What to do if you over-salted basturma? How to correct the dish

Basturma is a fillet of beef, horsemeat or lamb, salted, coated with a mixture of spices and cured. Real Caucasian basturma is eaten sliced into thin, translucent slices. To soften the spicy-salty taste, the meat product is infused with drinks, soaked or combined with unleavened foods.

How to reduce the amount of salt in cooked basturma

The only way to fix the taste of the meat is to soak it in cold water for at least a day, changing it every hour. The salt will escape faster from basturma cooked recently.

Another option to soften the taste is to eat dried meat with dry wine, unleavened fresh or baked vegetables, unsalted cheeses, sauces with sour cream, yogurt. Basturma goes well with spicy greens, bread, pasta, mushrooms.

Homemade basturma recipe

To prepare 2 kg of beef, you will need 1.5 kg of salt and spices:

• 10 g each of honeysuneli, paprika;
• 5 g red hot and black pepper;
• 100 g of hay fenugreek or chamannes;
• 25 g dried garlic.

How to prepare:

1. Cut the beef loin without films, fat and veins into 4 pieces of 500 g.
2. Spread half of the prepared salt in an even layer on a baking tray, put the meat on it. Sprinkle the rest of the beef on top, so that the pieces are completely covered with white crystals.
3. The semi-finished product is sent to the shelf of the refrigerator for three days. The meat juice is drained as it exudes. Every day the soaked salt is scraped off the meat. Dry poured on a washed and dried baking tray, lay the beef on it, pour the seasoning on top.
4. After salting the darkened dense meat is washed and dried.
5. The next step is shaping. Pieces of meat are wrapped with cotton cloths and pressed for 24 hours.
6. A couple of hours before the end of the pressing, prepare a dressing. Combine all the spices and seasonings in a bowl, add half a glass of water, mix, bring the mass to homogeneity.
7. In each piece closer to the narrow edge make a hole with an awl, which is passed through a strong rope or wire made of stainless steel.
8. The mixture of seasonings is spread evenly on the fillets. Hang the pieces on the balcony to dry, protecting them from direct sunlight, or leave them in a room with a temperature no higher than 25°C.
9. After three days, wrap the meat in gauze and continue drying for another month.

Basturma can be soaked even at the stage of preparation. If after salting before pressing the beef, pour cold water for 3 hours, it will turn out not too salty.