Cholent Zakarpatsky style
Description
This dish has its own history. It was borrowed from Jewish cuisine. As is known, Jews do not work on Saturdays. But they still want to eat on the Sabbath. So, in order for them to have a hot meal for Saturday lunch, a dish called cholent was invented, which needs a long time to simmer in the oven. Over time, the recipe has slightly changed—beans and grains are no longer added raw to the pot, which is exactly why the dish used to take so long to cook. The Zakarpattia-style cholent recipe is very simple and doesn't require any special culinary skills from the cook. So don't be afraid—let's get cooking! Here's how.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Soak the beans in cold water overnight. In the morning, rinse and cook until half-done.
- 2
Step 2
It's also better to soak the pearl barley overnight. In the morning, drain the water, rinse the grains, and pour boiling water over them. Let it steep for about 30 minutes.
- 3
Step 3
Cut the meat into pieces and fry until almost cooked. For this dish, smoked bacon is ideal. You can use a mix of half raw meat and half smoked meat.
- 4
Step 4
Peel the onion and carrot. Cut the onion into cubes and slice the carrot into strips or grate it on a coarse grater.
- 5
Step 5
Sauté onion and carrot in vegetable oil, then add paprika and tomato paste.
- 6
Step 6
Now we layer all the prepared ingredients into the pots. The first layer will be barley, followed by beans, meat, minced garlic, vegetables, and herbs. Add salt, black pepper, and pour in water or broth until it just covers the top layer. Cover the pots with lids and place them in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for about 30–40 minutes.
- 7
Step 7
Cholent can be served in pots, stirring the contents beforehand if the pots are small. My pots are a bit large—about 650 ml each. This recipe is calculated for two such pots.