Mamaliga, as you know, is the name given to traditional Georgian thick corn porridge. By the way, in some regions of Georgia it is still used as bread. Initially, hominy was prepared from Italian millet (millet). This dish is eaten and prepared with pleasure in other countries, for example, in Romania and Moldova. The very name of porridge comes from their language, but Georgians call mamalyga - gomi.

Mamalyga is an inexpensive, healthy and easy-to-prepare dish. You can add dishes such as lobio or Georgian chicken liver to the mamaliga. In this case, you will also receive an inexpensive but very tasty menu.

Many years ago, Georgians cooked millet mamaligu. However, they used an unusual millet, but an Italian one. And then corn replaced it. In the 1940s, not only millet, but also corn began to be sown in Georgia.

In Russia, mamalyga was made from millet until corn flour became available for free sale. It is worth noting that it does not taste the same as in Georgia.

If you prefer millet hominy, it is better to immediately fry it with cheese.

Ingredients:

• corn grits – 1 part;
• water – 3.5 parts (for example, if you take 2 cups of cereal, then you need 7 cups of water);
• cheese (suluguni or other).

Cooking method

Georgians cook mamaliga from white corn grits according to the recipe. It has a slightly different taste than the regular one. For example, we take 5 glasses of corn grits (that’s 650 grams, that’s enough for about 5-6 servings) and 17 glasses of water. Depending on the grain and fire, you may need more water. Initially, use the rule: less water is better than more. After all, when the cereal boils, you can add water to it if necessary. But if there is too much water, you will have to evaporate it for a long time.

Information for lovers of salty foods: after cooking, hominy should not be eaten salted. You can only slightly salt the water at the very beginning of cooking. Many people prefer not to add salt at all. After all, the cheese in this dish should be salty.

So, we poured water over the cereal and put it on low heat. Cook the porridge over low heat until the water boils away. Try mamalyga; if the cereal is boiled, then the porridge is ready. Everything is very simple!

The cooking time for this dish according to the recipe will depend on the intensity of the fire, the size of the cereal and the quality of the cereal. In this regard, the cooking time varies from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. In the above proportions, the porridge is cooked for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

You can choose the thickness of the porridge depending on your preferences. But remember that hominy should not be liquid. It should not flow, like, for example, rice milk porridge. When laying hominy on plates, it should form a non-spreading mound.

After boiling, the hominy must be stirred, otherwise there is a risk of lumps forming. And during further cooking, the upper layers of the porridge will not receive enough heat compared to the lower ones.

To make it easier to mix hominy, it is better to use a wooden spatula called chogani. In general, you can use any spatula, which one you have at home. The main condition: it should not be too thin, otherwise it may break.

There is an opinion that this porridge needs to be supplemented with corn flour, or if it is not available, then semolina. Let's figure it out. The purpose of adding flour is to thicken the mixture. This is necessary if you purchased large grains. However, the factory-made cereal that you find on store shelves is usually small, so you don’t need to add flour, the porridge will already be thick.

Corn crunches

After cooking the porridge, you can make another dish - corn crunches. This is also a simple, uncomplicated, but very tasty dish.

After you put the finished porridge on plates, there is still a lot of hominy left on the walls of the pan. Place this pan on low heat. The porridge on the walls will dry out, fry and turn into crispy tasty crust. Your crunchies are ready! They easily break off from the walls of the pan. Children love these crunches very much.

How to serve hominy

As we have already said, hominy should be placed in a heap on a plate. We insert pieces of cheese into the slide - suluguni or imeruli. Mamalyga is applied with a chogani spatula. To prevent the porridge from sticking to the spatula, the chogani should be periodically moistened in cold water.

There is no need to cook hominy for several days. Everything prepared according to the recipe should be eaten immediately. Do not store hominy in a pan. And if there is any left, fry it. Mamalyga is served and eat while it's hot.

Cheeses

Factory-made suluguni, although it is a poor copy of real suluguni, is still suitable for us to add to porridge. You can use feta cheese, Adyghe cheese and other types of cheese. The main condition is that the cheese melts and is salty. Many people believe that Western European cheeses do not go well with hominy. By the way, try adding salted cottage cheese or cottage cheese with mint and adjika to the mamalyga.

What do you eat this porridge with?

As we have already mentioned, in some regions of Georgia, mamaliga is used as a substitute for bread. In this regard, it is eaten with almost all dishes.

Porridge goes well with lobio or fried pork. The gravy for the porridge can be tkemali, tomato satsebeli, for example, made from the right tomato paste, and adjika with sour cream.

You can come up with nothing and eat this porridge without anything. If you have any left, fry the porridge with cheese and eggs.

Usually the porridge is fried in a frying pan with cheese. For some, this is the preferred cooking method.

Mamaliga is traditionally prepared in Moldova and is a very thick porridge made from corn flour. The consistency of the dish is so dense that the porridge is cut into pieces before serving. We will reveal the secrets and recipes for making mamaliga to you in this article.

Subtleties of cooking mamalyga

• It is customary to cook corn porridge in a thick-walled container; a cauldron is ideal for this purpose. To prevent lumps from appearing and the consistency to be uniform, the porridge must be stirred frequently.
• The main component of mamalyga is corn flour; such a dish is not prepared from cereals. Flour can be finely or coarsely ground. Before cooking, it is better to dry it in the oven and then sift it.
• It is not a knife, but a thread or fishing line that will help you cut warm hominy into even pieces.
• You can determine the readiness of the porridge using a wooden rolling pin. It must be immersed in a dish and quickly twisted with your hands. If the porridge does not stick to the wood, then it can be removed from the stove.
• It is better to place hominy from a cauldron not on a dish, but on a board or cloth napkin.

How to cook hominy with cheese

There are many mamaliga recipes that use different types of cheese. Our recipe contains simple hard cheese, while the porridge itself is cooked in milk. Here are the ingredients we need for it:

• corn flour - 1.5 cups;
• milk – 1 l;
• hard cheese – 100 g;
• butter – 150 g;
• salt - to taste.

Mamaliga with cheese is made in this way:

• Take a thick-walled pan and pour milk. Add about a third of the butter and immediately add salt to taste.
• Put the milk on the fire and bring to a boil. Pour corn flour into a plate, and when the milk boils, pour it in a thin stream into the pan, stirring vigorously.
• Reduce the heat on the burner and cook the hominy for 25-30 minutes until it thickens to the desired consistency.
• Three cheeses and melt the rest of the butter. Pour oil over the finished porridge, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

How to cook mamalyga with feta cheese and pork cracklings

Classic mamalyga is prepared with pork cracklings, but we will diversify the recipe a little and add feta cheese. For this porridge we will use:

• corn flour - 2 cups;
• onion – 2 heads;
• lard – 250 g;
• butter – 100 g;
• grated cheese - 1.5 cups;
• water – 1.2 l;
• salt - to taste.

To prepare the dish, follow these steps:

• Place a cauldron of water on the stove. When it boils, add salt to taste.
• Then slowly pour corn flour into the boiling water, stirring the porridge vigorously.
• Reduce the heat and cook the mamalyga for about 20-30 minutes, focusing on its thickness.
• While the porridge is cooking, we can peel and chop the onion and lard. We fry them in a frying pan to make cracklings with a sweet golden onion. Grate the cheese and melt the butter.
• Place the hot thick hominy on a board or towel and divide it into square pieces with a thread. Place them in portioned plates, pour in melted butter, add cheese and cracklings with onions.

Sweet baked mamaliga with cottage cheese

Mamalyga can be either a salty or sweet porridge. We will prepare a casserole with cottage cheese from it, for which we will use the following:

• corn flour - 2 cups;
• milk – 1.2 l;
• sugar – 2 tbsp;
• sour cream - 3 tbsp;
• cottage cheese – 200 g;
• eggs – 2 pcs.;
• butter – 50 g;
• breadcrumbs;
• salt - to taste.

Let's prepare hominy casserole in this way:

• First, let's cook the porridge, for which we boil the milk, salt it, add sugar and pour in the flour in a thin stream. Cook for about half an hour until thickened.
• Grease a baking sheet with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place a thin layer of hot mamalyga on it.
• Mix cottage cheese with eggs, add a little sugar and lay it out in a layer on top of the porridge.
• Spread sour cream on top of the casserole and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
• Before serving, you can additionally drizzle it with melted butter.

Mamalyga is a porridge made from corn flour, a Moldavian, Romanian, Western Ukrainian and Cossack national dish. The Italians have polenta, the Mexicans have tomalito. It differs from all other porridges in taste, consistency and appearance.
Mamalyga is served with sour cream and feta cheese. Sometimes mamalyga is served with hot milk. Hominy is also used to make corn cakes by cutting and frying it in oil or fat.
Another hominy dish consists of baked hominy balls with cheese and butter inside.
Mamalyga can be served with cracklings, cottage cheese and cheeses, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, fried fish, etc.

Mamaliga recipe ingredients

• Corn flour - 1 cup
• milk 1.5 tbsp
• water - 2 tbsp
• salt - 0.5 tsp
• vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l

How to cook mamalyga, step-by-step recipe with photos

Mamalyga is cooked in a cast iron pot or pan with a thick multi-layer bottom.

Pour vegetable oil into a suitable bowl, add corn flour and fry over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. The corn grits will become brighter yellow and crumbly, and you will feel a pleasant, nutty smell.

Pour cold milk over cornmeal and mix thoroughly. Meanwhile, boil water separately.

Cornmeal instantly absorbs liquid, so it must be stirred constantly when adding liquid.

Pour hot water, stir, add salt and immediately reduce heat to low.
Since corn flour absorbs liquid very quickly, it tends to form lumps, so it is more convenient to mix the hominy with a whisk.

You only need to stir the hominy at the stage of adding and absorbing liquid. Then remove the whisk or spoon and leave the hominy to cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Do not cover with a lid.
After 20-25 minutes, the hominy will begin to lag behind the walls, this indicates its readiness.

There are many options for serving hominy. You can bake mamaliga with feta cheese or soft cheese. To do this, divide the mamalyga, put one part into a mold, grate feta cheese or cheese on top, cover with the other part of the mamalyga, brush sour cream on top and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes so that the feta cheese melts.

Mamalyga can be served with stewed meat, fried mushrooms and vegetables.

You can serve hominy as a side dish for fish.
P.S. Sometimes I prepare mamalyga as follows: after pouring in all the liquid, I add about 150 grams of grated feta cheese or cream cheese (I take only the middle of the cheese without spices) and then the mamalyga acquires a delicate creamy taste.

Corn grits mamalyga is a traditional Moldavian dish, which is a tough porridge. You can cook it with milk and water, but the main condition for preparing the right dish is following a special recipe technology.

Basic rules and requirements

How to properly prepare mamalyga from corn grits?

The first requirement is high-quality and suitable “raw materials”. This wonderful porridge is prepared exclusively from finely ground cereal. The hominy recipe also involves pre-drying the main “raw materials” in the oven.

And water is taken in a ratio of 1:3. Moldavian corn porridge is always cooked in a thick-walled container - for example, a cauldron. The water is pre-boiled, and then flour is poured in a thin stream in the center, constantly stirring the dish with a small-diameter wooden rolling pin.

This is the classic recipe for this delicious traditional dish. How else can you make porridge from corn grits?

Nuances of preparing Moldavian mamaliga

You already know how to start cooking hominy yourself. To do this, you need a cauldron, or any other dish with a fairly dense bottom. Cereals and water must be taken in a ratio of 1:3. For example, if you have two cups of corn grits, you should take six standard cups of water.

This same water should be boiled, and then pour in the fine grains in a thin stream, constantly stirring the dish. To mix the mass, it is most acceptable to use a wooden rolling pin, but you can also use a spoon - this does not contradict the technology of preparing the dish. You need to cook hominy for at least 25-30 minutes over low heat.

After the porridge is ready, reduce the heat to a minimum, and boil the cereal itself for 5-7 minutes until completely thickened. The finished hominy is placed in one piece on a cutting board, after which it is cut with thread or a wooden knife. You can flavor a dish prepared according to a traditional recipe with feta cheese, butter, or muzhdey sauce.

What else can you cook from corn grits to make the dish look like Moldavian hominy?

To be fair, it should be noted that recipes for cool porridges are found not only in Moldavian cuisine. And mamaliga itself appears, at least, in Romanian culinary traditions. Here we also cannot fail to mention Italian polenta, which is prepared from the same raw materials. For those who want to cook an oriental dish, you can try the Georgian national dish called gomi.

Milk and cheese mamaliga in Moldavian style

How to properly prepare corn grits with milk without deviating from national traditions? We will be happy to tell you the recipe for a delicious milk mamalyga with feta cheese, which will definitely appeal not only to you, but also to all your household members.

To prepare you will need the following ingredients:

1. Corn flour (finely ground grits) – 80 g;
2. Full-fat milk (at least 3.2%) – 200 ml;
3. Pure drinking water – 50 ml;
4. Natural cheese – 40-50 g;
5. Salt - to taste.

Cooking instructions:

• First you need to dilute the specified amount of milk with fifty milliliters of lukewarm water;
• Place the resulting mixed liquid on the stove and bring to a boil over low heat, as in the classic recipe;
• Cook thin hominy (add in the cereal after boiling and stir constantly, but do not boil after cooking);
• During the cooking process, add crushed cheese to the porridge and make sure that the cheese melts;
• Serve the porridge lightly hot, flavored with rich sour cream.

There is another option for making delicious and spicy Moldavian corn porridge with fermented milk cheese.

To prepare this dish, gather the following ingredients:

1. Corn grits (flour) – 2-3 cups without a slide;
2. Fermented milk cheese (brynza, Adyghe, etc.) – 500 g;
3. Water – 4-5 glasses (due to the cheese, the proportion changes slightly from the classic one);
4. Salt - to taste.

Cooking instructions:

• Traditionally for hominy, boil salted water over low heat;
• Slowly add the indicated amount of corn grits into boiling water, stirring the mixture constantly;
• Simmer the dish for 5-10 minutes so that the cereal boils;
• Reduce the heat to low and keep the porridge covered on it for 25-30 minutes;
• Meanwhile, cut the aged fermented milk cheese into thin layers or small pieces;
• Place the cheese product into the hominy and knead vigorously until they come together and form a fragrant, viscous and thick paste;
• Place the finished cheese porridge on plates in traditional portions. It must be served hot! Before serving, cheese mamalyga can be flavored with fermented milk or honey, but for Russian traditions such flavor combinations are not necessary.

As you can see, there is nothing banal in this dish, although the classic hominy causes real surprise among skeptics - they say, how can you eat such “boring stuff”? But you just have to show the proper imagination, and the banal porridge will sparkle with new colors and acquire an absolutely unique taste.

Spicy mamaliga with meat

What else can you make from corn grits? We offer you a recipe for delicious and spicy mamaliga with the addition of cheese and meat. It will definitely please even the most sophisticated and capricious gourmets!

How to cook corn grits with meat in water?

To do this, collect the necessary components:

1. Corn grits (flour) – 300 g;
2. Clean drinking water – liter;
3. Butter – 80 g;
4. Parmesan cheese – 50 g;
5. Emental cheese – 200 g;
6. Smoked brisket or loin – 100 g;
7. Salt - to taste.

Cooking instructions:

• Start cooking according to the traditional national recipe - add the specified amount of corn flour into boiling salted water, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or rolling pin;
• Make sure that no lumps form in the porridge. To do this, you should stir it as intensively as possible;
• While constantly stirring, cook the hominy for 4 minutes over low heat;
• Then grease the baking sheet with butter;
• Place hot hominy on it, alternating with layers of Emental cheese;
• Lightly fry slices of smoked brisket or loin in butter;
• Place the meat on the surface of the porridge mixed with cheese;
• Grate the Parmesan cheese on top and place in a preheated oven;
• Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes;
• Serve hot.

So, we have looked at the most attractive options for preparing Italian hominy. What if you try to make Italian polenta? Is its recipe very different from the technology for preparing national Moldavian porridge?

Alternative: Italian polenta

Polenta is a traditional Northern Italian dish for which this region of the country is famous (southerners even make fun of northerners about this). In Italy, ready-made porridge made from corn grits is usually served with various sauces and spicy cheeses. To prepare the porridge itself, copper pots or cauldrons are used here. Some cooks additionally fry the polenta before serving.

How to make special polenta from corn grits?

Gather ingredients:

1. Coarsely ground corn grits – 300-400 g;
2. Water – 2 liters;
3. Tomatoes – 500 g;
4. Minced meat – 250 g (it is better to take lean pork);
5. Olive oil – 2 tbsp;
6. Butter – 4 tbsp;
7. Grated sheep cheese – 5 tbsp;
8. Pecorino cheese – 5 tbsp;
9. Grated Parmesan – 5 tbsp;
10. Salt, pepper, seasonings and spices - to taste.

Minimum products as you can see..

First, pour water into a cauldron, add salt, put on fire and bring to a boil.

We begin to pour in the flour in a thin stream in small portions, while at the same time stirring with the other hand in a circular motion with a wooden spoon or rolling pin. Mamalyga “loves” the constant presence of a cook nearby. Therefore, cook it for 30-35 minutes over low heat with continuous stirring to avoid the appearance of unpleasant-tasting lumps.

Just before the end of cooking, we level the surface of the hominy, turn off the heat and turn the cauldron over onto a wooden board or a clean kitchen towel (never onto a plate, otherwise it will sweat and be tasteless). If everything was done correctly, then the hominy should easily move away from the walls of the cauldron and even when hot, keep a semicircular shape. But I advise you to let it sit for 15-20 minutes, then it becomes even more elastic and convenient for slicing.
By the way, hominy is traditionally cut with a coarse thread or a wooden knife. I’ll tell you a secret, this is more for a restaurant setting. A regular knife will do the job quite well. Yes, don’t forget to serve dry red wine.
Poftă bună!