How to cook crumbly pearl barley porridge. Pearl barley porridge - the best recipes. How to cook pearl barley porridge. How to cook pearl barley in a slow cooker

Quote from LediLana's message How to quickly cook pearl barley? Recipes and tips

Pearl barley porridge contains almost the entire necessary set of useful microelements and vitamins. But despite this, some people refuse to use it due to the fact that pearl barley takes a very long time to prepare and requires pre-soaking. There are ways to quickly prepare it, although there are not many of them.

1
Pearl barley, unlike many other grain crops, has a big drawback - the cooking time. To cook pearl barley correctly and get a tasty dish, sort out the barley, rinse thoroughly, place in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave for 10-12 hours. For 1 liter of water, take 1 glass of pearl barley. This method requires long-term pre-soaking, and this is not always convenient.

2
To quickly prepare pearl barley, sort out the barley, rinse thoroughly and pour into boiling water, cook the barley for 2-3 minutes over high heat. Drain the water and fill the cereal with cold water. Place on the fire and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, add salt, butter and cook until the water has completely evaporated.

3
To quickly prepare pearl barley, sort out the barley, rinse, add hot water and bring to a boil. Drain the water and fill the cereal again with hot, but slightly salted water. Add the oil, mix it well, close the lid and bring it to readiness in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees.

4
You can quickly cook pearl barley in the microwave. Currently, pearl barley is available for sale, packaged in bags. It costs a little more, but it takes quite a bit of effort and time to prepare. Take a bag of pearl barley, place it in a glass container, fill it with cold water and put it in the microwave at maximum power for 10-15 minutes. Then reduce the power and leave until the cereal is completely cooked.

5
To quickly cook pearl barley, use a pressure cooker. To do this, pour water into a container, pour barley into a bowl for cooking rice and turn on the steamer. Cooking time is usually indicated in the recommendations when purchasing household appliances.

Magnificent pearl barley: cooking recipes.

Pearl barley is an excellent grain that has a whole galaxy of undoubted advantages. It is prized for its distinct nutty flavor and consistency, which can be either pleasantly chewy and slightly sticky or smooth and creamy. Proponents of a healthy diet are delighted with barley, as it is rich in complex carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, and contains vitamins and minerals. Cooks also love pearl barley, because you can not only cook porridge from it or add it to soup, but also use it as a base for salads or prepare a special type of risotto with the melodious name “perlotto”.

The easiest and fastest way to enjoy the taste of pearl barley is to boil it and use it as a side dish or main dish, seasoned with various sauces. The preparation of pearl barley is partly similar to the familiar technology of cooking rice; it is no coincidence that this grain was once called “peasant rice” in Rus'. For one part of barley, take 2 parts of cold filtered water (if desired, the water can be replaced with vegetable or meat broth), rinse the cereal, place in a saucepan, pour in the liquid, bring to a boil, season with salt, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. . The time it takes for the cereal to cook depends on its age and grain size, as well as how chewy you want it to be. Want to boil your cereal even faster? Pre-soak it, like beans, in cold water for a period of 8 to 12 hours. Thus, you will “win” 10-15 minutes, but the cereal will turn out more boiled.

A rice cooker is also suitable for quickly preparing pearl barley. For 1 cup of pearl barley, take 3 cups of water. Sort through the grains, removing broken grains and possibly small stones. Place the barley and a pinch of salt in the bowl of the rice cooker, add water, close the lid and cook for 10-12 minutes, unless the instructions for your appliance contain other special recommendations for this.

The finished cereal can be served immediately, for example, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and pine nuts, or refrigerated and used later. Boiled pearl barley is stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, and can be stored in the freezer for up to several months. Ready pearl barley can be heated in a water bath or in the microwave; frozen pearl barley must be taken out in advance and allowed to “depart” in the refrigerator.

Salad with pearl barley is a tasty and healthy dish. You can replace rice or pasta with barley in Italian salads. A warm salad made from pearl barley, feta and red onion will be tasty and healthy. For 1 cup of dry pearl barley, take 4 beets, ½ head of red salad onion, 150 grams of feta, 4 green onions, 1 and ½ tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Rinse the beets, dry them, wrap them in foil and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 35-40 minutes. While the beets are baking, cook the pearl barley, drain and leave covered, stirring it slightly with a fork. Peel the onion and cut into half rings. Peel the beets and cut into slices. Mix all ingredients, season with butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

To prepare a delicious porridge from pearl barley, the cereal should be soaked in advance for 10-12 hours. Drain the water, add milk at the rate of 1 cup per ½ cup of barley, season with sugar and cook, stirring, in a water bath for at least 30-40 minutes. Then the porridge will turn out similar to oatmeal, tender and thick, and you can also season it with cinnamon and decorate it with apple slices.

If you want to get a great complexion, pearl barley will also help you. They say that the young Queen Elizabeth owed her legendary skin to barley broth. Take 1 cup pearl barley, 6 oranges, 2 lemons and some cane sugar. Rinse the pearl barley, place it in a saucepan and add 8 cups of water, bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat to low and cook for about another hour. Strain the broth (by the way, you can cool the cereal and use it for a salad or side dish), pour it into a jug, add lemon and orange juice and zest, add sugar, mix and put the broth in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy the taste of the drink for one or two days, and then brew a new one.

How to cook pickle with barley.

Rassolnik is an old Russian dish that has been known since the 15th century. The classic recipe for this soup necessarily includes pickles, brine and barley. Thanks to these ingredients, the pickle has a pleasant sour taste and a slightly viscous consistency.

Rassolnik with pearl barley is a traditional Russian hot soup. Prepare it to your liking: with beef or mushroom broth. The first will quickly warm you and your loved ones in the cold, the second will be nutritious.
dish during fasting.

How to cook pearl barley for pickle sauce
Barley is processed barley grains. The appearance of the grain resembles freshwater pearls, and in terms of its nutritional composition it is truly a wealth. Barley contains a lot of fiber and vitamins. Dishes made from pearl barley help normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

You will need

Pearl barley
water
salt
saucepan.

Instructions

1
Soak pearl barley in water for several hours, or overnight. Drain the water and fill the pan with the barley with cold water. Place on the fire and bring to a boil. Place the pearl barley in a sieve and rinse under the tap with cold water. Pour boiling water over the cereal and continue cooking for another 50 minutes. Add salt during cooking. The pearl barley will be crumbly and not sticky. Add it to the pickle 5 minutes before the soup is ready.

2
Boil the pearl barley for an hour in salted water. Pour the finished pearl barley into a colander and rinse generously with water. Add it to almost finished soup.

3
Rinse the pearl barley well with cold water. Pour boiling water so that the water is two fingers above the level of the cereal, put on low heat. Add cold water several times to help the cereal cook faster. Rinse the finished cereal and add it to the pickle five minutes before it is ready.

Rassolnik with pearl barley in beef broth

Ingredients:
- 0.5 kg of beef on the bone;
- 3 liters of water;
- 3 tbsp. pearl barley;
- 2-3 potatoes;
- 3 pickled cucumbers;
- 1 carrot;
- 1 onion;
- 1 tbsp. cucumber pickle;
- 2 bay leaves;
- 3-4 black peppercorns;
- parsley or celery;
- salt;
- vegetable oil.

Place the beef in a medium saucepan and cover with 1.5 quarts of cold water. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat and drain immediately. Rinse off the gray foam from the meat, put it back in the bowl, pour 3 liters of water into it and cook the second broth for 2 hours over low heat under the lid.

Rinse the barley well under running water, brew it in boiling water and let stand for 40 minutes. During this time, change the cooled water to hot water several times, each time draining the cereal into a fine-mesh colander.

Finely chop the peeled onion and carrots. First fry the onion in a frying pan with heated vegetable oil, after a couple of minutes, throw in the orange straw and fry, stirring, for another 3-4 minutes. Grind the pickles and cut the potatoes without skin into slices.

To enhance the taste, pickles can be fried until transparent, making a second frying for the soup.

Remove the cooked beef and cool. Remove the meat from the bone, cut into small pieces and return to the broth. Turn up the heat to medium and add the steamed barley into the pan. Cook for 15 minutes, then add the potatoes.

After 15-20 minutes, place the fried cucumbers and pickles into the pickle, pour in the brine, add salt to taste, season with pepper, bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes. Infuse the soup for at least 20 minutes under the lid, removing the dishes from the stove. Pour it into plates, sprinkle with chopped parsley or celery.

Lenten pickle with barley and mushrooms

Ingredients:
- 300 g of forest mushrooms (ceps, boletus, boletus, boletus, etc.);
- 2.5 liters of water;
- 3 tbsp. pearl barley;
- 3 pickled cucumbers;
- 4 potatoes;
- 1 carrot;
- 1 onion;
- 2 bay leaves;
- salt;
- vegetable oil.

If you take frozen mushrooms, then give preference to the chopped product. In this case, you don’t have to wait for it to defrost before slicing, but can immediately put it in the frying pan.

Soak the barley in cold water for 2 hours, then transfer it to a shallow colander and hold under running water, removing the mucus. Let the cereal boil in 2.5 liters of clean water for 20 minutes. Soak the mushrooms, cut off dirt from them, chop coarsely and fry in vegetable oil until half cooked. Place them in the pan along with the potato cubes.

Make a fry of carrots and onions, as written in the previous recipe. Grate the pickled cucumbers. Add all the vegetable additives to the mushroom pickle, salt it if necessary, throw in the bay leaf and cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. After 20-30 minutes of infusion, divide the soup into portions and serve.

Barley porridge is one of the most useful natural products, known since ancient times. According to experts, it contains a huge amount of vitamins A, D, B, and E, as well as calcium, iron, iodine and phosphorus. Lysine (an amino acid) contained in pearl barley provides the body with effective resistance to viral infections. Pearl barley has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the digestive tract and improves the condition of the intestinal microflora.

It is impossible to overestimate the benefits of dishes prepared from pearl barley. Therefore, experts strongly recommend introducing it into the diet of almost all categories of consumers.

It is known that few people have a special love for pearl barley. This is mainly explained by the fact that many simply do not know how to cook pearl barley deliciously. In fact, there is nothing complicated about it. We will tell you how to properly and quickly prepare delicious pearl barley porridge and recipes for simple but satisfying dishes with this cereal in our article.

When to serve pearl barley?

Many will agree that pearl barley will look somewhat ridiculous during a festive feast. But it is quite appropriate as a full breakfast or lunch, as well as a hearty dinner. When going on a hike, you definitely need to take pearl barley with you. This porridge can not only charge you with energy and give endurance and strength, it will pleasantly surprise you with its taste.

For barley, as a side dish, you should choose dishes with gravies and sauces. Some may consider this porridge on its own to be a bit dry, so its ideal combination with meat, sour cream sauce, and goulash. Many people add stewed meat, fried vegetables or mushrooms to it.

How to cook pearl barley deliciously?

Pearl barley porridge is an excellent option for a nutritious breakfast, a delicious lunch or a hearty dinner. By adding various ingredients (meat, milk, honey and dried fruits), it can be turned into a more tender and very unusual dish. In those families where children do not like this cereal, the housewife has to imagine and experiment.

It turns out that pearl barley porridge is also prepared with milk, water, broth, with vegetables, mushrooms, meat, using various methods and creating original dishes. How to cook pearl barley? We suggest you read the recipes for interesting dishes with this grain later in the article.

Cooking pearl barley correctly

To make a dish made from this cereal tasty, you should definitely know how to properly prepare pearl barley. There are two types of cereals: Dutch and classic. Dutch is distinguished by its smooth, carefully cleaned grains, which cook very quickly, resulting in a tender and soft porridge. Classic pearl barley porridge takes much longer to prepare, but it is famous for the many beneficial substances it contains. The main conditions that should be adhered to in order to prepare delicious pearl barley are soaking, observing a certain cooking time for the cereal and using the required amount of liquid. Typically, the cereal is filled with warm water for 8 hours, after which it is cooked for about half an hour.

So, let's prepare a healthy and tasty breakfast (lunch, dinner)

For those who are interested in how to cook pearl barley, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the following recipe. Use:

• pearl barley - 1 tbsp.;
• one tbsp. a spoonful of butter;
• three quarters st. spoons of salt;
• water (the quantity is indicated in the recipe below).

From the number of ingredients suggested in the recipe, you should get six servings of tasty, very healthy and nutritious porridge. This dish takes one and a half hours to prepare.

Cooking steps

First of all, the cereal should be thoroughly washed. This relieves it of dust and debris that got into it during packaging. Then the pearl barley is placed in a deep container and filled with water (1 l). It is best to do this at night, since the cereal will have to infuse for about eight, or even ten to twelve hours. Due to prolonged soaking, the grain gets rid of excess stickiness, which can speed up the boiling of the grains from the inside.

In the morning, the liquid that is not absorbed is drained. The cereal is washed several more times under running water, poured into a saucepan and poured with boiling water (3 cups). Then add salt to the water, bring to a boil over maximum heat, and boil for 5-7 minutes without covering with a lid. Next, you can reduce the heat to a minimum and cover the porridge tightly with a lid. After this, the cereal is cooked for another 50 minutes.

It is necessary to ensure that all the water is properly absorbed. Add 1 tbsp to the finished porridge. a spoonful of butter (butter), mix thoroughly and cover the pan tightly with a lid again. In order to enhance the effect, you can wrap the pan with a towel or an old, unnecessary jacket. The porridge is left for half an hour so that it “settles.” Serve in portions, garnished with herbs.

Barley on water: another recipe

For those who are interested in how to cook pearl barley as a side dish in water, experienced housewives assure that cooking delicious porridge does not present any difficulties if you become familiar with the most important features of preparing this dish.

It is very important to pre-soak the grains in sour milk or cold water. The proportion is 1:1 (i.e. 1 glass of cereal per glass of water). Soak the pearl barley for at least four hours, but it will be better if the grains are left to infuse throughout the night. Those who do not know how to cook pearl barley in water should take into account the recommendation of experienced housewives: you need to cook the porridge in a large saucepan, since the grains increase approximately five times during the cooking process.

If the side dish is cooked on the stove, it will take about one hour to cook. Some people cook the porridge over the fire for half an hour, after which they remove the pan and wrap it in a warm towel. At the same time, the ready-made pearl barley is steamed. After the side dish is cooked (steamed), the grains are washed with boiled water.

Gastronomic secrets

Pearl barley porridge cooked according to this recipe turns out to be unusually tasty, aromatic, crumbly, and tender. At the same time, it should be remembered that it is also extremely useful.

In order for the result to be guaranteed to be successful, the pearl barley should be cooked under a closed lid and under no circumstances should it be stirred until the very end of cooking. You can tell if the porridge is ready by the appearance of the grains: they should be light, soft and swollen.

One of the gastronomic secrets of this dish is that when hot it is much healthier and tastier than cold. That is why it is recommended to eat pearl barley porridge immediately after cooking.

Many consider pearl barley an excellent side dish for fish, meat, vegetables, cheese and herbs. It goes well with honey, condensed milk, and jam. The ingredients complement each other qualitatively.

Classic version

For those who are interested in how to deliciously cook pearl barley as a side dish, experienced chefs suggest familiarizing yourself with the classic recipe. In accordance with the instructions contained in it, the glass of pearl barley is washed and sorted, and damaged grains are removed.

When the water in the container in which the cereal is washed becomes clear, it is drained using a sieve or colander. Then pearl barley is poured with water and left for 9-10 hours (overnight) so that the grains swell. During this time, the cereal becomes smooth and elastic, the grains absorb almost all the water. Now you can cook it.

Milk is poured into a small container and heated to 40 degrees. Fill a large saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil. After this, the fire is reduced to a minimum, and the container with milk is carefully placed in a water bath. Then barley is added to the milk, seasoned with sugar and mixed. During cooking, you need to monitor the level of boiling water (it can flood the fire).

The housewife must determine for herself how long it will take to cook pearl barley porridge. For those who are interested in how to prepare pearl barley (photo below), experts warn that this is not a quick process. The finished pearl barley becomes grayish in color. After the cereal is cooked, add butter (butter) to it and mix.

How to cook pearl barley in cooking bags?

There is no need to soak cereals that are packaged in bags before cooking, since they are processed and ready for cooking. Instant porridge is added to soups or used as a side dish with meat dishes. The bags of pearl barley are cooked like this: the bag of grains is placed in a pan; pour in such a volume of water that it covers the bag by one to one and a half centimeters. Next, place the pan on the stove, turn on medium heat, add 1 tsp. salt. After 45 min. Remove the pearl barley from the heat and drain the water.

Cooking pearl barley porridge in a double boiler or slow cooker

Experienced housewives assure those who are interested in how to quickly cook pearl barley that a side dish made from this grain can be cooked much faster in a slow cooker/pressure cooker than in a saucepan. The dish turns out very tasty and truly airy.

The recipe for cooking porridge in a slow cooker is simple. You need to rinse 1 glass of cereal, soak it in kefir or yogurt for 10-12 hours. Then the grains are rinsed with water, placed in a multicooker bowl, 500 ml of boiling water is poured in and, turning on the “Stew” or “Cooking” option, cook the porridge for half an hour. After this time, the dish should be tested for readiness by scooping it with a spoon from the very middle of the bowl. If necessary, leave the side dish to cook for another 10-20 minutes. Next, drain the liquid from the pan, rinse the dish with clean water, and add oil to taste.

Pearl barley porridge with meat

How to cook This question is of interest to young housewives for good reason. Deliciously prepared pearl barley porridge with meat can become one of the most satisfying and healthy dishes in a balanced menu. Use:

• pearl barley (160 g);
• pork pulp (200 g);
• carrots (120 g);
• onions (100 g);
• vegetable oil (30 ml);
• salt (5 g);
• pepper (ground, black) and other spices to taste.

The calorie content of pearl barley with meat according to the classic recipe is 264.5 kcal/100 g.

Cooking according to recipe

The secret of a delicious dish lies in the obligatory soaking of the cereal. It is filled with water and left overnight (eight to ten hours). This does not need to be done if instant cereals packaged in portioned bags are used to prepare breakfast (lunch or dinner). Then the cereal is boiled in boiling water for 25 minutes.

Pour a little oil (vegetable) into a frying pan with high sides (a must!) and fry the pieces of pork in it. Chopped onions are added to the fried meat. It is fried until transparent, then carrots, cut into strips, are added.

Drain the water from the finished porridge and place the pearl barley in a frying pan with the vegetables and meat. Add salt and spices (to taste), add water (it should cover the porridge), cover with a lid and simmer for half an hour until the moisture has completely evaporated.

Barley with meat in a pot

If you cook pearl barley porridge in a pot in the oven, it turns out very crumbly and unusually tender. The porridge is not cooked in pots, but simmers, enveloped in heat on all sides. At the same time, all the juices from vegetables and meat are absorbed by the cereal. To prepare delicious barley stewed in the oven, use:

• pearl barley (200 g);
• meat (beef or pork) - 250 g;
• carrots (100 g);
• onions (100 g);
• tomato juice (50 ml);
• vegetable oil (40 ml);
• garlic (25 g);
• salt and spices (to taste).

Preparation

The cereal is pre-soaked, dried well and fried in a dry frying pan until a beautiful golden color appears. In another frying pan, fry the meat with onions and carrots (grated) in hot oil. The ingredients are added sequentially to the pan. It will take approximately 5-7 minutes to fry each product.

After the meat and vegetables are fried (after 15-20 minutes), tomato juice is poured into the frying pan, and spices, salt, and garlic are also added. Simmer everything under a closed lid for about 5 minutes.

Next, meat and vegetables, stewed in a frying pan, and fried pearl barley are placed in ceramic pots. Each pot is filled a little more than halfway. Then water is added to them (it should not reach 2-3 cm to the top). The contents are mixed with a spoon and sent to the oven.

The porridge simmers in the oven for half an hour at a temperature of 200 degrees for half an hour, and then the temperature is reduced to 180 degrees and the pots are simmered for another 1 hour. Experienced housewives recommend leaving the finished porridge in the turned off oven for about fifteen minutes. This will allow it to absorb all the juices and flavors of vegetables and meat.

Most often, pearl barley is included in soups, but is not prepared as a separate porridge. Housewives should not forget that this healthy product makes delicious, nutritious and budget-friendly side dishes. If you add meat or mushrooms to the cereal, you will be able to prepare a complete hearty lunch with pearl barley porridge. How to cook the cereal under discussion, and what additives it goes well with, is described below.

In order for the planned dish to turn out truly tasty, you need to know a few secrets of cooking it, as well as choose the right grains. The Dutch pearl barley variety is ideal for porridges. It cooks quickly and turns out soft and tender. But it is better to leave the classic varieties of the product for soups.

Approximate proportions

In order for the dish to have a pleasant crumbly structure, you need to carefully monitor the proportions of cereal and liquid. If the product was pre-soaked for a long time, then 1 tbsp. of the bulk ingredient, take 1 liter of liquid. When cooking without soaking, the amount of water should be increased by 1.5 times.

How long does it take to cook?

The exact cooking time for the porridge will also depend on whether the cereal was left in the water before the culinary experiment. If the housewife chose a long-term soaking approach (at least 6-7 hours), then the porridge will only take half an hour to cook. After this, she will only need to brew a little.

For short-term soaking (2-3 hours), the dish will simmer under the lid for 45-55 minutes. In this case, the heating of the stove should be minimal.

Pearl barley porridge as a side dish

The dish will be low-calorie if you cook it with regular filtered water. You will need to use 630 ml of liquid. Other ingredients: 1 tbsp. pearl barley, salt to taste, a piece of butter.

1. The pearl barley is washed to clean water and left to swell overnight.
2. The prepared product is poured with fresh liquid and cooked for 35 minutes. Salt and oil are immediately added to the container.

A tasty addition to the side dish is an assortment of cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes.

With added meat

The addition of meat will make the treat more satisfying and nutritious. For example, pork pulp. Ingredients: 650 g meat, 1.5 tbsp. pearl barley, onion, sour apple, carrot, salt, pork seasoning mixture.

1. Pieces of meat with layers of lard are fried in a frying pan without oil. Enough of the rendered fat. When a golden crust appears on the slices, you can transfer them to the duckling pan.
2. Chopped onions and thin sticks of carrots are sautéed in the melted fat. Lastly, small apple cubes are added to these products. The mass is salted and sprinkled with spices.
3. Vegetables are transferred to the meat. Cereals pour out on top. The food is poured with water so that it is approximately 1 cm higher.
4. Pearl barley porridge with meat will simmer until cooked (without a lid) for 60-70 minutes.

To make the treat even tastier, after time has passed, you should cover the duckling and send it to the hot oven for another half hour.

Recipe for cooking with stew

Instead of fresh meat, you can also use pork stew for the dish under discussion. One standard jar will be enough. Other ingredients: 1 tbsp. cereals, 2 onions, 2.5 tbsp. filtered water, a pair of garlic cloves, 2 medium carrots, salt, a mixture of peppers.

1. Barley is soaked in water for 8-10 hours.
2. In a deep cast-iron frying pan, the stew with all the contents of the jar is heated. Finely chopped onions, garlic and carrots are also sent there. The ingredients are fried together for 7-8 minutes.
3. Soaked cereal is boiled for 10-15 minutes in salted water. Next, it, along with some of the water, is poured into a frying pan for frying. You can add salt to the dish.
4. The treat languishes for half an hour under a closed lid.

Before serving, the porridge should sit for 15-20 minutes.

Barley with mushrooms

This version of the dish can become both a side dish and an independent lunch. Ingredients: 830 ml filtered water, 230 g cereal, 230 g fresh champignons, carrots, salt, onion, mushroom seasoning.

1. The washed cereal is soaked for half an hour, after which it is sent to boil in salted water. It will take about an hour to prepare. The liquid should completely evaporate during this time.
2. Chopped onions and carrots are sautéed until golden. It is best to cook them in butter.
3. Mushrooms and seasoning are added to the finished frying. Together, the ingredients cook for another 7-8 minutes.
4. The contents of the frying pan are poured into the pan with porridge. The treat is mixed well, salted and left to brew for half an hour.

You can improve this barley recipe. For example, add red bell pepper and/or tomatoes to the fry.

Milk pearl barley porridge

You should definitely prepare your own favorite dish of Peter I. It was pearl barley with cow’s milk. Ingredients: 1 tbsp. cereals, 2 large spoons of butter, a pinch of salt, a large spoon of granulated sugar, 900 ml of milk.

1. The pearl barley is soaked in cold water overnight. In the morning, it is washed well and boiled for 12-14 minutes in salt water.
2. Next, the slightly boiled product is placed in a colander and added to boiling milk.
3. The porridge is salted and sprinkled with sugar.
4. After another 15 minutes, the container with the treat is moved to a water bath and simmered in it for 2.5-3 hours.

If the housewife has time to spare, you can increase the cooking time to 6-7 hours.

With Chiken

Goes well with pearl barley porridge and chicken. Ingredients: 280 g of cereal, 1-2 onions, 320 g of chicken, 2 carrots, salt, broth, garlic to taste and spices for pilaf.

1. The washed pearl barley is soaked in cold water for a couple of hours.
2. Small pieces of chicken are well fried along with chopped onions, carrots and garlic in oil. The mass is immediately salted and sprinkled with seasonings.
3. The resulting roasted poultry and vegetables are transferred to the duckling pot. The prepared cereal is distributed on top.
4. The products need to be filled with broth so that it is about 1 cm higher.
5. The porridge will be cooked under the lid until the broth has completely evaporated.

Ready barley is seasoned with salt to taste.

Barley with pumpkin

It is best to take the vegetable fresh - without peel and seeds. Ingredients: 1 tbsp. cereals, 1.5 tbsp. filtered water, 320 g pumpkin pulp, salt, onion, sweet pepper, 2 tomatoes.

1. The cereal is soaked in water for 4 hours.
2. First, onions and carrots (chopped) are fried in a frying pan, then they are cooked together with cubes of pumpkin, peppers and tomatoes.
3. Vegetables are stewed until soft over low heat.
4. Barley is boiled in salted water until fully cooked.
5. All that remains is to transfer the porridge into the frying pan with the vegetables, stir and simmer the ingredients together for another 7-8 minutes.

You can add crushed garlic to the dish to taste.

How to cook in a slow cooker?

The “smart pan” will make the process of preparing the discussed “capricious” porridge a little easier. Ingredients: 1 tbsp. cereals and 2 times more broth, salt to taste.

1. The pearl barley is soaked in water for a couple of hours, after which it is transferred to the bowl of the device and filled with any broth.
2. Salt is immediately added to the cereal. You can also add butter to taste.
3. The dish is prepared in milk porridge mode.

With the specified proportions of liquid and dry ingredients, the treat turns out crumbly.

Pearl barley is a simple, inexpensive and undeservedly forgotten grain by many. Meanwhile, it can become not only an excellent side dish for meat, fish, mushrooms or vegetables, but also the basis of many salads, appetizers and soups. What can I say, pearl barley can be very tasty, even if you just flavor it with a piece of butter and sprinkle with herbs.

A little about this cereal

It is no secret that many people now treat pearl barley with slight contempt, believing that porridge from this grain is prepared exclusively for soldiers. How unfair is this! It’s not for nothing that it got its romantic name from the word “pearl,” which translated from French means “pearl.” And if we take a closer look at its rich vitamin composition, then this cereal is rightfully a pearl among all the others.

It has everything to ensure that the human body is always healthy and the body beautiful. For gorgeous hair and clear skin, vitamin B, for strong teeth and bones, vitamin D, vitamin A will improve vision and protect against infections, and vitamin E will prolong your youth.

For those who don’t know, let us immediately explain that pearl barley refers to whole ground barley grains, and unprocessed crushed grains are called barley grains.

So, let's start cooking! The main thing is to cook the porridge correctly, and then you will become friends with it for a long time. Especially for those who cannot find the right approach to cereal, we will tell you in detail how to cook pearl barley in water. In the recipe you will find not only a detailed step-by-step description of the process, but also a photo.

Taste Info Second: cereals

Ingredients

• pearl barley – 1 cup;
• water for soaking cereals – 1 l;
• water for cooking cereals - from 2.5 glasses (depending on the desired viscosity of the porridge);
• salt - to taste;
• butter - to your taste when serving.

How to cook pearl barley porridge in water on the stove

It is not recommended to cook pearl barley in water without soaking, otherwise it will take a very long time. The cereal must first be soaked in water and then the cooking process will be halved.

First of all, measure out the required amount of cereal and sort it out, since even in the best factory packaging you may find small pebbles and debris.

Then pour it into a fine-hole colander or sieve and rinse thoroughly under cool running water. During the rinsing process, constantly sort the grains with your fingers. Next, place the washed pearl barley in a container of a suitable size and also fill it with cool water.

Leave the pearl barley in the water for at least 5 hours, ideally overnight. During this time, the cereal should increase significantly in size. After soaking, place it in a colander (sieve) again and rinse thoroughly. Now the clean and swollen pearl barley is ready for cooking.

Bring the water in a saucepan to a boil and add the cereal.

The proportions of water and cereal depend on the viscosity of the porridge you want to obtain as a result. For example, how much water do you need for a glass of pearl barley? For crumbly porridge, take 2.5 glasses of water; for porridge of medium viscosity - the ratio will be 1:3; for a very viscous messy porridge (many people remember it from kindergarten) - from 3.5 glasses to a liter of water.

Cover the saucepan with the pearl barley tightly and place it on the burner set to maximum heat. As soon as the contents of the pan begin to gurgle intensely, turn the stove to low heat and, without removing the lid, let the barley boil for about 25 minutes.

When the specified time has passed, lift the lid: from above the porridge seems completely ready, the top of the cereal has already completely absorbed the water, but there is still a little liquid left at the very bottom. Salt the porridge to your taste (usually 1 teaspoon is enough), stir gently and return the lid to its place.

Simmer the porridge on low heat on the stove for another 10 minutes, then turn off the burner, but do not remove the saucepan from it yet, let it steam for 5-7 minutes, and the pearl barley porridge on the water will be ready!

It is better to serve pearl barley hot or warm. Season it with butter, and perhaps also a handful of herbs. Or serve the porridge as a side dish with meat (fish, mushroom) gravy and vegetables in any form.

The porridge will turn out especially tasty, and the grains will remain intact if you first lightly fry the cereal in a dry frying pan.

Pearl barley porridge is best cooked in a thick-walled container. Barley will turn out good in a double boiler or. But there is another interesting way, try it, and this porridge will forever become your favorite. In the morning, place the cereal soaked in the evening in clay pots and pour boiling water over it (the liquid level should be 2-2.5 cm above the cereal). Do not cover with lids and place in the oven, preheated by this time to a temperature of 100-120 degrees. After this, bring the temperature in the oven to 200-220 degrees and from this point leave for 40 minutes. Serve directly in the pots, adding salt or sugar and butter to taste.

You can cook porridge in a water bath. First, boil for 15 minutes, then place the bowl with the cereal in the bathhouse, wrap and evaporate for 30-40 minutes.

Not only does pearl barley make good porridge, you can cook many interesting dishes with it:

• soup with dried mushrooms or;
• porridge with chicken hearts or chicken and vegetables;
• Christmas kutya;
• or with ;
• cabbage rolls;
• perlotto (this is something like risotto, but not with rice, but with pearl barley);
• barley cutlets;
• barley with meat in pots in the oven.

For the most part, modern housewives are interested in how to cook pearl barley in water only if they decide to prepare pickle sauce. This cereal is somehow not particularly popular, despite its proven benefits, unusual texture and nutritional value. This is largely due to unpleasant memories from school or kindergarten. But if you do everything correctly, it will turn out not only healthy, but also tasty.

Once you learn how to handle the component, you will want to see it not only in soup, but also use it as a side dish and serve it as an independent dish. The secrets to success are very simple: do not give up soaking, follow the recommended proportions and clearly understand how much to cook barley depending on the approach used.

How to cook pearl barley in water?

To prepare crumbly and dense cereals, which can be used as part of a pickle or as a base for a side dish, you need to use one of the following recipes:

• Long soak approach. Take 1 liter of water per glass of product. We thoroughly wash the cereal, changing the liquid several times until it remains transparent. Fill the component with cold water and leave for at least 6 hours, and preferably overnight. After this, we rinse the composition again, fill it with a liter of fresh water and put it on fire. After boiling, drain the liquid, rinse the barley again and add fresh boiling water. How long does it take to cook pearl barley that has undergone this treatment? No more than 30 minutes. You can either let it steep a little or add it to the soup 5 minutes before turning it off.

• Short soaking approach. To get a crumbly mass and not have to wait so long, you can use a slightly different approach. We sort the grains, wash them, soak them for 4 hours and wash them again. We fill the workpiece with water, but now we take not 1 liter of liquid per glass of pearl barley, but 1.5 liters. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook covered over low heat for 50 minutes. Then we wrap the container with a towel and place it in a warm place for another 40 minutes. After this, salt the finished product, season it with butter if desired, and use it for its intended purpose.

Tip: To prepare soup, it is better to choose classic cereals, which, even after heat treatment, will retain the required density. But for porridges, the Dutch variety of the product is more suitable. It is soft and boils faster.

• Option without soaking. For 1 glass of cereal we take 1.5 liters of water. We sort the product, rinse it, and add it to boiling water. Boil the barley for 2-3 minutes over high heat, drain the liquid and pour cold water instead. After the mixture boils, the heat should be reduced to low. This mixture will take a long time to cook - about 1.5 hours.

Using the above methods, you can both cook pearl barley as a side dish and prepare the component for subsequent use in various dishes. The only thing is that before serving the dish, it is recommended to let the mixture sit for a little while in order to achieve the most pleasant texture.

The best way to boil barley in milk

Traditional pearl barley porridge is usually boiled exclusively in milk. The classic version of the dish looks like this:

• We take 1 cup of cereal, 1 liter of yogurt for soaking it, 2 liters of milk, 2 tablespoons of butter and a little sugar. It is highly recommended not to violate the proportions. Even minor shifts in one direction or the other can ruin the final product.
• We wash the cereal, soak it in yogurt overnight, and then rinse the composition again.

• Heat the milk and sugar on the stove, add the prepared cereal to the liquid and boil over low heat under the lid for 10 minutes.
• To make it truly tasty, the preparation must be infused in a water bath for 4 hours. Don't waste your time, the results will be worth it.
• The finished product will be properly seasoned with butter and left for half an hour, covered, in a warm place.

Of course, it is almost impossible to obtain crumbly pearl barley in this way, but in a creamy gravy its delicate texture will no longer matter so much. In any case, it will turn out very tasty and satisfying.

Alternative methods for preparing cereals

Those who are interested in options for how to quickly cook pearl barley should consider the following approaches:

• In the oven. Take a glass of pearl barley, 3 glasses of water, salt, oil, herbs. Pre-soak the grains for several hours, then rinse and place in pots. Pour boiling water over the mixture, which should cover the product by 2 cm. There is no need to use lids! Place the containers in a not yet preheated oven and cook for 40 minutes at a temperature of 220ºC. Add salt, pepper, oil, and herbs to the ready-made crumbly porridge.

• In a slow cooker.

• Take 1 glass of pearl barley and 3 glasses of water, additional ingredients at your discretion. Wash the cereal and soak for a couple of hours. It’s not entirely correct to use boiling water for this, but as a last resort, you can try this option (hold for about 10 minutes). Place the workpiece in the multicooker bowl, fill it with water, add salt, butter and cook in the “Buckwheat” mode. In the microwave.

With this approach, it turns out quite tasty and time-saving. Take a glass of pearl barley, 1.5 glasses of water, butter and salt. We wash the soaked component, put it in a cooking dish, fill it with water and boil over high heat for 3 minutes. Transfer the mixture into a heat-resistant bowl, season with salt, and cover with a lid. Microwave at maximum power for 5 minutes. Then we reduce the power and prepare the composition for another half hour. We evaluate the degree of readiness of the product and, if necessary, put it in the microwave for another 5 minutes. Season the finished pearl barley with oil.