on a on a dastarkhan cloth. Dishes Desserts Halva is made from sesame seeds, with flour, sugar, milk and nuts. Fruit compote with nuts is a typical dessert dish. There are hundreds of melon varieties grown locally in Central Asia, and plums, apples, apricots, pears, berries and cherries are locally available. In addition to these pomegranates, fig, peaches and persimmons are imported. The local version of baklava is called paklama. For Eid celebrations, deep-fried dough balls drenched in honey syrup called çäkçäk are piled into mounds, along with sugar-dusted dough spirals called urama. Kyrgyz boorsog is a similar deep-fried dough dish, called bogursak in Turkmenistan, and baursaki in Kazakhstan. Not traditional to the regional cuisine, European-style layered cakes and pastries are available in modern times. Nuts, honey, fruits and halva remain common traditional choices. Fruits The region's melons are renowned, and cherries, apples, plums, peaches and figs are also locally grown. Fruit is consumed as a snack, fresh or dried, at all times of day. Grains The main grain crops of Central Asia are millet, rice, wheat and barley. Rice and wheat are used to make the staple dishes of flatbread and noodles. Wheat flour is used to make traditional flatbread called tandyr nan, dumplings called manti, smaller dumplings called chuchvara and stuffed pastries called samsa. Millet is the main ingredient of the beverage boza. Similar in flavor to beer, boza is made in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Rice pilaf is the most iconic Central Asian dish, with Uzbek cuisine offering a multitude of varieties, often mixed with legumes for added protein. From Turkic cuisine came the flatbreads yufka and çörek, katmer pastry and a noodle dish called tutmaç. Beliashi are open-faced pies, cooked in a skillet, from Kazakh cuisine. Vegetables The most common vegetables are turnips, tomatoes, radishes, onions, peas, red peppers and cucumbers. Turp is the local name for a large green radish that is usually eaten fresh as a side dish or salad. "Yellow carrot" (sabzi turisida) is actually a type of parsnip that is used in pilaf dishes. Squash are a common ingredient for stews, soups, dumplings, and samsa. Both written history and molecular genetic studies indicate that the domestic carrot has a single origin in Central Asia. Its wild ancestors probably originated in Persia (regions of which are now Iran and Afghanistan). See also List of Asian cuisines Bukharan Jewish cuisine Kazakh cuisine Kyrgyz cuisine Soviet