Barley and Lentil Soup (and visit to Savina Monastery - Montenegro )

This is one of my vegetarian (winter) favourites; very tasty and filling. A few of my Orthodox friends asked for the recipe, as they started their fast (Orthodox Christians don't eat meat and any product from animals during fasting, but also not using oil or drinking wine on certain days. The rules are complicated and they have a special calendar which tells them what is forbidden on what day during a year).

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic clove, crushed
200 g pearl barley (1 cup)
1 cup lentils
1-2 tsp curry powder
2 sprigs coriander / parsley
2 tsp vegetable stock powder
1 tsp (Himalayan) salt
1 cup carrot/corn/peas/ mixture
1 1/2 l water
Method:
Heat a non-stick pan, add onion and garlic. saute for a minute. Add all other ingredients except lentils and cook for 30 + minutes, or until barley almost done (if you pre-soak barley for few hours, cooking time will be less). Add lentils and cook additional 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Supa / Čorba od ječma i leće (i posjeta Savina Manastiru)

Ovo je jedan od mojih omiljenih vegetarijanskih (zimskih) recepata; veoma ukusno i zasitno. Par mojih pravoslavnih prijatelja me je pitalo za recept, posto su otpoceli sa njihovim postom

 ( pravoslavci ne jedu meso ili druge proizvode zivotinja, ali isto ne koriste ulje ili piju vino u odreddjene dane. Pravila su komplikovana stoga imaju poseban kalendar koji im tacno pokazuje sta treba izbjegavati u odredjene dane).

Potrebno:

1 crveni luk, sjeckan
1-2 cena bijelog luka, protisnuta
200 gr jecma (1 solja 250 ml)
1 solja lece
1-2 k kari praha
2 stabljike persuna ili korijandera
2 k Vegete ( ili drugog povrtnog temeljca)
1 k soli (Himalajske po mogucnosti)
1 solja mjesavine mrkve/kukuruza/graska
1 1/2 L vode

Nacin:
Zagrijte neprijanjajuci lonac, proprzite luk. Dodajte sve druge sastojke (osim lece) i kuhajte 30+ minuta, ili dok jecam ne omeksa (ako ga namocite na vise sati prije, vrijeme kuhanja ce se smanjiti. Dodajte zatim lecu i kuhajte jos 15 dodatnih minuta. Servirajte vruce.

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Following photos are from Orthodox Monastery (called Savina), taken in September when we visited Herceg Novi during our holiday at Montenegro. It's built between 1777 and 1799. They posses a number of historical objects, including crystal cross (decorated with gold, silver and 4 rubies) that belonged to St. Sava ('Sveti Sava').

Fotografije su iz Manastira Savina kod Herceg Novog; snimljeno u septembru, kad smo proveli 4 dana  u ovom dijelu Crne Gore. Manastir je izgradjen izmedju 1777 i 1799. Posjeduje odredjene istorijske objekte, ukljucujuci kritalni krst Svetog Save (dekorisan zlatom, srebrom i sa 4 rubina).

 

Pearl Barley Risotto

This is an old Balkans dish, which originated in Austria/Germany.

Ingredients:
2-3 tbs olive oil
1 big onion, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
1 parsnip, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 chicken, portioned (or chicken pieces)
chicken powder stock, or 'Vegeta'
2-3 cups Pearl Barley
1 garlic clove
6 black pepper corns
2 bay leaves
4-6 cups water
1-2 cups peas
1 small bunch of parsley leaves
salt and pepper

Method:
Wash pearl barley and keep in water until needed.
Heat the oil, fry onions, root vegetables and chicken pieces for few minutes.
Add pearl barley, spices and water and cook for 1 hour, or until water absorbed.
At the end add parsley leaves, peas, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes. Barley should be soft, but not mushy.
If you want soup, put less barley and more water.
Always use chicken pieces with bones, as it gives better taste.


Gershla (Jecam u formi rizota)

Potrebno:
2-3 kasike ulja, maslinovo
1 velika glavica luka, crvenog, sjeckanog
3 srednje mrkve, sjecene po zelji
1 korijen persuna, sjeckanog
2 stabljike celera, sjeckanog
1 srednje pile, isjeceno na komade
2 kasike Vegete
2-3 solje Jecma
1 ceno bijelog luka, protisnutog
6 zrna bibera, crnog
2 lista lovora
4-6 solja vode (vidi razjasnjenje)
1-2 solje graska
1 mali svezanj persunovog lisca
sol i biber po ukusu

Priprema:
1- Operite jecam i drzite u vodi do upotrebe.
2- Zagrijte ulje, pa dinstajte crveni luk, korjenasto povrce i piletinu dok ne porumeni.
3- Ubacite ocijedjen jecam i ostale zacine, izuzev graska i persuna. Zalijte vodom. Kuhajte 1 sat na blagoj vatri. Jecam treba da dobije konzistenciju rizota ( kuhan ali ne raspadnut).
4- Ubacite grasak, persunovo lisce i dotjerajte okus. Kuhajte jos 5 minuta.

Posluživanje
Gersla moze biti kuhana gusto (rizoto) ili rijetko (u formi corbe); po vasem izboru. Zdrava je i ukusna zamjena za rizu. Piletina sa kostima daje bolji okus, nego meso bez kostiju.