Chłodnik – cold borsch with kefir
4
Easy
20 minutes, plus cooling time
1 hour
For a different soup with a lot of flavour, try this borsch – an Eastern European soup that combines simple ingredients to create something special. The vibrant colour belies its simplicity. A swirl of kefir adds tanginess, while diced cooked beetroot lends texture.
Ingredients
Method
- 3 large beetroot, peeled and halved
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 1 carrot, scrubbed and cut into chunks
- 4 allspice berries
- 1 T salt
- 1 T apple cider vinegar or 4 T sauerkraut brine
- 1 1/2 litres water For the topping:
- ¼–½ cup kefir (per plate)
- 1 cucumber, peeled and diced
- 4 radishes, diced
- 8 T mixed fresh herbs (dill, parsley, chives)
Method
Ingredients
1. Place all the ingredients except the vinegar (or sauerkraut brine) into a large saucepan.
2. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer over a medium heat for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Take off the heat, allow to cool and infuse at room temperature. Once cooled, transfer to the fridge for a few hours.
4. Strain the soup through a fine sieve – you might want to line the sieve with muslin (cheesecloth) to catch any fine particles. Discard all the vegetables except the beetroot and set aside.
5. Add the vinegar or sauerkraut brine and adjust to taste. It needs to be sweet, earthy and tangy.
6. Finely dice the cooked beetroot.
7. Ladle the soup into four bowls. Swirl through the kefir, then top with the diced beetroot and herbs.
Cook’s note: You might want to keep some horseradish cream on standby!
Photographer: Laura Edwards
Extracted with permission from Kapusta by Alissa Timoshkina
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