Georgian cuisine is famous for two features: its spiciness and the use of a large number of vegetables in the preparation of dishes. This combination allows food to be perfectly absorbed, making it very useful and practically dietary. Maybe that is why there are so many centenarians among Georgians?
Of course, in the modern city it’s quite problematic to cook most of the dishes of Georgian cuisine, but one of them, the famous Georgian lobio, is quite affordable, since all its components can be found at any time of the year. Therefore, knowing how to cook lobio yourself, you can well enjoy the taste and benefits of this excellent dish. At the same time, a rather low calorie content and high nutritional value inherent in this masterpiece of Georgian cuisine will be a big plus.
How to cook lobio: an option for the lazy
The classic lobio recipe requires a lot of time for cooking, and it is not always that a modern housewife has 2-3 hours left to stand at the stove. Therefore, we take:
- 2 cans of finished canned red beans ;
- 1 large or two small onions;
- 5 cloves of garlic (lobio should be sharp, so the amount of garlic can be increased up);
- a bunch of fresh green cilantro;
- 2 tablespoons of thick concentrated tomato paste;
- hot red pepper and salt to taste;
- baking soda on the tip of a knife (this ingredient is needed only to remove the legendary effect that legumes have on the body, so adding it or not is a personal matter for every cook);
- seasoning hops-suneli - to taste, but not less than one tablespoon.
From the cans with beans, we extract all the contents and send it to the pan, standing on a small fire - let it all begin to cook. At this time, we clean, wash and chop the onion very finely, which we fry in a small amount of butter. When the onion starts to “grip” slightly, pour in the pan and put the hops-suneli - this will make the flavor of the seasoning stronger. When the onion is ready, immediately pour it into a pan with beans boiling in the sauce. Let it boil for 5-7 minutes and add the tomato paste. One of the main secrets of how to cook lobio the desired consistency is to correctly evaluate it at the time of adding the paste. If the sauce is almost completely boiled away and there is little liquid, dilute the tomato concentrate with 150 ml of water and only then pour into the pan.
Since we took beans that were ready and did not require long cooking, preparation of lobio after all the necessary ingredients were in the pan should not take more than 10 minutes. After this time, using a pusher, slightly knead the beans, so that some of them turn into mashed potatoes, then salt and add finely chopped garlic and cilantro.
How to cook lobio: classic
Naturally, in Georgia itself no one uses canned beans; housewives prefer to cook from ordinary beans. In this case, the essence of the recipe remains the same, only the beans are cooked over low heat until the moment when it begins to turn into a mushy mixture. Then they add onions (not necessarily fried - often Georgians put raw chopped onions), seasonings, tomato and garlic. Having boiled lobio a little, add greens - cilantro and parsley, let it brew a little and serve it.
Georgian housewives, who know how to cook lobio not only tasty and healthy, but also as spicy as possible, prefer to add chopped fresh hot red pepper, more garlic, as well as red pepper powder near the end of cooking the beans, if fresh is not at hand. In any case, the degree of severity depends solely on the desire of the cook and on the taste preferences of the family, so choose your own lobio, which will please your family.