Kuraga (dried apricots) is affectionately being referred to as the alternative currency of Tajikistan by EastFruit journalists. Interest in unique Tajik dried fruits is constantly growing. The country’s abundance of sunshine forms very sweet apricots of local varieties and drying them under the same sun without using any artificial heat sources makes this product truly special.
Another rare feature of kuraga from Tajikistan is the incredible concentration of apricot orchards in just four regions of the country! There are so many orchards that there is simply nowhere to dry the harvested apricots. Thus, they are laid out on any free piece of land – construction sites, yards, orchard aisles. Sometimes they are drying on the roofs of houses!
The apricot drying process is a must-see versus reading about it 100 times so we suggest you watch EastFruit’s video about how apricots are grown, harvested, dried, transported, packaged and sold (with emotional bargaining) in the Sughd region of Tajikistan! You will learn how apricot sulphation is carried out; which apricots the locals choose; how kuraga, kaisa, apricot and bargak differ; how a family can earn $20,000 from apricots in one month and much more!
Below you can watch EastFruit’s video about dried apricots of Tajikistan:
By the way, locals also make good money from green apricots known “gura” in Tajikistan and “dovcha” or “dovuccha” in Uzbekistan. Also, despite the frost in late February, dovcha are already on sale in supermarkets of Uzbekistan. You can watch EastFruit’s video about green apricots below:
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