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Shared by Alona Eisenberg

Finding a Route to the Kavkaz Mountains in the Kitchen

Family Journey

Makhachkala, RussiaBeit Shemesh, Israel
Jerusalem, Israel
4 recipes
Ingar Poli (Kavkazi Pasta With Walnut Sauce)

Ingar Poli (Kavkazi Pasta With Walnut Sauce)

2 - 4 servings30min plus 30min soaking time

Ingredients

For the sauces:

  • 2 ounces (⅓ cup) walnuts
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • ½ cup dried sulfured apricots, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes

For the dough:

  • 1 bunch chives, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Kurze (Kavkazi Beef-Filled Dumplings With Garlic Vinegar)

2 dozen dumplings1h 30min

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 pound (3⅓ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 to 1¼ cups water

For the filling:

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 6 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 pound ground beef 
  • ¼ bunch cilantro, washed and finely chopped

For the sauce:

  • ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
  • 3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
Chudo (Kavkazi Flatbread Stuffed With Pumpkin)

Chudo (Kavkazi Flatbread Stuffed With Pumpkin)

6 - 8 servings1h plus 1h30min for rising or overnight

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 pound (3⅓ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil 
  • 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1½ to 1¾ cups lukewarm water

For the filling:

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (or canola oil for a parve or dairy-free version)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • ¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
  • 2 pounds peeled and coarsely grated (about 8 cups) fresh pumpkin (or butternut squash if fresh pumpkin is unavailable)
  • 3 ounces (⅔ cups) shelled walnuts, finely ground in a food processor
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing (or canola oil for a parve version)
Tara (Kavkazi Beef and Chard Soup)

Tara (Kavkazi Beef and Chard Soup)

4 - 6 servings2h

Ingredients

  • 1 pound hearty greens, such as mallow or Swiss chard, rinsed and dried
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
  • 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 pound ground beef or lamb
  • ½ bunch cilantro, cleaned and coarsely chopped
  • 3½ cups boiling water
  • ½ tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
  • ½ cup short grain white rice
  • Matzo, broken into bite-sized pieces, for serving
Recipes
1
Ingar Poli (Kavkazi Pasta With Walnut Sauce)

Ingar Poli (Kavkazi Pasta With Walnut Sauce)

2 - 4 servings30min plus 30min soaking time

Ingredients

For the sauces:

  • 2 ounces (⅓ cup) walnuts
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • ½ cup dried sulfured apricots, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes

For the dough:

  • 1 bunch chives, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2

Kurze (Kavkazi Beef-Filled Dumplings With Garlic Vinegar)

2 dozen dumplings1h 30min

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 pound (3⅓ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 to 1¼ cups water

For the filling:

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 6 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 pound ground beef 
  • ¼ bunch cilantro, washed and finely chopped

For the sauce:

  • ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
  • 3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
3
Chudo (Kavkazi Flatbread Stuffed With Pumpkin)

Chudo (Kavkazi Flatbread Stuffed With Pumpkin)

6 - 8 servings1h plus 1h30min for rising or overnight

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 pound (3⅓ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil 
  • 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1½ to 1¾ cups lukewarm water

For the filling:

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (or canola oil for a parve or dairy-free version)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • ¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
  • 2 pounds peeled and coarsely grated (about 8 cups) fresh pumpkin (or butternut squash if fresh pumpkin is unavailable)
  • 3 ounces (⅔ cups) shelled walnuts, finely ground in a food processor
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing (or canola oil for a parve version)
4
Tara (Kavkazi Beef and Chard Soup)

Tara (Kavkazi Beef and Chard Soup)

4 - 6 servings2h

Ingredients

  • 1 pound hearty greens, such as mallow or Swiss chard, rinsed and dried
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
  • 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 pound ground beef or lamb
  • ½ bunch cilantro, cleaned and coarsely chopped
  • 3½ cups boiling water
  • ½ tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
  • ½ cup short grain white rice
  • Matzo, broken into bite-sized pieces, for serving

Read more about Alona Eisenberg in “A Grandfather’s Kavkaz Soup Lives on in Israel” and try her recipe for tara (Kavkazi beef and chard soup).

In her Jerusalem home, Alona Eisenberg hosts dinners, serving dishes like tara, a soup of mallow leaves and ground beef and ingar poli, a fresh pasta that verges on gnocchi made with spring onion to curious diners. These recipes are rare, not only in Jerusalem but beyond its limits. They come from the Kavkazi Jewish community, sometimes referred to as Mountain Jews, who live in the Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas. 

Alona’s family lived as part of this community for generations, but in 1922, long before she was born, driven by Zionism, they planned to make Aliyah. They sold their belongings and property and traveled to Batumi, Georgia, where boats were leaving for Ottoman-ruled Palestine. But, when word reached of Ottomans drowning boats, the ship the family was on turned back. With nothing, they returned to Makhachkala, Dagestan to rebuild their lives. 

Alona was raised in Dagestan by her grandfather Matitya after her mother died when she was six. By the time she was eight-years-old, Alona was cooking for herself, her sisters, and her grandfather. Learning to cook took time. The first time she made shakshuka, she burned it so thoroughly that “even the cats from my block didn’t want to eat it,” she jokes. By the age of 15, though, she had developed a full repertoire of recipes including complex dishes like dolma, or stuffed grape leaves, her grandfather taught her to make. 

In 1996, her family again tried to make Aliyah, this time successfully. In her new home, she pursued a degree at an art institute, and found her way back to the kitchen in her late 20s. She started to blog about her life and interests. “After a couple of months, I understood it’s not just a blog, it’s become a food blog,” she says. She started to dig into the Kavkazian kitchen, looking for recipes and her identity. “It started a kind of burning in my bones,” she adds. 

Her aunts didn’t understand her quest and weren’t eager to share their recipes, so she turned to the internet, asking other Kavkazi Jews about their recipes in private Facebook groups, realizing that most only knew of 20 to 30 recipes from their community. She went deeper, searching Russian websites, on Instagram, Chechnyan culinary blogs, and connecting with Muslim women from the region who prepare some of the same dishes.  

“I collect knowledge about this cuisine from everyone who agrees to sit with me,” Alona says. She notes all of it in a spreadsheet, adding to her repertoire for her dinners and her blog. As she’s cooked her way through the Kavkazian recipes she’s uncovered, some bring her full circle. Two years ago, she found a recipe for ingar poli, the fresh, thick pasta made with spring onion that grows in the Caucasus. It took work and many rounds of testing, but she was able to recreate the version her mom made for her when she was little. 

Everytime she works on her Kavkaz project, she says: “I understand this is wide and huge and I’m only at the beginning of the process.”

For a traditional Kavkazi Feast, prepare all of these dishes and serve them on an abundant table filled with pickles and salad.