Strolling through Payshanba Bazaar, Khujand

Local markets are always must-visit places for us to meet the locals and experience the local life up close. During our trip to Central Asia, we only had one day in Khujand, which is the second-largest city in Tajikistan. So, of course, we dedicated almost half our time there exploring a local bazaar, Payshanba Bazaar.

Payshanba bazaar is situated in front of Khujand Mosque, which is the city’s main mosque. People meet for a chat in the open space between the mosque and bazaar, and there are many street traders selling vegetables, fruit and bread. But the real bazaar is inside the pavilion, the architecture of which is influenced by the Soviet and Central Asian styles.

Discover the essential ingredients of Central Asian local cuisine

The main passageway features a line of bakery stalls. This is the uniquely shaped naan that is widely seen from Central Asia to the Middle-East. People at the market kept asking us to take their pictures, which was how we interacted with the local people!

This is another typical local food of this region, salted cheese, which people eat it as a snack. It’s very hard and extremely salty! I was unable to finish even one piece…

The vegetable section in a local market is always fun. And this was certainly the case at Payshanba Bazaar. This pictures shows dill, which is served at every meal and that people eat as a main salad. The bunch of fresh dill was indeed very tasty! After we got home we vowed to eat more dill, but the taste was never the same!

Lamb is also a key ingredient in the region’s local cuisine. Shoppers will choose the part they want, and a butcher then cuts the meat on the spot. And there is always mutton suet displayed alongside. The fatty oil adds a strong and rich flavor to dishes. Ahhh, this huge block of fat looks scary, reminding us that this turns out to be our belly in the end!

Explore interesting and unique foods

This was something I had never seen before. My initial thought was that it was a type of bitter gourd, and I wondered why it was being sold at a fruit shop. It is, in fact, a fruit, specifically a type of pomegranate. And yeah, it actually tasted like pomegranate!

These crystal bars are also a common sight at local markets across Central Asia. They are basically made of sugar, but unique to this bazaar was there color. While typically a pale-yellow color in other Central Asian countries, here the bars were vivid orange. The shop owner told us that the color comes from lemon.

Lastly, this region produces great honey. It’s very organic and has a very pure taste. We were persuaded to buy some every time a shop owner gave us a sample to taste. By the end of the trip, we had 2 kg of honey in total!