Ivan Kotlyarevsky described Ukrainian Zen as a path that passes precisely through borscht. After all, only after tasting bread and salt and borscht with dumplings, having eaten your fill of the traditional dish, can you rest with a light heart after a hard day. And Kotlyarevsky, being a native of Poltava himself, knew what he was talking about.
To prepare Poltava borscht you will need:
- White cabbage 30 g
- Lard 300 g
- Potatoes 300 g
- Carrots 200 g
Beets 800 g (4-5 pcs.)- Onion 200 g
- Canned peas 200 g
- Garlic 15 g
- Beetroot kvass 250 ml
- Water 3.5 l
- Dill 100 g
- Salt 30 g
- Sugar 5 g
For the dumplings, prepare:
- Buckwheat flour 100 g
- Water 150 ml
- Egg 2 pcs.
For boiling water you need:
- Water 3 liters
- Salt 30 g
So, let's start cooking: first of all, you need to crush the lard in a mortar, as is done traditionally, or you can grind it in a meat grinder or blender, as is done now, or you can simply cut it into pieces - everyone chooses a convenient way of grinding, the taste of the finished dish will not change. Melt the lard over low heat, and it is convenient to do this immediately in the same container where the borscht will be cooked later, we recommend taking a large saucepan with a capacity of 5-6 liters.
While the chopped lard is melting, you need to wash and clean the vegetables. Grate the carrots, finely chop the onion, after such preparation, add the vegetables to the lard and fry, stirring, for another 2-3 minutes. Then pour water over the vegetables and lard so that there is approximately 3.5 liters (water should be taken no more than ? volume of the pan). Bring our mixture to a boil.
Cut the peeled potatoes into cubes. Finely shred the cabbage. Add the potatoes, cabbage, and peas to the soup when it boils. Cover the saucepan with a lid, bring the borscht to a boil again, then reduce the heat a little and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Peel the beets, grate them directly into the pan, where we will prepare the dressing for our wonderful Poltava borscht. Add 150-200 ml of soup from the pan to the grated beets. Simmer the beets over moderate heat, stirring, for 5 minutes, salt and add beet kvass, bring our beet dressing to a boil and remove from heat.
At the end of cooking, add the stewed beets to the soup. Season everything with sugar, finely chopped garlic, and spices to taste, bring to a boil again, and immediately remove from heat. If this is not done in a timely manner, the borscht will lose its bright, rich color.
The dumplings for borscht are prepared separately. To do this, pour half of the buckwheat flour prepared for cooking with 150 ml of boiling water, mix well. The mass should cool slightly, after which you need to mix in the eggs and the rest of the buckwheat flour. In the meantime, bring 3 liters of water to a boil.
From the resulting buckwheat dough, form dumplings, make them small, the size of a walnut each. Salt the boiling water (1 tablespoon is enough), throw the prepared buckwheat dumplings into it, do not forget to stir immediately (otherwise they will stick together and the borscht will not have the deliciousness it should have). Wait for the water to boil again. Stir the dumplings again, cook over low (medium) heat for 30 minutes.
Poltava borscht should be served with a small spoonful of sour cream, buckwheat dumplings, and finely chopped herbs.
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