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Kurkut
Kurkut: Syunik slow-cooked hulled wheat with beans and fried onion
Kurkut is the old harvest porridge of Syunik and the Armenian highlands: whole hulled wheat grains cooked very slowly with beans until they burst and turn creamy, then topped with onion fried golden in oil. In villages around Sisian it was cooked overnight in the tonir oven; on Lenten days it is a meal in itself, and on feast days meat is sometimes added. A common mistake is skipping the soak; unsoaked wheat stays hard even after hours. Chef's tip: stir hard in the last half-hour so the grains rub against each other and release their starch, giving kurkut its creamy, sticky texture.
- Total time
- 135 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the kurkut
- 10 ½ oz hulled whole wheat grainssoaked overnight
- 4 oz dried red kidney beanssoaked overnight
- 10 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
For the topping
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 3 onionssliced
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Drain 4 oz dried red kidney beans, cover with fresh water and boil hard for 10 minutes. Drain; this makes kidney beans safe to eat.
10 minStep 2: Put the beans, drained 10 ½ oz hulled whole wheat grains and 10 ½ cups water in a heavy pot. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently, partly covered, for 1½ hours, stirring now and then, until the grains split.
90 minStep 3: Add 1 ½ tsp salt and cook for 30 minutes more, stirring hard every few minutes, until thick and creamy. Add hot water if it gets too stiff. Common mistake: not stirring; it catches.
30 minStep 4: Meanwhile warm 4 tbsp sunflower oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry 3 onions for 15 minutes, until deep golden. Stir in 1 tsp sweet paprika.
15 minStep 5: Spoon kurkut into bowls, top with the onions and their oil and season with ½ tsp black pepper.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 10 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kurkut take?
- About 135 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 120 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of sweet paprika?
- Smoked paprika, half the amount.
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