Metro Atlantans with a hankering for Uzbek cuisine finally have a place to get it

Laghman the signature dish at Laghman Express a new Uzbek restaurant in Alpharetta Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow This story was first published in South a news publication dedicated to Metro Atlanta s immigrant and refugee communities and is part of a partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta In a busy Alpharetta kitchen three cooks start their day around a m hand-pulling dough into long and silky noodles and they don t stop until the restaurant closes Making the noodles to order ensures that diners will get to experience the soft buttery texture that s vital to the traditional Uzbek dish laghman says Babur Akhmedov co-owner of the new Central Asian restaurant Laghman Express For the restaurant s signature dish the noodles are served with meat and vegetables green peppers tomatoes mushrooms in a comforting broth made with garlic coriander and cumin and topped with cilantro Open for a month Laghman Express is an extension of a Brooklyn business founded by Babur s nephew Oibek Dzhuraev which within six months of launching in was named one of the best restaurants in the city by the New York Times Atlanta was a natural choice for a second location Babur reported speaking from experience When he moved here more than a decade ago from Kyrgyzstan he bemoaned the lack of good Uzbek food Islam is a major religion in Central Asia Uzbekistan s population is more than percent Muslim and Babur noted that a large number of of the Atlanta metro s Muslim populations overlap in northern Fulton County We came up saying okay Alpharetta is the best place to open he says Uzbeks are an ethnic group native to Central Asia who make up preponderance of the population of what s now Uzbekistan a former Soviet republic that became independent in The cuisine of the region was influenced by its position along the former Silk Road key ingredients include grains namely long-grain rice meats lamb beef yellow carrots and spices like cumin and coriander The prominence of noodles reflects the influence of Chinese cuisine At Laghman Express Babur imports rice from Uzbekistan via New York and takes care to source the special yellow carrots a key ingredient in plov a type of rice pilaf from Canada The meat is halal and the restaurant doesn t serve alcohol given its Muslim background and clientele In the inadequate weeks it s been open Laghman Express has also proved popular with Russian Ukrainian Chinese and other metro residents curious to get a taste of a hard-to-find cuisine The recipes haven t been changed to appeal to American audiences Babur adds his dishes taste the same as they would in Central Asia Hand-pulled noodles at Laghman Express Courtesy of Laghman Express At the same time the chefs of the restaurant trained in Brooklyn by Babur s nephew prepare the ingredients they will need throughout the day to serve fresh orders The noodle dish laghman comes from the Uyghurs says Babur a Muslim ethnic group who adapted it from another regional ethnic group the Dungans And the Dungans took it from China Babur adds a centuries-long history in one dish Both Uyghurs and Dungans lived close to the former Silk Road sharing migration patterns and ingredients in their respective cuisines while preserving particular Chinese influence Related All Alpharetta coverage from Rough Draft Why restaurateurs flock to the diverse food scene in Norcross This Facebook group knows ATL s Asian restaurant scene inside and outThe cumin-scented rice dish plov alternately spelled palov is made with lamb or beef and cooks for more than two hours The second-most popular entree on Laghman Express s menu it s also Uzbekistan s national dish and an entry on UNESCO s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity which notes that there is a saying in Uzbekistan that guests can only leave their host s house after palov has been offered Uzbek plov with a side salad Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow Patrons at Laghman Express are also fond of the restaurant s kebabs Babur says cooked in charcoal for three hours with only cumin and salt as seasoning People from Central Asia can never get used to the taste of kebabs prepared elsewhere like Turkey Babur says because they add spices that we re not used to Another meaty menu item Central Asian Manty fried or steamed dumplings filled with minced beef or lamb and served with sour cream Lula kebab Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow Fried manty Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow Laghman Express doesn t serve dessert yet but Babur soon plans to offer a napoleon a Russian honey cake called medovik and a dish of fried noodles doused with syrup called chack-chak He s also in the process of bringing a tandoor oven to the restaurant for baking pastries right now the Uzbek naan served as a side is prepared in a standard convection oven Uzbek naan which will eventually be baked at Laghman Express in a tandoor oven Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow Babur constantly dreamed about opening his own restaurant Back in Kyrgyzstan his family was in the restaurant industry and still is He grew up helping four of his uncles in their restaurants he noted At Laghman Express in Alpharetta Babur s brother-in-law and his niece s husband are involved in the business he wants to keep it a family affair It was my dream to open a restaurant and I didn t know when it was going to be I was constantly saying whenever I retire I m going to open this restaurant not for profit but just to serve the food Babur says Although he hasn t retired yet and still works full-time in a different industry he s already achieved his goal This is one of my dreams come true he says That s why I m really happy Laghman Express Windward Plaza Alpharetta Read more stories from Rough Draft media partner South including food stories like this one The post Metro Atlantans with a hankering for Uzbek cuisine definitively have a place to get it appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta