Zatirka
Zatirka is a dish of flour and water invented when there was nothing else. The whole craft is in the size of the crumb: rub it until you have pieces the size of a pea, not dough. Then they stay separate in the milk and the soup turns tender instead of gluey.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 250 kcal
Ingredients
The crumbs
The soup
Makes: about 1.2 l, 4 bowls
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Rub the flour
Put the flour in a wide bowl, sprinkle over the water (or break in the egg) and rub it between your palms the way you would rub butter into flour. Aim for crumbs the size of peas.
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Step 2: Sift out the loose flour
Shake the crumbs through a coarse sieve: what falls through is dry flour, and it is what makes the soup gluey. Rub it again or set it aside.
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Step 3: Toast the crumbs
Warm them in a dry pan for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until they smell of bread. Optional, but it gives zatirka a nutty flavour.
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Step 4: Bring the milk to the boil
Heat the milk with the water, salt it and add sugar if you like it sweet. The water keeps the milk from catching on the base.
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Step 5: Rain in the crumbs
Add them in a thin stream, stirring constantly, or they fuse into one lump. Simmer 7–8 minutes over low heat.
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Step 6: Rest it
Add the butter, cover and leave 10 minutes. It thickens noticeably — loosen with hot milk if it goes too far.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Use very little water: 50 ml to 200 g of flour. It is easy to overdo, and wet flour becomes dough, which becomes dumplings.
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Tip
Make the crumbs in quantity and keep them dried in a jar for two weeks — then supper takes ten minutes.
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Variation
Savoury zatirka: chicken or mushroom stock instead of milk, with onions fried in oil and plenty of dill at the end.
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Storage
One day in the fridge. It thickens a great deal, so reheat with milk, breaking it up with a spoon.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 250 kcal | 1,000 kcal |
| Protein | 9 g | 36 g |
| Fat | 9 g | 36 g |
| Carbohydrates | 33 g | 132 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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