Cholent: the perfect winter stew that melts in your mouth

When different nations live next to each other for a long time, the food they cook becomes common in many ways. This is what happened to cholent, a stew from the Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine that has taken root in Zakarpattia. Cholent is well known in Mukachevo and Uzhhorod, served in restaurants in western Ukraine, but almost never cooked in other regions. It’s time to change that.

Today I would like to share with you a recipe for a perfect winter hearty Jewish stew that has become a Transcarpathian specialty. I should note right away that this is a delicious and nutritious dish made from simple ingredients that is very easy to prepare, although it does take some time.

Ashkenazi cholent: the history of the dish

Cholent or hamin is a traditional Jewish dish prepared for the Sabbath dinner of meat, vegetables, cereals, and beans. Its main idea is to cook without lighting a fire on the Sabbath, observing the religious prohibition on working on this day.

Beef, beans, and pearl barley are foods that require a long cooking time. That is why on Friday, Jews fill a pot with the components of cholent, after which the dish would languish all night in the warmth of the oven, which would gradually cool down. When the owners returned from the synagogue on Saturday after prayer, the cholent was waiting for them, still warm and ready to eat.

Фото https://and.ck.ua/recipe/cholnt

Cholent in Transcarpathian cuisine

In Ukrainian cuisine, this dish has become an everyday staple for the inhabitants of Zakarpattia. Having derived it from Jewish culture (there used to be many Ashkenazi Jews in Zakarpattia, about 30% in Uzhhorod and almost 50% in Mukachevo), the locals made their own changes. They used different types of meat and always added hot pepper, borrowed from the Hungarians.

Cholent gave rise to many idioms and proverbs in Yiddish. For example, “Only a cholent would eat with him” is an expression that refers to someone who is not welcome in a company. And also: “Life is like a cholent — what you put in it, that you will eat.”

Required ingredients for 4 servings:

1. 0.5 kg beef (lamb, veal, chicken, or pork)
2. ⅔ cup beans
3. ⅔ cup barley
4. 3-4 medium-sized potatoes
5. 1 large carrot
6. 1 large onion
7. 5–6 cloves of garlic
8. 2 tbsp. tomato paste
9. Fresh parsley
10. 2 tbsp. oil for frying

Spices:

1. Traditionally, salt, ground black pepper, allspice and hot pepper to taste, paprika and bay leaf are added to cholent.
2. To make the dish taste spicy and wintery and add a touch of oriental cuisine, add ⅓ tsp each of ground nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, and coriander. This variant of spices is widely used in Israeli cuisine.

Фото https://moshiach.ru/food/meat/6626.html

How to cook Jewish cholent in Transcarpathian style: recipe

Firstly, it is worth noting that the dish used to be stewed in pots or cauldrons in an oven. Today, it can be prepared in much the same way — in portions in clay pots, in a large thick-bottomed pot or roaster, and put in the oven for 2.5-4 hours. But the most convenient and easiest option is to use a slow cooker.

Step 1. Rinse the beans and barley thoroughly with water and soak them overnight so that they cook faster the next day.

Step 2. Cut the meat into small portions and fry in vegetable oil in a slow cooker bowl or in a frying pan if cooking in the oven.

Traditionally, beef or lamb is used to make hamin. However, you can also stew the dish with poultry or pork (if you don’t keep kashrut, of course). There is also a version of cholent with mushrooms. It will appeal to vegetarians.

Step 3. Add the onion, sliced in half rings, to the meat and let it simmer until the onion becomes transparent.

Фото https://www.goodlifetv.co.il/food/classic-chulnt/

Step 4. The next step depends on how you are going to prepare the dish. If you’re cooking in portions, boil the beans and barley until half cooked. If in a slow cooker or cauldron, add the beans, rinse them well under running water, and cover with liquid so that it covers the ingredients by about 2 fingers. Simmer in the “Stewing” mode or at an oven temperature of 170 degrees for one and a half to two hours.

Step 5. Add the tomato paste, large chopped carrots and potatoes (small one you can use whole), peeled garlic cloves, salt, and spices to the dish. Simmer for another hour and a half until all the ingredients are fully cooked. Let it brew for a while and serve sprinkled with fresh parsley.

If you are preparing the dish in small clay portioned pots, fry the onions, carrots, and meat beforehand, boil the barley and beans until half cooked, and cut the potatoes into small pieces. Put all the ingredients in layers, sprinkling with salt, spices, and tomato paste diluted with water. Simmer in the oven at 170–180 degrees under closed lids for one and a half to two hours.