Romanian Homemade Borsch
For many years I have been buying borsch from the store, and I was still longing for the borsch at home, as my grandmother used to do at home. Now being in the country I decided to try it, I studied google, I remembered what my grandmother was doing and I started working.
The advantage of this homemade borsch recipe is that you can take it from scratch, without "huste" (a kind of base for sour borsch). In a first stage, the "huste" are prepared and then the actual borsch is filled.
Follow the steps and tips, I guarantee you a perfect sour borsch, I said I don't buy from now on, how simple it is, and how healthy it is.
The first step is to prepare Hustile , if you already have hustles, go through these steps.
Here a bowl of about 2 liters, 1 plate of bran (about 250g) and a slice of white bread.
I put the bran in the bowl, I added the bread crumbs.
And pour cold water over the composition - enough to moisten it and make it thicker in consistency.
Level it well, make sure there is more room in the bowl with huts, because it will ferment and swell.
I put a lid on it and left it at room temperature for 2 days, to ferment well.
And in 2 days they are ready, the bran has fermented, we can start filling the borscht.
Stage 2 - is actually preparing the borscht.
So we have to have hustles and about 2 plates of bran - generally put 1 volume of hustles to 2 volumes of bran. You also need corn and cherry leaves, possibly larch.
Borscht is generally prepared in glass or clay pots. Grandma always made it in enameled pans - just like I did now.
In the pan I put hustil, bran and corn flour.
Pour 4-5 liters of hot water well, mix, add the cherry leaves and larch.
Cover with a lid and leave for about 1 day, stirring at least 1-2 times.
It hardened in me in about 15 hours, leave it as long as you like it to be sour - periodically tasting it.
I passed the cleared borscht through a thicker cotton cloth and poured it into bottles / jars, which I closed with lids and put in the fridge.
This way it can be kept for at least 1-2 weeks, until it starts to change color.
The bran that remains after the borsch drain is also called Huste - some of them you can keep in the fridge in the jar for about 2 months - and use them when you fill the next borscht. It is usually borrowed from housewives, those who already have a stuffed borscht give a hug to others.
A 700ml jar of huste will be enough to make the above amount of borscht.
Because the first round of borscht with homemade sauces, I thought it tasted a little willow, I said to fill borscht once more.
I put 1 jar of 700ml of huste, 2 jars of bran and I repeated the above procedure. In addition, my grandmother put a raw red beet cut into rounds to make the pink borscht.
If the first round of borscht was very good, the second one turned out perfect, perfect.
The borscht seemed more aesthetically so pink, and the taste wonderful, sour and aromatic.
Know that this pink fades in the soup, and does not affect the color of the food.
Here the simple borscht vs the pink borscht - no difference in taste, except in color.
And a tip from other housewives:
- if you put the bag in plastic bottles, then use a quantity from there and the bottle does not stay full ...
- press the middle of the bottle until the air comes out and the borscht reaches the mouth
- quickly screw the lid on and put the bottle back in the fridge, so the borscht will not oxidize quickly and keep longer.
Here I put the covers in jars in the refrigerator for another borscht and any requests for covers from neighbors / acquaintances or a larger amount of borscht.
And so you have a perfect homemade borscht, it may seem complicated that there are many steps, but it is not, I just tried to detail the recipe for sure results.
Borscht perfectly straightens any soup and even drinking it so simple has many beneficial properties, being a natural remedy and a source of the B group vitamin complex.
Good appetite!
