Azerbaijan's culinary tradition divides into functional categories determined by climate zones and livestock distribution. Wheat cultivation in the plains enables flatbread production using tandir ovens, which remain the standard cooking vessel in rural Ganja and Shaki regions. Rice arrived through Persian trade routes before the 10th century and became the foundation of plov, prepared in approximately forty documented regional variants. The Absheron Peninsula's Caspian access created fish-centered cuisines distinct from the lamb-dependent diets of the mountainous Quba and Qusar districts. Walnuts grow in the humid Lankaran lowlands where annual precipitation exceeds 1,600 millimeters, making them available for lavangi stuffing unavailable in drier northern areas.
Plov occupies ceremonial status beyond its role as daily food. Shah plov contains dried fruits and is wrapped in lavash before baking. Wedding plov incorporates saffron threads imported historically from Iran's Khorasan province. Mourning plov excludes meat and uses only chickpeas. Each variant follows specific assembly rules where rice is parboiled, drained, then steamed with butter to create the qazmaq crust on the pot bottom, which connoisseurs consider the measure of proper technique. The rice must be long-grain, traditionally from the Lankaran region where paddies utilize Talysh Mountain runoff. Preparation time ranges from ninety minutes for basic versions to four hours for shah plov including the dough preparation.
Dolma refers to any stuffed food item, not exclusively grape leaves. Yarpaq dolmasi uses grape leaves available May through September. Badimjan dolmasi stuffs eggplant. Pomidor dolmasi uses tomatoes. Winter dolma substitutes cabbage leaves or dried grape leaves preserved in brine. The filling combines minced lamb with rice, onions, mint, and coriander in ratios that vary between Baku's equal meat-rice proportion and Nakhchivan's meat-dominant preference. Cooking occurs in wide shallow pots where dolma are stacked tightly to prevent unrolling, then weighted with a plate and simmered for fifty to seventy minutes. Serving requires katik, a matsoni yogurt variant made from thermophilic bacteria fermentation that produces higher acidity than Turkish yogurt.
Kebab encompasses multiple preparation methods, not a single dish. Lule kebab mixes ground lamb with tail fat in a four-to-one ratio, requiring fat content above twenty percent to prevent crumbling on skewers. Tika kebab uses cubed leg meat marinated in onion juice and sumac for two to twelve hours. Baliq kebab grills sturgeon sections over grapevine charcoal, traditionally available along the Kur River where vineyards have operated since the 7th century. The mangal grilling apparatus uses thirty to forty centimeters of depth to position coals at optimal distance, typically twelve to fifteen centimeters below the meat. Restaurants in Baku's Icherisheher use electric mangals due to fire regulations enacted after 1995.
Piti requires individual clay pots called piti pots that hold approximately 400 milliliters. Each pot receives chickpeas soaked twelve hours, lamb shoulder cubes with bone, tail fat, onion, saffron, and chestnuts during their October-through-January season. The pots are sealed with dough and placed in ovens at 180 degrees Celsius for three to four hours. Serving involves a two-stage consumption ritual: broth is poured into a separate bowl where diners crumble lavash flatbread into it, then the remaining solids are eaten from the pot. The dish originated in Shaki where clay suitable for pot-making is extracted near the city. Industrial production of piti pots now occurs in Ganja, though Shaki vendors claim superior quality from their local clay's higher firing tolerance.
Lavangi exists in two forms based on protein source. Baliq lavangi stuffs kutum fish caught in the Caspian Sea from March through May during spawning runs. Toyuq lavangi uses chicken. Both employ identical stuffing: ground walnuts, onions, dried plums or pomegranate seeds, and a paste made from lyakhana, the unripe green plum specific to Talysh forests. The protein is rubbed with sumac and salt, filled with stuffing, sewn closed with thread, wrapped in grape or persimmon leaves depending on season, then baked forty-five to sixty minutes. The dish appears only in Lankaran and Astara districts where walnut trees and lyakhana both grow naturally. Baku restaurants source their lyakhana paste from Lankaran suppliers who harvest in May and preserve in salt.