The exact origin of the porridge is unknown. It is common among many nations. They love it very much in the Caucasus, and in Romania, Abkhazia and Moldova it is one of the national dishes.
Although Moldavian-style mamalyga is very easy to prepare, you need to know certain subtleties so that it gets the desired consistency.
The benefits and harms of the dish
Corn grits contain a huge amount of useful microelements and vitamins, due to which porridge made from it must be included in the diet.
Eating this dish helps strengthen bones, increase immunity, and restore the body after illness. It is also beneficial for the digestive system.
The fiber it contains ensures the removal of harmful substances from the body. With frequent consumption of the dish, the amount of cholesterol in the body decreases.
Sometimes it is used for weight loss, because, despite its nutritional value, porridge is distinguished by its ability to remove fat.
But at the same time, you should not overuse the dish, since in this case its positive qualities may decrease. Nutrition should be varied and nutritious so that there is no oversaturation of some substances with a deficiency of others.
Mamaliga or polenta baked with mushrooms and cheese
Ingredients:
- Corn flour (or grits) - 250 gr.
- Water - 300 ml.
- Mushrooms (preferably champignons) - 300 gr.
- Brynza (other hard cheese can be used) - 100 gr.
- Milk - 300 ml.
- Onion - 1 pc.
General information:
- Cooking time: 120 minutes;
- Number of servings 6.
Cooking method:
- Pour water and milk into a thick-bottomed saucepan, bring to a boil, add pepper and salt to taste, reduce heat and gradually add corn grits or flour, stirring constantly.
- The contents must be stirred all the time for 15–20 minutes, grate the cheese on a coarse grater, fry the mushrooms with 1 onion (do not salt the mushrooms).
- Place half a portion of hominy in a mold, put cheese on it, then mushrooms and cover everything with the second half of hominy, put in a hot oven at 180 degrees for 45–50 minutes. Then cover with a towel and let cool slightly.
Food preparation
It lies in the correct choice of the main ingredient. It is necessary to purchase high-quality corn flour. To do this, you should carefully examine the product packaging in the store. Its integrity must not be violated.
You also need to pay attention to the expiration date. If the flour was stored at home, you should make sure that it is not damp. The color of a quality product is yellowish.
Before cooking, it is necessary to remove any debris or pests from the flour that may be in the packaging.
The selection of the remaining ingredients included in the composition is carried out in the same way. Before adding them to a dish, you should check the expiration dates, since all products must be fresh. You need to evaluate their color, smell and consistency. This will avoid the use of damaged components.
Mamalyga – Moldovan classic recipe
Ingredients:
Hominy:
- Water – 1 ⅕ l
- Salt to taste
- butter – 30 g
- corn flour – 1 kg
- Additives:
- sheep cheese – 200 g
- Cracklings:
- Lard –200 g
- Salt to taste
Tokana:
- pork chops – 500 g
- onions – 2 pcs.
- salt – 10 g
- black pepper – 10 g
Husband's sauce:
- Garlic – 5 cloves
- Salt – 20 g
- sunflower oil – 50 ml
- water – 200 ml
General information:
- Cooking time: 60 minutes;
- Number of servings 5.
Cooking method:
- Prepare all the necessary ingredients. For hominy, you should use only finely ground corn flour. It must first be dried well in the oven and sifted through a sieve. For cooking you need a cast iron cauldron with a thick bottom.
- Pour the hearth into the cast iron and add salt, leave until the water boils. Then you need to pour the flour into salted water boiling with butter in a thin stream, stirring continuously. To prevent lumps from forming, place a wooden stirrer (spatula, rolling pin) in the center of the cauldron. Hominy is cooked at a low simmer for 25–30 minutes, and it should be stirred all the time, pressing the stirrer to the walls of the cauldron.
- Then reduce the heat even more and, stirring continuously, cook the hominy for another 10–15 minutes. until completely thickened. To determine the readiness of the hominy, lower a rolling pin vertically into it and quickly rotate it with your palms. If the hominy doesn’t stick to the rolling pin, it’s ready.
- When the mamalyga thickens, it is separated from the walls of the cauldron with a spoon dipped in water and left for some time on the fire so that it is baked from the bottom and better leaves the cauldron. Then the cauldron is shaken thoroughly several times and the hominy is tipped onto a cutting board or onto a clean tablecloth, but not onto a dish, otherwise the hominy will sweat and become tasteless. Properly cooked hominy should accurately retain the shape and outline of the cauldron and not fall apart when shaken out. Then the hominy is cut into pieces using a harsh thread or a wooden knife.
- The mujdei sauce is prepared as follows: grind the garlic with salt, add sunflower oil and broth (boiled water) and stir well. You can add a few grams of wine vinegar.
- To prepare tokana: fry pork chops in small portions and simmer with fried onions and a little water until cooked.
- To prepare cracklings: cut fresh or salted lard into small cubes and fry it in a frying pan until crispy. If the lard is not salted, add salt.
- Mamalyga is served separately on a flat wooden dish or board. All additives are served separately. Traditionally, hominy is eaten with hands, dipping it in the additive you like.
Mamaliga in Moldavian
You should start with a simple option, which involves using only the main components.
These include:
- flour – 2 cups;
- butter – 20 g;
- water – 6 glasses;
- salt – 1 tsp.
Step-by-step recipe for Moldavian mamaliga in the photo:
| The liquid is poured into a large saucepan with thick walls, salt is poured into it and butter is added. After mixing the ingredients, add a handful of flour to them. The mixture is stirred until smooth and left on the stove until it boils. |
| Once the liquid has boiled, pour the remaining cornmeal into the pan. It must be quickly mixed with water. The heat should be reduced and cooking continued for another 20 minutes. |
| Next, the mixture is stirred with a wooden spatula to avoid the formation of lumps. Also due to this, heat treatment is carried out evenly. The dish should be cooked for another quarter of an hour. |
| The composition is mixed again and left for another 10 minutes. |
| After most of the water has evaporated, the porridge is again quickly and thoroughly stirred with a spatula. |
| Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until done. You can check it with a wooden skewer. The finished hominy does not stick to the skewer. |
You can turn off the heat and, covering the pan with a cutting board, carefully shake out the porridge. This way the dish will remain neat. Before serving, the product is cut into portions using a wide thread.
This porridge is characterized by high calorie content - 100 g of product contains 445 kcal. The amount of fat in it is 20 g, carbohydrates – 51 g; proteins – 13 g.
Cooking mamaliga in Moldavian style on video:
How to cook hominy with cracklings
Mamalyga will be tastier if the rendered lard is spread on the surface of the porridge and put in the oven for 15 minutes.
To prepare the dish you need:
- 0.4 kg finely ground corn flour;
- 300 g lard;
- 0.4 kg of fresh cheese;
- Season to taste with black pepper.
You will need to cook: 45 minutes. The finished product, per 100 grams, contains 315 kcal.
How to prepare the dish correctly:
Step 1
When cooking, it is important to maintain the proportions of the products; we recommend taking 1 part flour to 3 parts water. When the water in the pan boils, add 400 grams of corn flour. Cook at medium temperature. Be sure to stir during cooking. Salt is added at your discretion.
Step 2
Chop a piece of lard into small cubes. Heat a frying pan, add pieces of lard and render out all the excess fat. This is how we get the component we need - cracklings.
Step 3
The cheese needs to be mashed, you can do this with a regular fork. Take a heat-resistant form. Place mashed cheese on the bottom. Place a layer of prepared hominy on top and place cracklings on top.
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the dish for 20 minutes. When you put it on the table, you can season it with pepper.
Dish options
The dish can be prepared in several ways. In essence, they are modifications of the traditional version, the main difference of which is the addition of additional components.
Mamaliga with cheese
Adding cheese to this dish is considered traditional.
Cooking will require the use of the following components:
- corn flour – 600 g;
- feta cheese – 300 g;
- water – 2 glasses;
- salt.
Pour water into the pan and wait until it boils. You need to salt it and add corn flour there. After stirring, leave to cook for 5 minutes, then stir again.
Reduce the heat to low and cook the porridge for another quarter of an hour. The finished dish should cool down. During this time, you can grate the cheese.
Small flat cakes are made from mamalyga, a little cheese is placed in the middle, after which they are formed into balls. Place them on a greased baking sheet and place in the oven for 20 minutes. The temperature in it should be 190 degrees.
Mamalyga in a slow cooker
With this device you can prepare almost any dish, including mamalyga.
In this case, you will need the following components:
- corn grits – 400 g;
- butter – 60 g;
- water – 1 l;
- salt.
Boil water in a kettle. The sifted cereal is poured into a bowl, and boiling water is poured into it. The components are supposed to be stirred, salt and butter are added to them. You need to cook the dish for 20 minutes in the “porridge” mode.
Mamaliga with ham
Adding meat components makes the dish more satisfying and gives it a unique taste.
The following products will be used in the work:
- corn flour – 200 g;
- feta cheese – 100 g;
- butter – 50 g;
- lard – 100 g;
- water – 600 ml;
- ham – 100 g;
- salt – 1 tsp;
- turmeric – 4 g.
Water is poured into a cauldron, allowed to boil and salted. Then the oil is put in there. The flour is passed through a sieve and combined with turmeric. This mixture is added in small portions to boiling water, stirring constantly. Sometimes this process can take up to half an hour.
When the flour is added, the mass needs to be stirred for another 10 minutes. Next, it is moved into a bowl or round shape. It is advisable to cover it with a towel and leave it in a warm place for 20 minutes to reach condition. During this time, lard and ham are cut.
Both components are well fried without fat. The cheese is divided into cubes or grated on a coarse grater. When the top layer hardens, turn the mold over and shake out the food onto a plate. It is cut into portions and placed on plates with ham and lard. Cheese cheese is added for decoration.
Mamaliga with cracklings
This cooking option involves using the following products:
- pork – 400 g;
- corn grits - 3 cups;
- lard – 400 g;
- milk – 1.5 cups;
- feta cheese – 300 g;
- salt;
- water – 3 glasses.
Remove the skin from the lard and cut into small pieces. Do the same with meat, only the pieces are made a little larger. Having heated a high frying pan, put the lard into it, and then the meat.
Frying should be done over low heat until golden brown. The cracklings should be cooled. Boil water in a separate container, add milk to it and bring to a boil again. Salt is poured into this mixture, and then cereal.
There is no need to mix the ingredients; the milk should soak the cereal itself, continuing to simmer over low heat. This will take about 15 minutes. Remove the container from the stove and pound the swollen cereal. Be sure to knead any lumps that have formed.
Then the hominy is placed on low heat and left to simmer under the lid for half an hour. Next, the lid is removed to evaporate the water. The container is covered with a wooden plank and turned over to remove the finished dish. It must be cut into pieces, add cracklings and grated cheese.
Mamaliga with meat
In this case, before starting work you will need to prepare the following ingredients:
- corn flour – 1 cup;
- beef – 1 kg;
- water – 3.5 cups;
- vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
- onion – 1;
- broth - 0.5 cups;
- salt.
Cornmeal is poured into boiling water, stirring as it is added. It will take 20 minutes to achieve readiness, after which the mixture is separated from the walls and left to simmer for another quarter of an hour. The finished hominy is placed on a cutting board or towel.
The meat is cut into medium pieces and fried in oil until a crust forms. Finely chopped onion is added to it.
After it softens, pour broth into the pan and sprinkle salt. The components should simmer over low heat until the liquid boils away. This mixture is seasoned with hominy cut into portions.
How to cook Abkhazian mamaliga
The dish in the Abkhazian version is more like porridge in consistency. It is cooked not only from flour, but it can also be made from fine corn grits.
And it’s worth reminding: salt is not added to Caucasian mamalyga; it tastes bland, because it has a salty ally - suluguni.
For cooking you will need:
- corn flour – 180 grams;
- or small cereals in the same volume;
- water at least 2.5 glasses;
- 20 grams of quality butter;
- 150 grams of suluguni.
Time spent cooking: 20 minutes. There are 289 kcal per serving.
How to cook mamalyga:
Step 1
Mamalyga without salt is very good, this is how it is prepared in Abkhazia. But while you are just getting acquainted with Caucasian cuisine, we advise you to add a little salt to the water.
Step 2
Take a cauldron or other thick-walled dishes. Pour the main ingredient – corn flour or fine grains – into boiling water in a thin stream. You need to stir thoroughly so that no lumps form.
Step 3
Stirring continuously, cook the hominy over low heat for about 4 minutes if you are cooking it with flour. Cook cereals twice as long.
Step 4
Put butter in the finished dish, stir, remove from the stove and simmer under the lid for half an hour.
Step 5
Cooked Abkhazian mamalyga is laid out on plates. Suluguni is cut into slices and placed 3 pieces in the center of each plate.
