Porridge can be different. Buckwheat and rice, on water and milk, lean and with meat. There is porridge tasty and undercooked, “empty” and satisfying. One word - different dishes.
What are porridge
The composition is viscous, liquid and crumbly. Crumbly are obtained from rice, buckwheat, millet, pearl barley and some other cereals. Liquid porridge - from semolina, rice, millet, oatmeal. Viscous can be obtained from rice, pearl barley and barley groats, semolina. In a properly cooked dish, the cereal is well cooked, but does not spread on a plate and keeps its shape.
Porridge is cooked in water or milk, in broth (vegetable or meat). Dressed with butter or vegetable oil, onions, lard, fruits and vegetables.
Types of cereals are even more diverse: buckwheat, millet, rice, oat, millet, barley, semolina, pea, corn, bearberry, lentil, "cudgel", Guryev, Suvorov, monastery. How many cereals, so many dishes. And not only of them can cook porridge. Vegetables are often used for cooking dishes. So, for example, pumpkin porridge is very tasty. And besides this, there are lesser-known sorghum, rye, quinoa, teff, amaranth and spelled. In the course and mixed options - Suvorov, Guryev, "Dubinushka", the monastery.
Moreover, if quinoa, amaranth and African tef are happy exotic strangers, then our ancestors actively and much prepared from spelled and funny faces.
Types of cereals in Ukraine
In Ukraine, this dish was prepared regularly and competently. It is enough to read about a dozen Ukrainian folk tales - and in half of them the heroes cook the porridge. Already 5 thousand years ago, during the Tripoli culture, people in this area knew millet, barley and wheat. The use of cereal among the Slavs was successfully supplemented by traditions.
The most famous Ukrainian porridge - kutya - was preparing for Christmas.
Some researchers trace the age of this ritual dish from the Neolithic era. Earlier wheat and barley were used for kuti, now more often - rice. According to tradition, this dish is prepared three times: on Holy evening, before the Old New Year and on the day before the Baptism of God.
Kutia was not only among Ukrainians: this dish and similar rituals associated with it were among other peoples, including Belarusians, Russians, Poles, etc.
Porridge for Russians and Belarusians
It is difficult to clearly separate some Slavs from others, if we are talking about the 12-13th century. Olga Fomina, in her book Traditions of the Russian Meal, writes that porridge was one of the most famous national dishes, in second place after cabbage soup. We used this dish not only as a hearty and affordable food, but also for ritual purposes.
Prepared various types of cereals. They ate porridge during the wedding, at the wake, at christening, before and after the battles. For each case, the recipe was different - for Christmas one, on the day of Agrafena Swimsuits - another.
Modern Belarusians also have the custom of cooking “christening porridge” for christening. After all, this dish is tasty and, perhaps, therefore preserved to this day.
How to cook porridge
There are several basic ways to prepare a dish and many variations on the theme. The main methods: porridge on water, on milk, a combination of the first and second. Side dishes from cereals and components for salad are often prepared on the water, and independent dishes, especially for children, are made on milk.
One of the cooking options is to cook porridge on a vegetable broth. As additives to it, you can use vegetables, fruits, salt, sugar, herbs, various oils and spices, nuts and dried fruits.
Lenten dish on the water
To get a tasty dish, you need to pay attention to the quality of cereals, and to water, and to dishes, and to the stove. There are absolutely no trifles in this business, every moment of cooking changes taste in one direction or another.
Groats for cereal should be free of debris and husks. Whole grain cereals, such as unpolished rice, barley, and barley, are very useful. Everything except Hercules and semolina must be washed before cooking.
Porridge on water is tastier if it is cooked on a “soft” or boiled liquid. Salt, sugar, spices and other ingredients improve and change the taste of the dish for the better. The main thing is to add them on time and in the right amount.
The cooking algorithm is common to most cereals:
- If necessary, sort out, rinse with warm or hot water (no need to wash semolina and oatmeal). Drain the water.
- Put water in the pan on fire.
- When the water boils, add the cereal to it. The ratio of cereals and water is different for each type of cereal - all depending on whether we want to get viscous, liquid or crumbly porridge.
- Rice and buckwheat are cooked in a different way - first pour the cereal, then pour cold water and put on fire.
- When the cereal absorbs water, the fire is turned off. But the porridge is left to ripen.
- When she stood, you can add nuts, fruits, dried fruits, etc.
Milk porridge
This dish is perfect for breakfast, dinner and baby food. Porridge in milk is cooked in much the same way as in water, only instead of water, a dairy product is poured into the pan. Rice, buckwheat, millet in milk can be poorly digested, so you should first boil them until half ready in water, and then bring them to “condition” with milk.
General rules for cooking in milk:
- cereal is poured into boiling liquid;
- first salt the milk, then pour the cereal into it;
- salt needs a little more than for dishes on the water;
- after cooking, the porridge in milk should “reach”, evaporate (in the classic version - as long as it was on fire);
- there are cereals that must first be boiled in water, and only then in milk, for example, rice, buckwheat, millet.
Porridge "Suvorov"
Delicious dishes are obtained on vegetable and meat broth. The principle here is the same as with porridge in plain water. But the most nutritious, rich in proteins, vitamins and micro and macro elements are types of cereals from several cereals. For example, porridge "Suvorov".
According to legend, this story happened in the 90s of the XVIII century. During the military campaign, the famous commander was informed that there were very few products left - a little bit of barley, millet and pea.
It was impossible to cook food for the soldiers - not one, neither the other, nor the third was in sufficient quantity. Suvorov was not at a loss - he ordered to mix all three products and cook from a mixture of cereals. The health benefits of the porridge were undeniable, so this dish was often prepared in the army. In addition, the price of cereals is low, which also contributes to the successful inclusion of food in the diet of military personnel.
They know about Suvorov porridge today. Housewives often spoil their households with it. The recipe for Suvorov porridge exists in several versions. The list of ingredients is similar. Almost all recipes have carrots, onions, and, of course, cereals. Anyone is used - starting from barley, millet and peas, to barley, rice and buckwheat or peas and millet.
How to cook porridge in Suvorov style? It necessarily includes onions, carrots and several cereals equally. Stew vegetables in a separate pan, porridge cook separately. At the end, all the ingredients are mixed and served.
Guryev’s porridge
This is a very interesting dish. It is made from semolina, creamy foam, nuts, dried fruits. It is believed that he was invented by the cook, George Yurisovsky, a retired major of the Orenburg Dragoon Regiment. She got her name by the name of Count Dmitry Guryev, who stayed with the major for some time. Another version claims that the porridge was invented by Count Guryev himself.
Guryevskaya is considered a traditional dish in Russian cuisine, although it appeared only at the beginning of the XIX century, while other types of cereals have been known for several centuries. Kaimak is used in the recipe - it is laid out in layers in a wide saucepan, alternating with semolina, cooked and ground with nuts. After the dish “comes” in the oven and at the end it is decorated with jam or fruit.
This porridge has its own secrets and nuances of cooking. It is believed that she was the favorite dish of Alexander III. Moreover, the legend says that he ate it just before the train crash in 1888.
How to cook Guryev porridge? One of the recipes advises you to do this: cook a good sticky semolina. Cool, beat the whites, grind the yolks with sugar, fry the walnuts in butter and mix it all with semolina. Take a frying pan with thick walls, pour cream and put on fire. Spread the removed foams in a stewpan or a suitable frying pan - a layer of foam, a layer of semolina, a layer of foam. The top should be a layer of porridge.
Layered porridge dessert should be baked in the oven at 180 ° C until a golden crust appears. You can serve both hot and chilled.
For decoration, jam, chopped nuts, fruits or dried fruits are suitable, and as a drink - milk and coffee shakes, sweet liquors.
Porridge "Dubinushka"
Another very tasty and interesting type of porridge is Dubinushka. It, like Guryev’s, consists of layers, only here there are much more of them.
In different porridge recipes, recipes with photos offer a different set of products. However, in general, the dish is prepared as follows: the bottom of a thick dish with high walls (such that it can be put in the oven) is greased with butter and sprinkled with breadcrumbs, the beets grated on them are laid out.
The second layer is washed millet, then grated carrots, then rice. On top of the rice is fresh bell pepper, tomatoes are placed on it.
Then come the cucumbers (fresh) and fresh finely chopped greens. The sixth layer is buckwheat. Onions are laid on it, onion - barley groats. On top of the ninth layer is a grated pumpkin.
The layered billet is poured with hot water and cooked on fire for about 20 minutes, after which it is placed in a preheated oven at a low temperature.
When the liquid evaporates, the pan can be knocked over to the dish and get a nice multi-layer “pie”. Instead of cucumbers and peppers, you can take meat. Then it turns out not lean, but a very satisfying and tasty porridge with meat, which is not a shame to include in the restaurant menu.
Monastery porridge
This is another noteworthy dish that came, according to the name, from the monks. Russian Orthodox monasteries had different statutes and attitudes towards permitted and forbidden food. But there were no bad cooks in them. There are different types of this porridge. Recipes from the photo convince us that it is prepared with cereals and vegetables. Cooked correctly and competently, this porridge is a tasty hearty and inexpensive dish.
It is usually prepared from four types of cereals, for example, buckwheat, rice, barley and millet. Often vegetables and spices are added - onions, carrots, black and red peppers, mushrooms. Porridge is perfect for fasting and diet, and if you add mushrooms, it will become a full-fledged source of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
Pumpkin porridge
Pumpkin - not at all cereal, but porridge from it turns out noble, aromatic and healthy. This vegetable has vitamin T (B11, carnitine, L-carnitine), which affects the physiological processes in the body. Pumpkin is cooked in different ways. It is baked, boiled, mixed with cereals. One of the cooking options is pumpkin porridge in milk with the addition of cinnamon, salt and sugar.
To do this, you need to cut the vegetable into pieces. Heat the milk. When it boils, add pumpkin slices, salt and sugar to taste and a little, on the tip of a spoon, cinnamon powder. You need to boil the porridge over low heat, stirring until the pumpkin dissolves. The result is a rather liquid, but very tasty and healthy dish.
Each type of porridge is useful and necessary for health. Fiber, protein, slow carbohydrates (as opposed to fast in cakes and sugar), macro and micronutrients - and all this is affordable. It remains only to learn how to cook porridge deliciously.