One of the surprisingly tasty and quick to prepare dishes that came to us from Ukrainian cuisine is millet kulesh. Its recipe is so popular that, perhaps, only Ukrainian borscht is ahead of it in popular love.
The Cossacks were the first to prepare kulesh on their long campaigns. Due to the uniformity of provisions, I had to come up with a quick, nutritious and nutritious dish. So there was a recipe for kulesh, which does not require time-consuming, culinary skills and some special conditions for preparing a dish.
Currently, kulesh is a mandatory attribute of any campaign or friendly gatherings around the campfire. But even in your own kitchen you can prepare a dish that will not differ in any way from the “camping” option. Today we will consider both cooking methods: on the stove and on the fire.
Kulesh. Home-made recipe
The classic recipe includes only two main ingredients: millet and lard. But if you wish, you can diversify the recipe with other products: potatoes, meat, mushrooms, vegetables, fresh herbs, etc.
Essential Ingredients for a Classic Recipe
It is necessary to prepare:
- 100 g of millet.
- A couple of small onions.
- 200 g of salted lard.
- 5 potatoes.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Spice.
- Fresh greens.
Still need water - 2 liters.
How to cook
Set the pot with two liters of water on a strong fire and wait for the liquid to boil. At this time, rinse the cereal. Pour millet into a deep plate and substitute it under the tap. Pour half the volume of water and begin to gradually drain it from one edge so that the millet does not float away with the water. Pour water again, washing millet. For two or three rinses, the croup completely gets rid of excess and unnecessary impurities and dust.
It is important to remember that any recipe for kulesh requires the addition of cereals only in boiling water. A pinch of salt and bay leaf are added at the same time as the grits. The cooking time for cereals is about 20 minutes.
Before the end of the cooking time, add the cubes of potatoes to the pan. Now you can reduce the heat and simmer the dish until cooked.
While the potatoes are languishing, you can do the cooking of frying. For a kulesh recipe, one onion and one small carrot are required. Vegetables are cut into small cubes. On the frying pan we spread the pork fat, cut into long slices. Fry it until a crispy dark brown crust appears. Now you can add vegetables to the bacon. As soon as they are podgolot, transfer the contents of the pan to the pan with millet and potatoes.
A couple more minutes, and the fire can be turned off. Serving the dish, you can add one spoon of sour cream and fresh herbs.
Kulesh with mushrooms and meat
Of course, kulesh is considered to be real, consisting of a handful of millet, roots and spring water. However, modern chefs have learned to correctly add other ingredients to this dish that do not spoil it, but only make it more satisfying and tasty.
We offer the second recipe for kulesh. At home, even a novice hostess can cook it. The classic recipe is complemented by aromatic wild mushrooms and hearty pork. And herbs and spices can be added at your discretion and desire.
Ingredients for the dish
Necessary:
- Three large potatoes.
- 240 g of mushrooms.
- 150 g of millet.
- Pork - 250 g.
- One onion.
- A handful of fresh chopped parsley.
- Two liters of water.
- Salt.
- Spices for meat.
- A pinch of ground black pepper.
As well as bay leaf.
Cooking method
The old Kulesh recipe required cereals and roots to be cooked in different containers. Today, you can not adapt to tradition and significantly save time on cooking, boiling cereals and potatoes together.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. We wash millet several times in a plate filled with running water. We send cereals and vegetables to boil over high heat for ten minutes. In the pan, do not forget to throw a couple of bay leaves, peppercorns and a pinch of salt. After we turn off the fire on the stove and simmer the kulesh for another fifteen minutes.
While potatoes and millet are being cooked on one burner, we will put a pan on another and fry the onion with meat and mushrooms on it. If store frozen or fresh mushrooms were taken for the dish, then no cooking is required. If for cooking you bought or picked up fragrant forest mushrooms with your own hands, it is recommended to boil them for 40-60 minutes before frying.
We send the fried meat, onions and mushrooms to the pan, where millet has already been cooked and soft and crumbly potatoes have become. It remains only to turn off the fire, cover the container with a lid and let the dish brew a little. The last stage is the submission. In a portioned plates we put a thick kulesh, seasoning it with a couple of sprigs of fresh parsley and a spoonful of thick homemade sour cream.
Kulesh at the stake
A separate topic is a real hiking cooked in a pot on a bonfire. A recipe with a photo will help novice housewives to cook the dish correctly. It should be noted that the cooking process will be slightly different from the home version. Since there is no way to place several containers with a brew at the stake, you have to adapt to the situation.
Essential Products for Camping Kulesh
Take with you:
- 220 g of millet.
- 2 pcs. Luke.
- 1 PC. - carrot.
- 4 things. - potatoes.
- Pork fat - 200 g.
- Chives with feathers, parsley, dill - any greens that are at hand.
- Salt.
- Spice.
Still need a bay leaf.
Description of the cooking process
Perhaps you should not focus on the process of collecting firewood, laying out a fireplace, conceiving a fire and forming an improvised stove. We will only say that the heat under the pot should be strong enough in the first stages of cooking.
So, since we do not have several burners at hand on which it would be possible to cook and fry food at the same time, we slightly change the recipe for kulesh. We start the cooking process not by cooking cereals, but by frying the fat. Cut the lard into small cubes and put them on the bottom of the pot. As soon as the fat gives fat, add finely chopped onions and carrots to it. At this point, do not go far from the fire, as a strong, almost uncontrolled fire under the kettle fries everything very quickly. Stir the greaves and vegetables constantly.
As soon as the frying is ready, we pour water into the pot and pour the millet. Mix thoroughly and close the lid. Cook the grits for about fifteen minutes. During this time, it will be possible to peel and dice the potatoes. We make the fire under the pot a little less (removing or simply moving some of the burning coals to the side) and put the potatoes in the dishes. In a small heat we simmer the dish for about 10-15 minutes, remove the pot from the fire, pour a large amount of fresh herbs into the container and, closing the lid again, give a little rest and brew.
Tasty Facts
- In some traditional families, vegetables and meat ingredients are cooked separately, and millet separately. At the last moment, the ingredients combine and the fire is immediately turned off.
- The dish is a fairly thick and rich soup. A delicious and satisfying kulesh can replace the second and first dish.
- According to tradition, pork lard must be present in the recipe for kulesh from millet, but recently, cooks have replaced it with sausages, beef fat or chicken fillet.
- Chilled kulesh can be stored in the refrigerator for more than two days.
- If you want to cook a lean dish, then instead of lard, mushrooms are put in a kulesh, and frying is done without adding oil.