a blend of Persian cuisine, Persian and Turkish cuisine, Turkic cooking: "sabzi" means "green" in Persian. ''Sabzi qovurma'' is served either accompanied by plov (pilaf), or as a dish on its own with yoghurt and crushed garlic.Sabzi qovurma
, news.az, accessed 30-01-18 ''Turşu qovurma'' combines lamb with preserved lemons and dried apricots and is flavoured with turmeric,Turşu qovurma
Azeri Food, accessed 30-01-18 while ''nur qovurma'' features lamb and pomegranate.

References

Azerbaijani stews {{Azerbaijan-cuisine-stub