Georgian cuisine has gifted us with a considerable number of completely original recipes, it is enough to recall kharcho or, say, chakhokhbili.
Lobio - from the same category of hearty and spicy foods. The recipe, as befits Georgian cuisine, is exactly as many as the localities in the Caucasus.
It’s not particularly sinful against the truth to say that each village has its own recipe for making lobio. But, since we have to cook it in an ordinary modern kitchen, we will use new-fangled devices, for example, a slow cooker.
Lobio in a slow cooker - general principles of cooking and useful tips
• Beans - the basis of the dish, dry or canned grains of red or white beans, pods of a legume plant - you can use everything.
• Applicable multicooker functional modes: “Baking”, “Pilaf”, “Rice / Porridge”, “Stewing” and “Heating”. Some programs are used for frying components and pre-boiling beans, and the main process occurs on "Braising" or "Heating". In some cases, in addition to the slow cooker, you may need a separate pan and a thick-walled pan.
• Red and white beans - the cooking time is different, but both types require the same preparation. Beans must be taken care of in advance, at least twelve hours before cooking - they are washed and the bay is left with water. Then rinse and boil until cooked in a pan or slow cooker, taking into account the proportion of beans and water 1: 4.
• When using asparagus beans, it is preferable to give young pods of light green color. It, like grains, is recommended to be soaked in water in advance. The duration of the procedure in this case is no more than two hours. String beans do not need long boiling. They blanch it, dropping it for five minutes in boiling water.
• With canned beans, everything is much simpler. They are simply washed with water and allowed to dry, spread to the already fried components.
• Another constant component of lobio is onion. Almost always bitter onions are added, but there are recipes involving the use of purple, sweet. It is crushed, then passerized and only then mixed with beans.
• Do not imagine lobio without a tomato. It can be mashed fresh tomatoes, tomato juice or pasta.
• Lobio - a dish of Georgian cuisine and the presence of spicy herbs and spices in it is mandatory. In cooking, it is recommended to use hops-suneli, fresh cilantro and parsley. There are also special sets of spices for lobio - they can be purchased from sellers of oriental spices or searched in supermarkets.
How to cook lobio in a slow cooker - a recipe from white beans with nuts
Ingredients:
• a glass of white beans;
• sweet onion head;
• a large head of sweet onion;
• garlic;
• 300 gr. fresh tomatoes;
• sprig of basil;
• a third of a glass of walnut kernels;
• 40 ml of olive oil;
• hops suneli;
• pod of hot pepper;
• a bunch of spicy cilantro.
Cooking method:
1. After soaking, wash the beans well. We transfer it to the pan and, pouring cold water, boil until cooked. We recline in a colander and leave it in it.
2. Grind the peeled walnuts with a knife, collect the pieces in a bag and roll it over with a rolling pin several times. You can kill the core with a blender or coffee grinder. In any case, the result should be a small crumb.
3. We wash the water with cilantro and basil, lay out the branches on a towel. When dry, we tear the basil leaves into pieces with our hands, and finely chop the cilantro with a knife.
4. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water, remove the peel, and rub the tender flesh on a coarse grater or beat in a puree with a blender. You can twist in a meat grinder.
5. Peel two cloves of garlic and finely chop them with a knife. We cut the sweet onions with the quarters of the rings.
6. Turn on the slow cooker in frying mode, pour olive oil into the bowl and wait about a minute until it warms up.
7. Spread the garlic and, stirring, fry for about 40 seconds, until a characteristic garlic aroma appears. Then remove the pieces of garlic, and dip the onion in the oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until its strips become soft. This usually takes no more than five minutes.
8. Pour boiled beans into the bowl and mix it well with onions, continue cooking for another five minutes.
9. Pour the cooked tomato into the beans, pour the nut crumbs. Add a little salt and suneli hops, season with ground pepper. Add chopped hot pepper, chopped cilantro and basil. Mix everything thoroughly and remove the sample for salt, if necessary, add a little more salt.
10. Close the lid and change the frying to a not so hot extinguishing mode. Cooking lobio for another quarter hour.
Lobio in a red bean crock-pot with tomatoes
Ingredients:
• fresh cilantro or parsley - a large bunch;
• one large onion;
• 300 gr. red bean;
• two large tomatoes;
• a spoon of wine vinegar;
• large cloves of garlic - 3 pcs.;
• hot pepper - 1 pod;
• refined oil;
• two teaspoons of savory.
Cooking method:
1. Put the soaked beans in the bowl and fill it with water so that it covers the beans for two centimeters. We select the "Pilaf" setting, set the timer for 80 minutes, run the program for execution.
2. While the beans are being prepared, we prepare the tomatoes and other vegetables. We pour tomatoes with boiling water to peel them. Cut the pulp into small cubes.
3. Finely chop the peeled garlic cloves, chop the onion medium-sized.
4. At the end of the established program, spread tomatoes, garlic and onions to the beans. We add about one and a half tablespoons of oil, and vinegar, mix. We lower and slightly heat the pod of hot pepper in the mass.
5. Having selected the "Extinguishing" program, turn on the multicooker by setting the timer for 15 minutes.
6. After this, add finely chopped herbs and spices to lobio. Salt the dish to your liking and, stirring well, leave it for 10 minutes, in the "Heating" mode.
Lobio in a slow cooker with pork
Ingredients:
• pork neck - half a kilo;
• two glasses of red or white beans;
• 50 gr. walnut kernels;
• three tablespoons of tomato;
• garlic;
• 200 gr. bitter onion;
• red hot pepper - a small pod;
• little by little parsley and cilantro;
• high-quality sunflower oil;
• a mixture of Georgian spices.
Cooking method:
1. First, in a slow cooker, boil soaked beans. We wash it well and put it in the cooking container. Fill with water, cook with the selected regime "Grain / Rice" for an hour. Water is not salted.
2. After completing the program, transfer the beans to a bowl and gently knead it with a crush.
3. Put the slow cooker into frying mode. We heat one and a half tablespoons of oil, into it we lower the pork cut into small oblong pieces. Often stirring, we bring to the formation of pieces of a golden crust.
4. While preparing pork, chop the nuts in a blender or in a coffee grinder. We spread the crumbs in a small bowl and squeeze out three small garlic cloves into it with a press.
5. Spread the fried meat, and add a little oil to the bowl and dip the finely chopped onion into it. Frying until transparent, add the nut mixture, boiled beans and fried meat. Thoroughly mix all the components and turn on the multicooker by selecting the “Extinguishing” preset.
6. Pour 250 ml of water into a small bowl and dilute the tomato. Add Georgian spices, thin strips of hot pepper and chopped clove of garlic. Salt and stir well, pour into the bowl. The extinguishing program that has been started must be preliminarily stopped after a quarter of an hour from the moment it was launched.
7. Sprinkle lobio with chopped cilantro, close the lid and restart the interrupted program, now indicating its duration of 40 minutes.
8. When serving, decorate the finished dish with parsley.
Lobio in a multicooker from green beans (asparagus)
Ingredients:
• asparagus beans - half a kilo;
• 400 gr. fresh tomato;
• two large onions;
• five branches of green cilantro;
• five tablespoons of oil;
• garlic;
• four branches of fresh parsley;
• basil - 2 branches;
Cooking method:
1. Rinse the bean pods well, remove the ends from both sides and cut them into pieces, up to 3 cm long. Pour a liter of water into the pan, dip the beans into it, boil for about five minutes after boiling, and put it on a sieve or colander.
2. Cook the tomato puree. Remove the peel from the fruit, grind the flesh with a meat grinder or kill with a blender.
3. In a cooking vessel, heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil, dip finely chopped onion into it and fry until golden.
4. We spread the beans to the onion, add the tomato puree. Finely chop two cloves of garlic and send into the bowl after the tomato. Slightly add and, occasionally stirring, cook in the same mode.
5. We do not close the lid yet, it will be done after 10 minutes. Immediately set the timer for 25 minutes, and turn on the "Extinguishing" option.
6. Grinding the washed and dried greens, pour it into the bowl to the already prepared lobio. We stand the dish on the "Heating" for 15 minutes, and immediately serve.
Lobio in a red bean multicooker with chicken
Ingredients:
• a full, 250 gram glass of red bean;
• kilogram of chicken thighs;
• tomato juice - 1 liter;
• large onion;
• olive or highly refined sunflower oil;
• spices "For chicken dishes";
• a large sour apple, green.
Cooking method:
1. Cut the hips, put on a frying pan for intensive heating and pour a little oil into it. After waiting 30 seconds, lower the pieces of chicken, peel down, quickly fry. Turn over as soon as the bottom is well browned and fry the other side. In a separate frying pan in vegetable oil, fry the onions.
2. Rinse the soaked beans in advance, transfer to the bowl. Add water so that it covers the bean layer and rises above it by at least two centimeters. Cook by turning on the "Extinguishing" option for an hour.
3. Strain the water from the beans, put the fried legs and onions in the multicooker. Add the apple, chopped into small cubes. Season with pepper and spices, add a little salt. Fill everything with tomato juice and repeat the "Stew" mode, lasting one hour.
Canned Bean Lobio in a slow cooker with minced meat
Ingredients:
• minced pork and beef - 500 gr.;
• two large onions;
• a can of canned beans;
• garlic;
• two small tomatoes;
• tomato, thick, unsalted - 2 tbsp. l .;
• hot pepper - 1/2 small pod;
• green cilantro;
• a third of a spoonful of dry basil.
Cooking method:
1. Put the beans from the jar into a colander, rinse, let the water drain. The sauce in which the beans were in lobio is not required.
2. In the "Baking" mode, melt the butter and dip small slices of onion into it. Fry for five minutes until golden.
3. Add minced meat to the onion. Systematically stirring and breaking the lumps of meat with a fork, fry in the previous mode for 10 minutes, then put it out of the bowl.
4. From the scalded boiling water tomatoes, peel and cut the pulp into cubes. We shift the tomatoes into the bowl, add the tomato, without changing the mode, prepare until completely softened. Stir regularly to make tomato paste mix better with tomatoes.
5. Spread minced meat and canned beans in a bowl with tomatoes. Add dried basil, chopped garlic, chopped hot pepper and herbs. We add and stir well, leave to languish for an entire hour on the "Heating".
Tricks for cooking lobio in a slow cooker - useful tips and tricks
• Soaking beans in water for a long time - place the bowl in a cool place, this will help to avoid fermentation. However, note that a very low temperature will interfere with the soaking process.
• Boil beans with a slight uniform boil. Readiness can be determined visually by the first grains bursting in the multicooker.
• The cooking time of the beans on the stove is two and a half hours, and if a crock-pot is used, only one hour.
