Cornmeal porridge (pura, kačamak, or bakardan) is a delicious Balkan dish consisting of corn flour and butter, garlic, and yogurt sauce. We're bringing you the best regional recipe, called Herzegovina porridge (hercegovačka pura s lučnicom/ lučenicom). Shall we?
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Background
Cornmeal porridge is a delicious Balkan dish consisting of chunky porridge, topped with a mouthwatering garlic-yogurt-butter topping.
In the past people considered porridge to be "poor-man's food," but today it's a cherished dish. In addition, they used to cook it on wood stoves with corn flour (or cornmeal) from nearby mills. (Don't worry, our stovetop version is amazing too!)
Cornmeal porridge goes by:
- pura in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia,
- kačamak in Serbia and Montenegro, and
- bakardan in North Macedonia.
Traditional Balkan cornmeal porridge is slowly cooked, vigorously stirred, and deliciously topped with a butter sauce infused with garlic and yogurt tailored specifically for this delicacy.
However, some like to build on its taste even more by adding kajmak (clotted cheese), cow cheese, bacon, lard, and/ or cracklings.
Because it takes some elbow grease to make, today most people make the quick version of pura, a sort of instant polenta topped with yogurt and cheese.
Hercegovačka pura, or cornmeal porridge from Herzegovina, is regionally considered to be the best, so that's the recipe we're going with today.
Ingredients
These are the ingredients you'll need for Balkan cornmeal porridge (hercegovačka pura s lučnicom or lučenicom).
- Water.
- Salt.
- Corn meal or corn flour.
- Butter.
- Sour milk or plain yogurt.
- Garlic.
- (Optional) different types of cheeses, and meats like fried bacon or dried beef.
- (Optional) oil.
Instructions
Here are easy instructions for Balkan cornmeal porridge. Moreover, we're making Herzegovina porridge with a garlic sauce (hercegovačka pura s lučnicom/ lučenicom).
Step 1. Add water and salt to a deep pot and bring to a boil. Slowly add cornmeal (or corn flour), so it forms a hill. Cook for a few minutes.
Step 2. Puncture a hole (or draw a cross), in the middle of the flour. Cook for 45 minutes on low, covering the pot halfway with a lid.
Step 3. Caramelize butter in a deep pan.
Step 4. Mince garlic. Once the butter cools down, add garlic to it. Mix. Add yogurt, and whisk together.
Step 5. Take out extra water from the porridge. Vigorously mix porridge with a wooden stick for 15 min. Add the water back in if needed.
Step 6. Transfer porridge to a big bowl (or separate bowls) and pour butter, garlic, and yogurt sauce over it.
What's What?
As the terms for corn flour are sometimes used interchangeably, take a look at our quick dictionary.
- Porridge is a dish made by cooking starchy plants, usually grains, in milk or water it thickens. (Oatmeal porridge is an example.)
- Polenta, cornmeal, and corn flour are all powders derived from corn kennels that have different consistencies.
- Corn maize is a British English term for corn flour, while cornflour (one word) is a British English term for starch.
- Hercegovačka pura, bakradan, or kačamak is traditional Balkan cormeal porridge. It was traditionally made from cornmeal (due to the coarser grain), however, corn flour (a finer powder) is mostly used today.
Recipe FAQs
In the Balkans, cornmeal porridge goes by a few names.
Pura, kačamak, and bakradan are the terms that are most often used.
Additionally, the within those, hercegovačka pura, or Herzegovina porridge, is one of the best-known variations, due to its grit and a delicious butter-garlic-yougrt sauce.
Almost. While both are derived from corn kennels, the consistency of their grain is different. Polenta is coarser and more processed.
Although there are regional variations, usually pura is topped with yogurt, sour milk, sour cream, clotted cream, and/ or different cheeses (young cow cheese, local feta, etc). Sometimes cracklings, smoked beef, fried ham, or bacon bits are added.
Furthermore, in some places, sometimes the first bowl of porridge is topped with just yogurt, while the second (or third), is topped with the yogurt-butter-garlic sauce. Others serve it in reverse: first bowl with the sauce and then the second bowl with yogurt. This varies from town to town, and there are no written rules.
(Look under serving for more ideas!)
Handling
Serving: Balkan cornmeal porridge (hercegovačka pura s lučnicom, kačamak) is tastiest when consumed as warm as you can handle.
- Along with the yogurt sauce, you can also top it with sour cream, clotted cream, more yogurt, feta cheese, cracklings, dried beef, or fried bacon bits.
- Finally, some people eat porridge with grah (bean soup), baked sauerkraut, Balkan-style jagerschnitzel, or a meat sauce like the mini ćevap, or goulash.
Storing: Cornmeal porridge is the best soon after it's made. You can store it for up to 24 hours in an airtight container, in the fridge. However, the dish will not be the same the next day. Be aware you'll be saving it to make a different meal.
Reheating: Our recommendation is to cut old pura into slices, fry them, and then top them with a jam of choice or cheese. If you want to eat it as is, heat it for 10 minutes on the stovetop and keep adding a little hot water while stirring at the same time.
Ideas For Lunch
Thoughts?
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Prijatno, Dobar Tek, and Bon Appetit!
Balkan Cornmeal Porridge (Pura, Kačamak, Bakardan)
Equipment
- 1 sauce pot (or another taller pot), not overly wide, with a lid
- 1 sturdy wooden spoon (utensil) with a round stick
Ingredients
Cornmeal Porridge (Pura, Kačamak)
- 6 cups water
- ½ tablespoon salt and more, per taste
- 1 pound cornmeal or corn flour
- (Optional) 1 tablespoon oil
Butter, Garlic, Yogurt Sauce (Lučenica)
- 3-5 ounces butter
- 16-20 ounces plain yogurt or Greek yogurt (with a little water added and stirred so it's liquid), or sour milk
- 3-4 garlic cloves minced or ground with mortar and pestle
Optional Toppings
- dairy: feta cheese, kajmak clotted cheese, goat or soft cheeses
- meats: fried bacon or ham, cracklings, or fried smoked beef
Instructions
Cornmeal Porridge (Pura)
- In a sauce pot, add water and salt and bring to a rolling boil. Slowly add cornmeal (or corn flour) into it, making a small "hill" or "island" on top of the water with the flour. The water will surround it. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- With the end of your wooden spoon, puncture a hole from the top of the cornmeal "hill" to the bottom of the pot. (Alternatively, write a cross, or an "x" with your spoon, but only on top of the flour). This will allow some of the water to come through. (If you'd like, you can add a tablespoon of oil inside.) Cover the pot halfway with a lid. Lower the heat to the lowest setting and cook the cornmeal half-covered for at least 40-50 minutes.
- With a ladle, take out any extra water from the porridge. Using the end of your wooden spoon, vigorously mix porridge for at least 10-15 minutes (the longer, the better) while keeping it on the lowest setting. Mixing will require some elbow grease because the mixture becomes very thick. When you start mixing, it'll look as if some of the flour is left uncooked. However, it only looks this way. It needs to remain firm, and clumps are normal. (If you want the porridge to be less "clumpy" return more water to the pot. The porridge shouldn't burn, however, it's expected that a minimal amount of the corn flour will stick to the bottom of the pot.
Butter, Garlic, Yogurt Sauce (Lučenica) - Parallel Step
- Start making your sauce about halfway into the cornmeal cooking. In a deep pan, add butter, and set the temperature to the lowest. Cook until it caramelizes, about 6-8 minutes, swirling and stirring it very frequently. (It can go from caramelized to burnt very quickly, so be careful!) Remove from heat and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes.
- While the butter is still warm, add yogurt and garlic to it. Stir well until it integrates.
Combine
- Transfer the porridge to a big (preferably wooden) bowl and pour the butter, garlic, and yogurt sauce over it. Alternatively, pour the porridge into individual bowls right out of the pot, and top each with the sauce at that point.
Handling
- Store it for up to 24 hours in an airtight container, in the fridge. However, the dish will not be the same the next day. Be aware you'll be saving it to make a different meal.
- Serve as warm as you can handle. Add more regular yogurt if necessary. Optionally top with cracklings, dried beef, fried bacon bits, ham, feta cheese, clotted cheese kajmak, or goat cheese. Also optionally, serve along grah (bean soup), baked sauerkraut, Balkan-style jagerschnitzel, or a meat sauce like the mini ćevap, or goulash.
Notes
- Traditional Recipe
- Flour to Water Ratio
- Making Porridge for More People
- Nutrition
Daniela says
Try it this way:
1. Cornmeal
2. Water
3. Salt
Put cornmeal with a fist of salt in open pot and boil for 15 minutes in enough water to ogrezne (i dont know english word, water reaches top but doesnt overflow). After boil drain excess water and let hot cornmeal evaporate. In the meantime use a wooden dowel to break up the cornmeal and prevent it from clumping as much as possible. The pura retains enough moisture, but in case not, add half a cup of water as needed.
Pura can stand for a day or two, it goes together with cold fermented milk in summer after hot work on farm, or pura is served with hot zachina in winter when husbandcomes back from cutting wood.
Fermented milk can be made by begging neighbor or buying 1 container of yoghurt with "active culture" and mixing (tip: break up the solid yoghurt with whisk until its creamy, it prevents clumping with liquid milk) with 1-3 liters of milk in a clean metal pot, making sure all ingredients and pot are a similar temperature. When thoroughly mixed, let it stand covered with a towel so the mixture can breathe for a day or so until it hardens, drain excess water (surutka or whey). This is much better than sour cream, commercial sour cream has gelatin as low-cost filler, so the taste is bland. Mix with pura in 1:2 volume.
Zachina is made by mixing a teaspoon of salt, tbsp of finely fragmented goat cheese, 1-2 tbsp of kaymak, and cup of milk in a frying pan, its then heated to boiling and turned down to simmer until serving to preserve heat, served mixed in 1:1 mixture with pura. Kaymak is a type of milk product where full fat milk is boiled in a flat pot with large surface and cooled to form a skin, the skin is then collected repeatedly. A layer of the skin is placed in a wooden pot lined lightly with salt to preserve and flavor, the skin is then flattened, salted over, and the next layer is added. After a few dozen layers theres enough kaymak to add to zachina, use as a spread on bread, and so on.
Aida says
Thanks Daniela. I'm sure our readers will appreciate your contribution to the recipe. 🙂
Mkat says
We always have it with fried onions and bacon along with the sour cream. It's delicious!
Aida says
Yummy!
Tara says
Yum yum in my tum 🙂
Aida says
hehehe <3
pamela says
We make this plain, and then top with a pat of butter, heaps of yogurt and/or buttermilk, and crumbled feta. Its great and filling. I've tried it with bacon recently but it wasn't the same delicious as Ukrainians make it (called banosh), so we stick to dairy-only when we make it. No garlic! (Garlic is reserved for kljukusa)
Aida says
Pamela,
that sounds absolutely delicious! We love to add a little bit of feta and loads of yogurt too.
Bon appetit!