Mutton or beef salted and cured, then dried in the sun and wind (and often cold-smoked), so it keeps for months.
Lygur Gezha (Dried & Smoked Meat)
Ingredients
Method
- Score the meat deeply in many places so the salt can penetrate.
- Salt it generously, all over.
- Rest 3–4 hours for the salt to permeate.
- Roll it up, lay it on a plate, and keep in a cool place overnight to corn fully.
- The next morning, hang it in a windy, sunny spot, wrapped in gauze, and let it dry.
- For extra flavour, cold-smoke it over a gentle fire for a few hours before drying.
- Store cool; it keeps for months. To eat, cut a portion and fry in fat (or grill on skewers), and serve hot with paste.
This is the recipe from the Recipes section of the Circassian app, where you can also scale it and save it to your favourites.
Kitchen words in Circassian
The words for what is in this dish, in Kabardian (East Circassian) and Adyghe (West Circassian), with audio from the Circassian app’s lessons and audio course.
| English | Kabardian | Adyghe |
|---|---|---|
| meat | лыly | лыlə |
| salt | шыгъуshyghu | щыгъуshchəghu |
| food | шхынshkhyn | шхыныshkhənə |
| delicious | IэфI'ef' | IэшIу'eshIu |
| This is delicious! | Мыр IэфIщ!Myr 'ef'shch! | Мыр IэшIу!Myr 'esh'u! |
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Lygur Gezha: questions
How long does it take to make Lygur Gezha?
About 60 minutes, according to the recipe in the Circassian app.
How many people does this Lygur Gezha recipe serve?
It serves 8. The servings control above the ingredients recalculates every quantity for 1 to 40 people.
What is Lygur Gezha made of?
The ingredients are: 2 kg mutton or beef, in a large cut; plenty of salt; gauze (to keep off flies); optional: gentle smoke (traditionally from half-dried nettle stalks); fat, for later frying.
Is Lygur Gezha an everyday or a festive dish?
The Circassian app files it as an everyday dish (Meat & Cured).
Where does this Lygur Gezha recipe come from?
From the Recipes section of the Circassian app. The app’s recipes draw on Amjad Jaimoukha’s book Circassian Cuisine and were cross-checked against Russian and Adyghe food sources.
Sources
- Circassian app, Recipes section, recipe “Lygur Gezha (Dried & Smoked Meat)” (recipe data last changed July 2026). The app’s recipes draw on Amjad Jaimoukha’s book Circassian Cuisine and were cross-checked against Russian and Adyghe food sources.
- Circassian app: audio course, Kabardian and Adyghe (the kitchen words: cheese, meat, milk, bread, tea, water, food, delicious), and the lessons’ vocabulary (chicken, salt, butter, honey).
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