August 21st, 2014
I recently talked a bit about my home region in Russia, and its array of food cultures and cuisines. Its unique geographical positioning near the republics of the Caucasus mountains allowed me to form all kinds of connections with people from the neighboring areas, while living there most of my life.
My sister-in-law, Alla’s, family resided in Azerbaijan for many years. Visiting their home for lunch is always a treat, as the table is guaranteed to feature some authentic Azerbaijani dishes, learned first-hand during their stay.
This time around, Alla’s mother introduced me to Dovga, an Azerbaijani wedding soup that is traditionally served at the celebratory table between meat dishes, as a vitamin and digestion boost. I couldn’t believe I’d never tried the soup before – it is exactly the kind of thing I want to eat during the summer.
The base for dovga is made up of several types of fermented milk beverages, refreshing and healthy probiotic drinks, such as matsoni, ayran, and kefir. All of these cultured dairy drinks originate from the mountains of Caucasus. As it turns out, kefir, which nowadays is one of the most beloved beverages in Russia, was not introduced there until the beginning of the 20th century.
People from the Caucasus have always been known for their incredible longevity. In 1908, the Russian royal scientists were determined to unveil the mountain people’s fountain of youth. They sent a young woman scientist by the name of Irina Sakharova down South, to fetch some kefir grains from Bek-Mirza Baichorov, a Karachai prince who was rumored to have the goods. Baichorov did not want to give up his people’s secret, but legend has it that upon seeing Irina, he fell in love and proceeded to kidnap her, which is a customary courting routine in those parts. Later, in court, the freed Ms. Sakharova offered to drop the charges if Baichorov gave up some of his kefir grains, to which he agreed. Soon after, the nation, and later the world, fell in love with the miraculous drink. Who knows how much of this legend is true, but I like thinking of it as fact – a beautiful story of kefir and unreturned love.
Back to Dovga – it is packed with a great amount of herbs and leafy greens. Now is the time to eat as many greens as you can, while they are still fresh and abundant at markets, before fall sneaks up on us.
Dovga can be served hot, right after making it, or cold. It is not recommended to reheat it after it’s been chilled. It is delicious either way, but the cold version is my favorite.
The photos you are seeing here are from Sochi and its surrounding areas – a magical place where the Caucasus Mountains meet the Black Sea, where the climate is subtropical and summer nights are lit up by fireflies.
Dovga
makes a big batch/large pot of soup
Notes:
1. If you do not have authentic matsoni, feel free to use kefir or yogurt, or a mixture of both. Whey (leftover liquid from ricotta cheese making among other things) is also a great addition. You can substitute the herbs and greens according to your taste.
2. Back home, there is a type of rice that is typically used in dovga, which cooks very fast. Therefore, the rice is added in uncooked rice, and it’s ready by the time the dovga is done. Here, I used cooked rice because none of the rice available to me would cook so quickly.
3. Alla’s mom also adds 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour, but I left it out. Adding the egg helps to make this soup creamy and prevents the liquid from separating. I haven’t yet tried making it without the egg. If anyone tries it, please let me know how it goes.
2 large bunches spinach
2 bunches cilantro
1 large bunch parsley
1 large bunch dill
5 green onions
handful of mint leaves plus more for garnish
handful of basil leaves plus more for garnish
2 liters mixed fermented milk beverages – kefir, yogurt, whey, or just kefir/yogurt (the ideal mixture would be: 1 liter kefir, 1/2 liter yogurt or matsoni, 1/2 liter whey or water )
1 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice)
1 egg – beaten
1 generous cup cooked chickpeas – optional
sea salt to taste
1. Chop the spinach and herbs, set aside.
2. Whisk together all of the beverages in a large pot. Add in the rice, egg and chickpeas, and whisk everything together. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
3. Add spinach, herbs add salt. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, continuing to stir. Remove from heat.
4. Serve immediately or chill at room temperature and then in the refrigerator to served chilled. Garnish with mint, basil and cilantro leaves. Enjoy!
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January 5th, 2014
It’s cold season and everyone in the family has taken their turns being sick. First it was Paloma, picked up from someone in school, then her papa, then me. Soup has always been my answer to a cold, I crave nothing more when under the weather.
I’ve recently become intrigued with Dahl, a spicy and warming Indian lentil or bean stew, and have been dreaming about making it according to all the rules. My good friend Irina, whom I can’t seem to stop talking about on this blog, is an expert on Ayurveda and Ayurvedic cooking, and helped me track down all the proper ingredients for the soup. It turned out to be quite easy, as any Indian market will have hing, kala namak, nigella seeds, curry leaves, moong dal and a kaleidoscope of spices, all for a very low price.
Onions and garlic are never used in Ayurvedic cuisine, as they are believed to disturb peacefulness of the mind. I was curious to know what is used in their place, as they possess such amazing flavor and are essential to so many dishes around the world. Turns out, the magical ingredient is Hing (also known as Asafoetida), a spice derived from a species of giant fennel, which is known for its balancing properties and ability to aid digestion. When uncooked, hing is quite stinky, smelling something like garlic and resin combined, but it is an addictive kind of stink, like a nicely aged cheese. When cooked, any smelliness goes away leaving behind a beautiful, complex flavour somewhat similar to both onions and garlic.
I also made gluten-free Naan bread to go with the Dahl. Naan is one of my great loves and I’ve been wanting to experiment with a gluten-free version, having made the traditional kind at home several times. Mixing buckwheat, millet and tapioca flours produced a tasty bread, not too close in flavour to the original but satisfying in its own way. Eaten together with the Dahl and sprinkled with Nigella Seeds (another amazing Indian market discovery, they taste like toasted onions!), it made for a perfect cold-fighting meal.
Tomato Dahl
Note: Many Dahl recipes call for cinnamon and cloves, but I left them out as a personal taste preference. If you cannot get your hands on the special Indian ingredients, you can substitute lentils for moong dal and garlic and onions for hing.
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon black mustard seed
seeds of 2-4 cardamom pods
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon ghee or vegetable oil
2-inch piece ginger – peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon hing (I suggest Vandevi brand) – or more to taste
3 celery stalks – thinly diced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon kala namak (black salt) or other salt
1 1/4 cups yellow moong dal or lentils
2-3 medium sized tomatoes – cubed
8 cups purified water
1. Grind coriander, cumin, fennel, mustard seeds, cardamom seeds and peppercorns in a coffee grinder or a mortar with pestle and set aside.
2. Warm up the ghee in a large pot over low medium heat. Add ginger and hing and saute for 1 minute. Add celery and cook for another 4 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add in the ground spices, pepper flakes, turmeric and salt, stirring for another minute. Add in the moong dal/lentils, tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until dal is completely cooked and vegetables are soft.
4. Puree 1/2 of the soup in a blender and return it to the pot. Alternatively, puree the whole amount or leave everything chunky (I like to combine both textures). Adjust salt.
5. Squeeze a fresh lemon over the dahl and serve with fresh cilantro leaves and toasted nigella seeds.
Gluten-Free Naan
3/4 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 tablespoons ground chia seeds
6 tablespoons almond milk
1 cup ( 140 g) buckwheat flour
1 cup (120 g) tapioca flour
1/2 cup (70 g) millet flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon nigella seeds
1. Warm 3/4 cup of almond milk to 110 F. Add in sugar and yeast, whisk together and leave for 10 minutes. The mixture should be very foamy.
2. Bring 6 tablespoons of almond milk to a boil and pour it over the ground chia seeds. Let sit for 10 minutes.
3. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a food processor, combine the yeasty mixture, chia gel and the rest or ingredients, with exception of nigella seeds. Mix until well combined into a runny dough.
4. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil lightly. With a wet spoon, shape your breads into traditional tear-drop shaped thin breads (or any other way you fancy). Sprinkle with nigella seeds and let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Keep tightly covered to prevent the bread from drying.
Tags: ayurveda, dahl, gluten free, naan, recipe, soup, tomato
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November 7th, 2013
Welcome to the new golubkakichen.com! We are so excited for this very overdue transformation and hope you like the site as much as we do. The blog was designed by Hannah of Little Light Creative and the logo is the work of Erin Ellis. We are ever grateful to these two talented ladies for making our visions and dreams become reality.
I’ve been all about soups these days and have tried out every single soup recipe from this book in the last couple of weeks. To be fair, I’m all about soup all the time – to me it’s the ultimate comfort food, as easy and satisfying as can be. As much as I love smooth, creamy ones, I often crave a chunky texture in my soups, thinking back to the ones I ate for lunch every day of my childhood. To most Russians, soup is a mandatory part of lunch – it’s served first, followed by a main, second course. My mother never had a shortage of soup ideas, and things like borsht, green borsht, solyanka, mushroom soup, and sturgeon uha were on the lunch table on any given day.
This soup is an interesting step away from the classic autumn squash soup – brilliant pink in colour, with plenty of textures and flavours to warm the soul and nourish the body. I adapted the recipe from Salatshop, a Russian wellness blog written by Olya Malysheva out of Moscow. Olya’s style is endlessly optimistic and she is great at coming up with vegetarian recipes that require no fuss. Her site and its popularity makes the Russian in me very proud – it’s great to see such an increasing interest in sites like Salatshop in the country of meat and potatoes. If you speak Russian, you should definitely pay it a visit.
Pink Soup with Roasted Onions and Broccoli
2-3 small to medium beets – peeled and cubed
2 garlic cloves – minced
sea salt
2 small to medium red onions – peeled and quartered or cut into eighths, depending on size
grape seed oil
1 head of broccoli – cut into bite-sized florets
2 cans Thai coconut milk
pinch of chili powder or a dash of cayenne
1/2 lemon – juiced
1-2 ripe but firm avocados
freshly ground black pepper
arugula leaves for garnish
1. Add beets to a medium-sized saucepan along with the garlic and a pinch of salt and barely cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until beets are tender.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F (180 C). Place onions on an oiled baking sheet, lightly brush with oil and roast until golden, for about 20 minutes.
3. While waiting for the beets and onions to cook, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and blanch the broccoli for 3 minutes. Immediately transfer into an ice-water bath to stop the cooking.
4. When the beets are tender, add in coconut milk and a pinch of salt, bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Add in the broccoli, stir to heat it through and then remove from the heat. Squeeze lemon juice over the soup and adjust salt if needed.
5. Cube the avocado. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with roasted onion wedges, avocado cubes and arugula leaves. Serve with sourdough and/or sprouted bread avocado toasts. Enjoy!
Tags: avocado, beets, broccoli, onion, soup
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