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Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies)
Small half-moon pies of thin salted-water dough around juicy lamb, onion and cumin, fried golden in a heavy pan and eaten hot with green tea.
Uzbek · medium · serves 6
prep 45 min · cook 25 min · plus 30 min hands-off time
~488 cal · 19g protein · 53g carbs · 21g fat · 2g fiber · 1g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Gumma are small fried pies, one of the everyday street foods of Uzbekistan, sold hot from vendors' pans and eaten on the go. The name covers several kinds: the Khorezm style, from the west of the country, is a thin unleavened dough folded around minced meat and onion, and in Tashkent and elsewhere gumma come stuffed with potato, pumpkin or liver too.
The dough is nothing but cold salted water and flour, kneaded until smooth and rested. The filling is lamb chopped with plenty of onion and seasoned with cumin and black pepper; Khorezm cooks work a little salted water into it with the back of a knife so it turns soft and juicy, and each pie holds a mouthful of hot broth when you bite it.
The circles are rolled thin, filled, folded into half moons, pinched shut and fried until golden on both sides. They are best eaten straight from the pan with a bowl of green tea.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- 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 6
- 240 ml cold water (for the dough)
- 1 tsp salt (for the dough)
- 400 g plain flour, plus a little for rolling
- 300 g minced lamb (not too lean)
- 1 large onion, very finely chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt (for the filling)
- 4 tbsp cold water (for the filling)
- 500 ml sunflower oil, for frying
Instructions
- 1Stir the salt into the cold water, then work in the flour a little at a time and knead for about 8 minutes into a smooth dough, neither hard nor soft. Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- 2Put the lamb and onion on a board and chop them together with a heavy knife, sprinkling on the salt and the water a spoonful at a time, until the mixture is soft, sticky and juicy. Mix in the cumin and pepper.✎ Chef’s noteWorking salted water into the meat is the Khorezm trick: it is what gives each pie a mouthful of hot juice.
- 3Roll the dough into a long rope and cut it into pieces about the size of a walnut. Roll each piece into a thin circle about 10 cm across and 3 mm thick.
- 4Put a heaped teaspoon of filling on one half of each circle, fold it over into a half moon and pinch the edges firmly shut, pressing out any air.
- 5Heat the oil about 1 cm deep in a heavy frying pan over medium heat. Fry the gumma in batches for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden and blistered and the filling is cooked through. Drain on paper and serve hot, with green tea.✎ Chef’s noteMedium heat, not high: the meat needs those few minutes to cook before the thin dough browns.
Uzbek street-food tradition (Khorezm style).
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tashkent. Bread here is stamped before it is baked. A chekich, a handle set with nails or needles, presses a pattern into the middle of each loaf so the centre stays flat and only the rim rises, and a spoked tool called a bosma marks the ring around it. Tashkent non comes out lighter and chewier than the dense Samarkand loaf.
🗺️
Uzbekistan. Palov culture and tradition was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016, and the inscription records the Uzbek line that guests may not leave until palov has been offered. It is cooked by men and women alike in a kazan, the wide cast-iron cauldron, for weddings, funerals, new year and charity meals, using rice varieties such as devzira.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Uzbekistan
Uzbek PlovSilk Road rice cooked in one kazan with lamb, mountains of carrots, cumin, and whole garlic heads.
KatlamaFlaky, layered pan-fried flatbread brushed with oil and folded, a Central Asian morning staple.
SamsaFlaky baked pastries filled with spiced lamb and onion, blistered golden in a tandoor, a Silk Road staple.
Browse all Uzbekistan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it an Uzbekistan meal
Kok Choy (Uzbek Green Tea)Drink
Chak-ChakDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies)?
Small half-moon pies of thin salted-water dough around juicy lamb, onion and cumin, fried golden in a heavy pan and eaten hot with green tea.
Where does Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies) come from?
Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies) is an Uzbek dish from Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Can Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Gumma (Uzbek Fried Meat Pies) take to make?
About 1 h 40 min in all: 45 minutes prep and 25 minutes cooking, plus 30 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 6.
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