Kasha Varnishkes

“You like kasha! You know you like kasha! Everybody likes kasha – it’s a well-known fact!”

I was a kid looking down at a serving of kasha – again. Dad would boom this out with a big smile, trying to convince me to take just a forkful – just that little forkful. I wouldn’t be convinced, although I rolled my eyes and giggled. But the brainwashing eventually worked. In my teen years I finally converted to kasha. In fact, I brought up my own kids on it. Now when I serve kasha, we chant “You like kasha” with big smiles ourselves, adding the flavor of family memories to the food.

In Slavic languages, “kasha” means porridge – of buckwheat, but also possibly of barley, semolina, oats, or rice. In its porridge form, it can even be cooked sweet – sort of like how Sephardim treat couscous.

But if you talk about kasha to a Western Jew, both of you understand it to mean buckwheat groats cooked savory, and light, and separate, like rice. With bowtie noodles mixed in, it’s name is kasha varnishkes. For a main dish, I’ll include the noodles. I’ll serve the kasha without them if the menu includes potatoes or a doughy dish. Either way, lots of onions are involved.

Kasha Varnishkes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup of buckwheat groats

1 egg, beaten

2 cups of boiling water

2 medium onions

salt

black pepper, preferably freshly ground

oil, shmaltz, or butter to fry the onions

Method:

1. If the groats need picking over, do so. Then place them in a sieve or fine colander, and rinse them with cool running water. Let them drain thoroughly. The drier, the better, so do this first step at least 15 minutes ahead of time. Stir them up once or twice while they drain so they don’t stick together.

2. Peel and chop the onions.

3. In a medium-sized pot, put enough fat to cover the bottom. Heat it a little, then add the onions. Fry and stir them till golden. Add 1/4 tsp. salt and a few grinds of pepper to the onions, then remove them from the pot and put them aside. Ensure that there is still enough fat to cover the bottom of the pot; add more if necessary.

4. Boil the water. Keep it hot nearby.

5. Beat the egg in a medium-sized bowl. Add the washed, drained kasha to it and mix very well with a wooden spoon.

6. Heat the pot, with its fat, again. Add the kasha/egg mixture to it, and stir with a wooden spoon. The kasha will dry out and the egg will coat each grain. Keep frying and stirring, scraping up any layer of egg that may form on the bottom of the pot. This may take 5 minutes.

7. When each grain of kasha is separate and dry and a nutty aroma goes up from the pot, add 1 tsp. salt, a little more pepper, and the boiling water. Be careful: it will boil up and splutter.

8. Stir everything back down, cover the pot tightly, and steam the grains over the lowest possible flame for  30-40 minutes. Refrain from uncovering the pot: you need that head of steam in there. When the kasha is done, the water should be absorbed. Test with a fork. A spoon will mash the grains and you will get a stodgy mass instead of the desired light, separate grains.

9. Stir the fried onions into the kasha. Fluff it all up with a fork. Cover the pot again and leave it alone for a few minutes.

10. Meantime, cook two handfuls of bowtie noodles in boiling salted water till tender. Stir them into the potful of prepared kasha. Taste for salt and pepper and serve.

Kasha can be made a day ahead of time and loses nothing by re-heating: put it on a hot plate, or on a low flame with a flame tamer between the pot and the fire. Stir from the bottom up with a fork, to keep it from scorching.

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Now don’t tell the kids, but kasha is not only warming and filling and tasty, it’s also good for you. It’s high in protein and low in cholesterol (if you choose the right fat), with a goodly amount of fiber, calcium, iron and B vitamins. Chinese medicine considers kasha warming and appropriate for winter menus. There must be something to that, for the recipe comes from the cold Russian climate. I too like to put it on the table when the days darken early and it’s cold outside. As Thanksgiving approaches and home cooks are desperate for something to go with the turkey, I recommend the interesting texture and satisfying flavor of kasha as a side dish. Pair it with sweet potato sticks (recipe forthcoming) and zucchini fritters (coming up next).

Kasha varnishkes is also a good dish for the vegetarian at the table.