Fragrant basturma on the festive table

Prepare a delicious meat snack for your family - basturma. This dried meat with spices is perfect for a snack, and, of course, for a holiday table. Basturma is prepared from beef tenderloin. It can also be prepared from any other meat according to your desire and preference. Pork tenderloin, duck fillet, chicken, and turkey are perfect for making basturma. You can replace store-bought sausage with this snack; it will be tastier and healthier.
Preparing basturma is easy and quick. The hardest part is waiting a few days for the meat to dry.
The result is a tasty, bright and aromatic meat snack. Guests will definitely appreciate such a snack.

Ingredients:

• - pork (tenderloin) - 700 g;
  
• - salt (coarse) – 400 – 500 g.

For coating the meat:

• - tomato paste – 400 g;
  
• - flour – ½ cup;
  
• - utskho suneli (chaman, blue fenugreek) – 1 tbsp. l;
  
• - garlic – 1 head;
  
• - thyme – ½ tsp;
  
• - hot pepper – 1 tsp.

You can also take a set of spices for basturma.
Khmeli Suneli - for break-in.

Cooking basturma

The meat should be washed and dried with a paper towel. Remove fat and veins.

Cover the pieces very generously with salt on all sides.
The meat must be transferred to a deep bowl with a lid.Refrigerate for two days. During this time, the meat will be completely salted.

After two days, the pieces of meat must be removed from the container and all the salt washed off. It is better to do this under running water.
Next, the meat needs to be soaked. To do this, fill any suitable container with cold water and immerse the salted pieces of meat in it. The water should completely cover them. The meat must be soaked for three hours. Every half hour the water should be drained and clean water should be refilled.

You can prepare seasonings yourself or buy a ready-made set of spices for basturma.

Suneli hops are a dry run-in that will be needed later. All other spices should be mixed together with tomato paste and flour. There is no need to add salt to the “dough”. You should get a homogeneous thick mass that is easy to spread.

The meat should be removed from the water and dried with a paper towel. The pieces must be practically dry, otherwise the “dough” will not hold together.
Coat the prepared pieces of pork with tomato paste and spices. The layer thickness should be at least ½ cm.
Then generously coat the meat with khmeli suneli.

Stepping back 1-2 cm from the edge, you need to cut holes and thread a twine or hook so that the pieces can be hung.

Basturma should dry in a well-ventilated area, but not in the sun. The meat will be ready in 8-10 days, depending on the size of the pieces.

The finished meat is cut into thin slices and served.

Basturma is stored in a paper bag in the refrigerator.