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

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, "qovurma" refers to a number of related dishes, most of which are begun by frying meat in

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

and which often include dried fruit. In addition to fruit,

verjuice Verjuice ( ; from Middle French ''vertjus'' 'green juice') is a highly acidic juice made by pressing unripe grapes, crab-apples or other sour fruit. Sometimes lemon or sorrel juice, herbs or spices are added to change the flavour. In the Midd ...

, sour grape juice, is often used as flavouring. Similar stews flavoured with fruit are found in the adjacent country of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, where they are referred to by the name ''

khoresh Khoresh ( fa, خورش) or Khoresht ( fa, خورشت, ckb, خۆرشت) is a generic Iranian term for stew dishes in the Iranian cuisine, Afghan cuisine, Tajik cuisine and also Kurdish cuisine. The word is a substantive of the verb ''khordan'' ( ...

''. 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 Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Turkic cooking: "sabzi" means "green" in Persian. ''Sabzi qovurma'' is served either accompanied by

plov Pilaf ( US spelling) or pilau ( UK spelling) is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some techniq ...

(pilaf), or as a dish on its own with

yoghurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bact ...

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 Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...

,Turşu qovurma
Azeri Food, accessed 30-01-18 while ''nur qovurma'' features lamb and

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

References

Azerbaijani stews {{Azerbaijan-cuisine-stub