"Gold of the fields", "The main plant of the Earth", "Everything has a head" - these and many other poetic names were given by people to wheat. This cereal (and dishes from it) has a cult value for humanity.
Wheat is one of the first cultivated plants. Some scientists claim that humanity began to grow it more than ten thousand years ago! All cultures, religions, civilizations of our planet isolated wheat among other plants.
It is not for nothing that the Promised Land (Heaven on Earth) in Scripture is called the Land of Wheat. What is so fond of this grass? Why is the whole story of people tightly connected with it?
The answer is simple. Wheat - the concentration of all that is necessary for man to survive. Vitamins, microelements, carbohydrates, proteins are balanced in cereal in ideal proportions for people. Wheat dishes are varied.
Milled into flour, it allows you to create millions of types of pastries, the main of which is bread. A little more coarse grinding allows you to get a well-known semolina.
Even larger - cereal, and from it - tasty, useful, but a little forgotten in our time, wheat porridge! Further information will be devoted to this storehouse of health, taste and history.
Choice of cereals
The quality of any dish depends primarily on raw materials. On the taste of wheat porridge, respectively, affects the quality of cereals, the selection rules that you need to carefully remember.
Price
Wheat groats are an inexpensive product. As a rule, its price per kilogram is lower than the cost of a loaf of white bread. If the seller offers cereals at high prices, praising its amazing qualities, then the truth is only in use, and the high cost is nothing more than a thirst for profit.
Packaging
You need to choose cereals in a transparent package so that you can consider it:
- the grains should be approximately the same size, otherwise the porridge will be uneven;
- the color of the cereal can vary from golden to light brown, but there should be about one shade inside one package;
- no impurities, additives, foreign blotches should not be.
Term
Be sure to examine the expiration date. The layered cereal can lose some of its beneficial properties, and the time for cooking will increase significantly. It is better to choose cereals in a transparent container, but it should be stored at home in a package that does not allow sunlight or in a closed dark cabinet.
Proportions, ingredients, time
It's time to learn how to cook classic and crumbly wheat porridge on the water in a saucepan. Cook porridge, of course, and broth, and milk. However, the most popular is gaining the easiest and most useful way - cooking on water.
There is a reason for this: croup in and of itself has everything you need and it’s not necessary to add extra elements, including calories, to it. Twice as relevant is for women who follow the figures. Wheat porridge on the water is an excellent dietary dish, and boiled in a fat, rich broth will be a heavy, excessive dish.
Classic recipe
Composition:
- 1 cup of cereal;
- 2 glasses of water;
- salt - to taste.
How much time to cook wheat porridge on the water - 15 minutes.
Energy value (caloric content) - 55 kcal per 0.1 kilogram of cereal.
The cooking process is simple. Wheat groats and water are combined and brought to a boil. Next, the porridge, constantly stirring, is left on a small fire under the lid. Sometimes butter (butter or ghee) is added to the finished dish - it improves the taste, but increases the energy value (calorie content).
Important! The amount of fluid required may vary slightly, depending on the cereal. If in the process of cooking it was found that there is little liquid, you can safely add half a glass of boiling water.
Parameters of cereals, and not ready porridge! For each of the dishes, the energy value (calorie content) depends on the recipe chosen and will be demonstrated below.
Crumbly porridge
Composition:
- 1 cup of cereal;
- 2 glasses of water;
- salt - to taste.
Required time: 15-20 minutes.
Energy value (caloric content) - 95 kcal per 0.1 kilogram of finished porridge.
Cooking process. The dry frying pan is heated, the grain is poured onto it and, stirring gently, it is fried until it forms a smell like a hazelnut. Baked grits poured into boiling water, reduce the heat and bring to readiness.
The whole secret of the fact that porridge is crumbly, in starch contained in wheat! If the grits and water are simply put together, it is released, turning a part of the liquid into "jelly", and the porridge turns out similar to putty. Pre-frying helps to bind the starch. It is impossible to wash the cereal in any case, otherwise there will be no effect.
Eat and lose weight
On the dietary features of wheat cereal has already been mentioned. Why - except, of course, low calorie - this dish is necessary for various diets? The fact is that, losing weight, fasting or restricting himself to food for medical reasons, a person refuses to many of the elements necessary for the body. Wheat porridge is almost the only source that is ready to fill the gap almost completely.
Composition:
- 1 cup of cereal;
- 3 cups boiling water;
- salt - to taste.
Required time: 8-10 hours.
Caloric value: 55 kcal per 0.1 kilogram of ready-made porridge.
How to cook steamed wheat porridge on the water for weight loss? In the evening, the cereal is poured with boiling water. The pot closes and "wraps" in blankets and warm clothes. In the morning steamed porridge is ready.
Slimming and viscous porridge according to the classic recipe. Perhaps it loses a little in terms of organoleptics, but the energy value (caloric content) of such a dish is lower than that of crumbly, and is equal to the steamed one.
Kids, porridge and slow cooker
Multicooker for many familiar helper in the kitchen. You can use it for wheat cereal. Cooking is almost the same as other cereals, but children's dishes have a number of features:
- children prefer porridge thinner;
- It is much easier to feed the child sweet porridge.
How to cook wheat porridge in water with dried fruit for a child in a slow cooker
Composition:
- 1 cup of cereal;
- 2.5 glasses of water;
- 1 pinch of salt;
- a couple of tablespoons of sugar;
- dried fruits - a big handful.
Required time: 20 minutes.
Energy value (caloric content) - 140-190 kcal per 0.1 kilogram of ready-made porridge.
Cooking process. Groats need to rinse well. This will help get rid of that part of the wheat, which when turned into flour, otherwise the porridge will become viscous. The components are thoroughly mixed. Set the mode "Porridge". If the croup was too dry, it may be necessary to extend the cooking mode for another 15 minutes.
Tip! The presence of fluid should be monitored. Allowed topping up boiling water in the cooking process.
Everything at hand: steamer, microwave, oven
You can use other available methods:
- Double boiler. The cooking method is similar to the classic recipe. Ratio (grits-water): 1 to 2. It is better to soak the grits overnight. Before cooking, drain the water and pour boiling water over the cereal. Cooking time - in accordance with the instructions; an average of 45 minutes.
- Microwave. It will take a little more water - 1 to 3. Do not take more than one cup of cereal - larger portions are harder to prepare. First, the rump must be filled with boiling water and left to swell for a couple of hours. Drain the water, place the cereal in a special dish, add water and cover with a lid (with a hole). Time - about half an hour at maximum power and another 10 minutes to "evaporation", with the microwave turned off. If unclaimed water remains, it must be drained.
- Oven. The ratio is classic - 1 to 2. The cereal is washed, put in the appropriate dishes, add water, other ingredients and placed in the oven for an hour. Temperature 200 degrees. After leaving the porridge "reach" for another half an hour.
How to cook wheat porridge on the water with meat
Neutral porridge is ideal for side dishes. For children's breakfasts or desserts - sweet with dried fruits. But you can use wheat cereal and for the preparation of a full meal for a hearty lunch or dinner.
Composition:
- 1 cup of cereal;
- 150-200 grams of pitted chicken meat or pork;
- 3 glasses of water;
- bulb;
- a pair of garlic cloves;
- carrots are average;
- spoon of butter;
- Bay leaf;
- spices to taste.
Time required: 1.5 hours.
Caloric value:
- with chicken breast - 140 kcal per 0.1 kg of the finished dish;
- with pork - 200 kcal per 0.1 kilogram of the finished dish.
Butter is heated in a pan with high sides or a cauldron. It chops chopped onion and garlic. Next grated carrot. When the onion becomes golden, small cubes of meat are added.
Next, the washed cereal is poured out and water is added. Future pilaf should not be mixed. When the water boils, the dish is covered with a lid and languishes on a small fire until ready. Pilaf is mixed, bay leaf and other spices are added. You can consume in half an hour.
It is known that garlic does not like long-term heat treatment. There are three ways to use this vegetable more efficiently in swimmers:
- chopped garlic can be added at the very end of cooking, and he will not have time to "get lost";
- whole garlic cloves are sometimes added to the grits before closing the lid - they are simply stuck in the next pilaf, and removed before serving;
- crushed or chopped garlic is put first in hot oil, is well roasted, and then removed - it turns out flavored oil, saturated with the smell of garlic, which does not evaporate during cooking and saturate the whole dish.
Each of these methods is suitable for wheat porridge with meat, and you can use several of them at once.
Porridge with mushrooms
Composition:
- 200 grams of mushrooms;
- vegetable oil;
- a pair of bulbs;
- a glass of cereal;
- two glasses of mushroom broth.
Required time: 1 hour.
Energy value (caloric content) - 105 kcal per 0.1 kilogram of cereal.
How to cook wheat porridge on the water with mushrooms? The first in salted water boiled mushrooms. Ideal white, as the most fragrant, but in their absence will fit and any. Dry need to pre-soak. Strain the mushrooms, but do not pour out the broth - it will become the liquid for cooking porridge.
Shred onion and compress, add mushrooms, cereals, pour broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the temperature, cover and simmer until tender. To the place will be spices and greens.
Useful tips
There was a strange stereotype that tasty is not useful. Wheat cereal is a clear proof of the infidelity of this argument. Fine dishes from this cereal are tempting in taste and bring great benefits to the body. We just have to cook properly. For this it is worth knowing a few more small secrets:
- It is better to choose dishes for porridge from a stainless steel with a thick bottom, and a cast-iron cauldron will do. For enamelware dish may burn.
- Ceramics will be suitable for an oven or a microwave - clay pots will become both convenient dishes and a beautiful means of serving.
- Wheat cereal for breakfast will not only energize, but also give a start to proper metabolism, which will have a beneficial effect on the body's processing of subsequent dishes (lunch, dinner).
- Some elements of wheat slow down the absorption of sugar, which partially offset the negative effect of sweets.
- The remaining porridge should not be thrown away. You can add an egg, semolina, form and fry "cutlets". In sweet porridge sometimes mixed cottage cheese.
Side dishes, main dishes, desserts - all this can be prepared with the help of wheat porridge on the water. It is enough to change the details, and the output will be waiting for a completely new, original, tasty and - most importantly! - very healthy dish.
And another recipe for wheat porridge - in the next video.
