Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Mastava
A hearty rice soup with meat, chickpeas, and vegetables, brightened with herbs and a spoon of yogurt, a Tajik staple.
Tajik · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 50 min
~640 cal · 40g protein · 72g carbs · 20g fat · 8g fiber · 13g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Mastava is a beloved rice soup of Tajikistan and Central Asia, sometimes called a soupy plov for its similar ingredients cooked into a broth rather than a dry . Warming and filling, it is everyday home cooking, made in a big pot to feed the family.
Chunks of meat are browned with onion, carrot, and tomato, then simmered with rice (and often chickpeas) into a thick, hearty soup fragrant with cumin and coriander. It is finished with plenty of fresh herbs and, at the table, a spoonful of tangy suzma or yogurt stirred in and a dusting of black pepper. Nourishing and comforting, it is a bowl that warms through a cold Tajik winter.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 lb lamb or beef, cubed
1 cup rice
1 cup cooked chickpeas
3 cups carrot, onion, and tomato
1 tbsp ground cumin and coriander
1 handful fresh cilantro and dill
to taste salt and black pepper
1 cup thick yogurt (chakka), to serve
Instructions
1
Brown the meat with the onion, then add the carrot, tomato, and spices.
2
Add water, the rice, and chickpeas and simmer until the rice is soft and the soup thick.
✎ Chef’s note
Let the rice cook until soft and the soup turns thick and stew-like; mastava should be hearty, not a thin broth.
3
Season well and stir in most of the herbs.
4
Serve hot with more herbs and a spoon of yogurt at the table.
Tajik home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Dushanbe. Dushanbe sits in the Pamir foothills, tearing bread into qurutob and dousing it with tangy dried-yogurt sauce, onions, and herbs. Tajik cooking centres on osh plov rice, mutton, and the round tandoor-baked non that starts every meal.
🗺️
Tajikistan. More than nine tenths of Tajikistan is mountain, and the Pamirs at the eastern end sit so high that little grows. What that produces is a cuisine of things that keep: dried fruit, nuts, hard cheese, flatbread stacked and stored, and green tea drunk constantly and offered before anything else is discussed.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Tajikistan
QurutobTajikistan's national dish: flaky fatir bread torn into a tangy qurut yogurt sauce, topped with onions and herbs.
ShirchoyWarm milk tea poured over torn bread with a knob of butter, a simple Tajik mountain breakfast.
Nishallo (Whipped Ramadan Sweet)A glossy white Tajik whip of egg whites beaten into a hot sugar syrup and scented with vanilla, made for iftar in Ramadan and scooped up with warm bread.
Browse all Tajikistan recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Tajikistan meal
Choi KabudDrink
Nishallo (Whipped Ramadan Sweet)Dessert
Oshi PalavDinner
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Mastava?
A hearty rice soup with meat, chickpeas, and vegetables, brightened with herbs and a spoon of yogurt, a Tajik staple.
Where does Mastava come from?
Mastava is a Tajik dish from Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Can Mastava be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mastava recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Mastava safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Mastava take to make?
About 70 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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