How to cook pearl barley without soaking?

On the shelves you can find a fairly large range of cereals.And if the usual porridge, such as rice and buckwheat, a bit fed up, then you should pay attention to the pearl barley. For a long time this porridge is prepared for a side dish in our country, but recently it has been undeservedly forgotten. Many housewives believe that such porridge is difficult to cook delicious. But this is not true if you know how to cook barley grits correctly without soaking. Then you can please your loved ones with a new delicious dish. In addition, the cost of such food is much lower than other cereals.

With a little effort, you get a tasty dish, spending a minimum of money on it.

Choosing pearl barley, you need to pay attention to its color - the grain should have a golden-brown shade. There should not be black dots on the grains. Barley porridge should not be stuck together, the seeds should not be collected in one lump. If you notice that the grain particles are stuck together, this indicates that the temperature of the environment was disturbed during storage. In addition, the room where the pearl barley was located was probably very humid. To assess the appearance of cereals, it is worth purchasing barley in transparent packaging. This will help to carefully consider each grain.

If you purchase barley not in packaged form, but by weight, focus your attention on its flavor - there must be a natural smell of fresh grain. You should not feel rancid or damp. An unpleasant aroma will indicate that the product is spoiled. During the purchase of barley, look at the expiration date, which is listed on the package. Such cereals are stored no more than 1 year.

To get a crumbly pearl barley porridge, which will be different fine taste, you must try to observe the proportions of ingredients used in its preparation. Also consider your preferences for the consistency of the finished product.

• If you want to get a barley, which will be characterized by friability, then for 1 cup of cereals should take 2.5 cups of water.
• If you want to get a soft, boiled porridge, which will be different viscosity, then the amount of fluid should be increased. In this case, for 1 glass of barley you need to take 1 liter of water.

The duration of cooking barley porridge is influenced by several factors:

• wall thickness of the container used for cooking;
• selected cooking method;
• soaked cereal before cooking;
• certain grade of barley;
• size of grains.

Consider also the storage period of the barley, the bigger it is, the longer the porridge will cook. Usually the whole process of cooking will take you from 1 to 1.5 hours. In order not to digest barley porridge, be sure to check the degree of its readiness. If you want to use this cereal not as a side dish, but in the soup, then it can be cooked simultaneously with the meat.

You can find a variety of recipes, how to cook without soaking this cereal. Let us consider in more detail the most popular ones.

To quickly cook pearl barley, you need the following components:

• 1 glass of barley;
• 4.5-5 glasses of water;
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil;
• 0.5 teaspoon salt.

In the container for cooking porridge pour 3 cups of water and pour the grits, which was previously washed. You should bring the porridge up to the moment when it boils, reduce the flame of the burner and boil the dish for 5-7 minutes from the moment of boiling.After this time, the water is drained, and the barley leans back in a colander. The pot should be thoroughly washed, saving it from the resulting plaque.

After that 1.5-2 glasses of water are poured, salt and vegetable oil are added. It is necessary to wait until the liquid boils. Barley is poured into boiling water, it should be boiled until the liquid has completely evaporated. It takes an average of 20-25 minutes. Please note that the lid in the pan was ajar, and the fire was at its minimum. Do not forget also to stir porridge from time to time so that it does not burn.

Many housewives also recommend wrapping the container in a terry towel or warm cloth and leaving it for 10-15 minutes to bring the dish to readiness and get a crumbly porridge. Barley for garnish ready. You can use it with a variety of meat, meatballs or vegetables, depending on your preferences.

In a pressure cooker, products are boiled under pressure, so the cooking procedure is significantly reduced. Boil barley in this device can be both on water and on milk. In the pressure cooker, the previously washed cereals are poured and water is added in a ratio of 1: 2. Thus, 200 milliliters of water must be taken per 100 grams of grain.

After the porridge begins to boil, you should add a little salt or sugar (depending on whether the dish is salty or sweet) and a piece of butter. The pressure cooker is closed with a lid and a program is required. After 15 minutes, the barley porridge is ready.

If you want to get a delicious barley for garnish, use the slow cooker. Such appliances greatly simplifies the process of cooking. In order to cook porridge in the water, you will need 1 cup of pre-washed cereals and 2 cups of water. To prevent the dish from burning and to have a pleasant taste, it is recommended to lubricate the capacity of the multicooker with butter.

Pour the grain in a slow cooker and pour water. Depending on the home appliance model, it is necessary to choose the mode “Milk porridge” or “Buckwheat”. Pay attention, if you want to get tasty barley without soaking before, then you need to select a mode that lasts 1 - 1.5 hours. When the porridge is almost ready, you need to salt it.

You can cook the barley in the oven without soaking it in advance. If you want to cook a full dish, then we recommend using this recipe.

1. Rinse the cereal well. To speed up the process of its preparation, you can pour the seeds of boiling water.
2. Cut the meat into small cubes and fry in a pan until golden brown. No need to close the pan with a lid, so the water evaporates faster. Add the finely chopped onions and carrots. The whole frying process should take no more than 5-7 minutes.
3. Stir barley porridge with meat and vegetables. All components are arranged in portions pots. You should not completely fill them, because porridge in the process of cooking increases in size.
4. Porridge is poured boiling water so that the liquid completely covers all the components.
5. You need to add salt, pepper and other spices to taste. You can put a piece of bay leaf.
6. The pots are closed with lids and placed in an oven preheated to 190 degrees. When the pot starts to boil, the fire should be reduced to 170 degrees.

Preparing such a dish for about an hour and a half. It will be very tasty and fragrant.

To cook pearl barley properly, follow some guidelines.

1. Rinse the grain well under running water. This should be done until the drained water again becomes transparent. You can also rub the grains between your palms, this will remove excess debris and plaque from the grains, and the porridge will turn out soft and crumbly.
2. If you do not want to wait until the barley porridge is cooked, you can buy cereals, which was packaged in special bags. Such a grain has undergone a special treatment, due to which its preparation time is significantly reduced. Often the cooking time of such pearl barley is indicated on the packaging, approximately it is 20 minutes.
3. The time of adding salt to porridge will depend on the method of preparation. Often the housewives salt the porridge after it boils.
4. Be prepared for the fact that during cooking this grain is increased in volume up to 5 times, so you need to take the appropriate capacity so that the finished porridge does not scatter on the stove.
5. When the process of cooking this cereal is finished, it is not necessary to wash it, if the barley is used as a garnish. If pre-cooked barley porridge is added to the soup, then it must be washed so that the first dish does not become turbid.
6. To improve the taste of barley porridge, as well as to achieve crispness, it is recommended to add a small piece of butter during cooking.

How to cook pearl barley without soaking, see the following video.