Surely in the culinary arsenal of every hostessthere is the first dish that I wanted to cook, but it was not always possible to do it in the right way. Today we will talk about such a wonderful dish, as the hodgepodge meat classic team. And if you have never indulged your family with this surprisingly tasty, fragrant dish, then it’s time to fix the culinary flaws.
It is proved that the hodgepodge is not only one ofthe most popular soups for cooking in the home kitchen, but also the most popular and often ordered dish in fashionable restaurants and cafes. Especially popular is the thick and incredibly nourishing meat soup in Abkhazian style. This recipe will be discussed today.
Hit Caucasian cuisine
As it is known, culinary specialists of the Caucasus have long knownmany recipes for meat spicy dishes. Abkhazian recipe for hodgepodge is no exception. Hot, surprisingly nourishing and fragrant soup with many pieces of various meats has been a favorite dish of the local population for many centuries. Mandatory component of the hodgepodge is not only a lot of seasonings and fragrant spices, but also a slice of lemon.
In recent years, became very popularhave a hodgepodge, in which besides meat there are also smoked sausages. The recipe of this dish seems rather complicated, but it is only at first glance.
Necessary ingredients
In order to master and experience on your ownAbkhazian recipe for the hodgepodge recipe, you need the following set of products. Note that the meat - the basis of solyanka, used in the preparation of the first course, must certainly be fresh, bought from a trusted butcher.
In Abkhazia, most often for the preparation of solyankause beef. This meat and fat gives excellent, such that the broth is obtained simultaneously thick, but not cloudy. And about the beneficial properties of this type of lean meat and can not speak. Therefore, we go to a proven store or to a butcher whom we trust, and buy a kilogram of good beef. Experts recommend taking a scoop part for an Abkhaz recipe for a hodgepodge recipe.
Also for cooking will require vegetables:
- Cucumbers (salted) - three pieces.
- Onion - two pieces.
- Garlic - three large slices.
- Tomatoes - 3 pcs. (can be replaced with three tablespoons of home-made tomato paste).
And of course, one cannot do in preparation of an Abkhaz hodgepodge with beef without aromatic spices and seasonings:
- Pinch of dried adzhika.
- Bay leaf - 2 pcs.
- Pepper - 5-7 pcs.
- Dried garlic - at the tip of a knife.
- Red pepper or half of fresh chilli pepper.
- Salt.
- Water is one glass.
- A large bunch of fresh herbs (cilantro and parsley).
Also in the recipe will be used a couple of tablespoons of flour and some vegetable oil, which is required for roasting vegetables.
Preparation: Meat Stage
To master the recipe for Abyssian hodgepodgewould require appropriate kitchenware. For the preparation of this soup is best suited cauldron with thick walls and a powerful bottom, in which nothing will burn. The first in the dishes sent finely chopped onions. And in this recipe, he does not fry, and languishes over low heat in a small amount of vegetable oil for about five minutes.
While the onion is cooked, you can do meat.Beef should be rid of the films and thoroughly rinsed under running water. Cut the meat into small cubes. We send meat pieces to the cauldron to the bow. Add the fire and fry the meat for two or three minutes. After that, pour a glass of water in the dish. The process of stewing meat is quite long. The meat should stay on the stove for about 1.5 hours. The water in the process can evaporate, so do not forget to monitor the preparation and pour it in time.
Stage "vegetable"
The next stage of cooking solyanka with adzhikaAbkhazian - vegetables. Cut into cubes cucumbers. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Add vegetables to the meat and simmer for another ten minutes. In some recipes there are capers, so if in the house there is such a product or it is possible to buy it in the store, then add them.
Stage "fragrant"
Well, what a Caucasian hodgepodge without spices andfragrant greenery! We salt a dish, we add there a bay leaf, peas a pepper, hot pepper, an adjika. You can also add hops-suneli or ground coriander. Now we put tomato paste in a glass of water and pour it into a cauldron. Tomim another five minutes and turn off the fire. Fresh chopped greens can be added both to the cauldron and individually in plates.
Abkhazian solyanka in a slow cooker
Despite the apparent simplicity, the recipecooking solyanka takes a lot of time and effort. Meat in a cauldron should always be under close supervision and control. But what to do if there is not enough time, but you want to cook an aromatic and tasty dish of Caucasian cuisine? There is only one answer: we use a kitchen assistant - a slow cooker.
To start, pour on the bottom of the multicooker bowlsome vegetable oil. Add there the finely chopped onions and fry in the "baking" mode for about two minutes. And now all the other ingredients go, except greens and garlic. We will add them at the very end of cooking. We put the pieces of meat, add tomato paste, salt, put pepper and capers, cucumbers, bay leaf, etc. If you wish, you can add any other types of meat or smoked sausages, which we talked about a little higher. In this case, you get a real classic hodgepodge meat team.
Close the lid, turn on the "fire" mode andforget about the hodgepodge for one hour. In some multicookers, the dish is prepared even faster - in 40-45 minutes. After opening the lid, add fresh chopped finely garlic and greens. Serve hodgepodge recommended be sure to hot.
Useful tips and important rules
- If you want to cook reallyclassic hodgepodge, then in the recipe will never be potatoes. Traditional recipes for solyanka, which came to us from old cookbooks, say that this vegetable has no place in the hodgepodge.
- If you are preparing a hodgepodge, then the obligatory type of meat is beef. And you can add smoked sausages, ham, chicken or sausage to it.
- If excessive salinity is a taste thatseduces you in this dish, then not only pickled cucumbers will be able to strengthen it. Try adding capers or green olives to the hodgepodge. These ingredients are also great for the first course and give it the necessary spice.
- To save time, some housewives boil beef in advance. As a result, you only need to fry the onions, add pieces of meat and pour it all with tomato paste.
- And one more important rule. The more aromatic herbs you add, the tastier and more traditional you will get a hodgepodge.
