Yes: use a fork or the base of a glass. The chekich only makes the pattern and does not affect the taste.
Real Uzbek non is baked in a tandoor, a clay oven in which the dough is pressed against the hot wall. A tandoor is hard to recreate at home, but you can get close with a hot pizza stone or cast-iron pan in an oven at its highest setting, moist air from a dish of water and the right dough. The bread comes out with a golden crust, a soft crumb and the classic Uzbek pattern pricked into the centre with a chekich (a bread stamp).
Method
- 1
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and leave for 5 minutes, until frothy.
- 2
Mix the flour with the salt, then pour in the yeast mixture and the oil.
- 3
Knead for 10 minutes until smooth; cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour.
- 4
The dough should double in size; knock it back and divide it into 2–3 pieces.
- 5
Stretch each piece by hand into a round 22 cm across.
- 6
Leave a hollow in the centre so the rim is thicker than the middle, then prick the middle with a fork or a chekich.
- 7
Heat the oven to 250 °C with a baking tray or pizza stone inside.
- 8
Put a dish of hot water on the floor of the oven to create steam.
- 9
Transfer the bread to the hot tray, brush it with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- 10
Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown.
Cook's tips
- A pizza stone gives the closest thing to tandoor heat in a home oven; without one, use a cast-iron pan.
- Steam in the oven (the dish of water) is essential: without it the crust turns hard rather than crisp.
- Do not make the bread too thick: about 2 cm at the rim and 0.5 cm in the middle.
- Lay the freshly baked bread on a tea towel and cover it to keep it soft.
FAQ
Uzbek non (tandoor flatbread): common questions
It is the Uzbek tradition: the thin centre bakes faster and turns crisp, while the thick rim stays soft, so one bread has two different textures.
Top-grade white flour for classic non. Wholemeal flour gives a darker, denser bread.
It is best on the day it is baked. By the second day it is a little dry; warm it in the oven for 5 minutes under a damp tea towel.
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Get the ingredients at Arkan Bazar
You will find rice, spices, dried fruit, nuts, non flatbread and tea for most of these recipes on our counter at Riga Central Market, Nēģu iela 7, open daily from 09:00 to 17:00.