Kvass is a traditional refreshing drink with a pronounced acidic (sour-sweet) taste and a characteristic bread flavor, prepared mainly by fermentation (active living cultures of lactic acid type), mainly for the common Slavic cuisine. Wort for kvass is prepared on the basis of flour and malt (wheat or barley) or rye breadcrumbs. The finished taste of kvass is given by the addition of honey (molasses or sugar), fragrant herbs and some others that complete the palette of the components. Kvass can also be prepared using various berries, fruits and vegetables as the main ingredient, including, and turnips - a very useful plant from the family of cruciferous.
Now turnip is a product not that exotic, but slightly forgotten by vegetable growers. However, this root is very useful and interesting from the point of view of cooking, it is a very important vegetable culture (as they say, and tops, and roots), so gradually the interest of truck farmers to turnips is revived. So, if you find where to buy or grow your own turnip, you can proceed.
We will tell you how to prepare a useful and delicious homemade kvass from turnips. Such a drink not only quenches thirst well, but also regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, speeds up the metabolism, has a diuretic and anti-inflammatory effect.
Let's analyze the recipe for cooking kvass from turnips
Karelian kvass from fresh turnips
Ingredients:
- turnip - 1-2 pcs. with a total weight of about 200-300 g;
- water - about 3 liters;
- lemon juice;
- sugar or honey.
Preparation
Root vegetables thoroughly wash, peeled (it is more convenient to make a special knife for cleaning vegetables) and put in a thick-walled sauté (or pot). Add a little water so that the turnip does not burn during the steaming process. Cover with a lid (or tighten the foil) and place in a preheated oven for 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the mode). If you live in a private house with a Russian stove, put a pot of iron in the evening at the mouth of a heated stove, where the heat is minimal. And they do it in Karelia (and not only). Flying turnips sometimes up to a day. Of course, the process is faster in the oven. You can even steal a turnip in a double boiler or multivark. We, in fact, need one thing - to cook from a steamed turnip puree (at least blender, though more primitive ways by hand).
Finished puree shall be cooled, transferred to a more spacious container (wooden ceramic or glass) and poured into the water with the addition of lemon juice. You can put the container in a relatively warm place and wait for the natural ripening (the beginning of which informs the appearance of bubbles and foam). And you can speed up the process and, at the same time, improve the taste of the final product by preparing a starter from breadcrumbs of black bread and / or malt. This drink will also be sparkling. Kvass needs time to escape. When the active phase of fermentation is completed, a sediment settles on the bottom of the container, which means that it is possible to cool and drink it neatly after pouring pure kvas with yeast. Or use to prepare other dishes ( okroshki , for example).
If you add sugar, honey, or molasses to the original wort (before fermentation)
Alternatively, kvass is made from dried turnips in approximately the same way as described in the previous recipe. Dried turnips (in the form of thin slices) are poured with boiling water, slightly pounded and mashed (see above).