Slovenian cuisine results from its incredible regional diversity and rich heritage. The main component of Slovenian dishes is soup. One-pot, plain dishes such as stews, soup and porridge are common in the country. This blog tells us about the famous stew - Obara.
Table of Contents
What is Obara?
Obara, a thick soup is the national dish of Slovenia. The main constituent of traditional stew is meat and intestines, as these additions enhance the taste.
Recently, it has been made of different kinds of vegetables according to their seasonal availability. It is cooked in one large pot. All the flavours come together to make a great combination.
Obara was cooked on special days like festivities and celebrations. But now, it has become an everyday dish. Also, making this traditional cuisine is light work!
How to Prepare Obara?
Ingredients
- 2-3 tbsp of cooking oil
- 500-600 grams of chicken cut into pieces (breasts, no bones and no skin)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 tbsp of flour
- 250 ml of dry white wine
- 900 ml water or vegetable stock or chicken broth
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- ground black pepper
- Dried herbs - marjoram and thyme
- A handful of parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- About 2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Vegetables
- 2 large onion
- 1 medium-sized potato
- 1 medium-sized tomato
- 1 medium-sized carrot
- 80 g of peas
- 150 g of beans
- 2 medium-sized yellow turnips
- leek,
- 1/2 of celery
- 1/2 of cauliflower
Recipe
1. Take the fresh vegetables and wash them. Cut the vegetables into pieces. Chop the onions, potato, and tomatoes into cube-sized pieces. Cut the tail off the beans, celery and cauliflower. Keep them aside in a large pot in water until you cook them.
2. Cut the Chicken breasts (if you are adding them) into thick pieces according to your preferred size.
3. Put olive oil in the pot and preheat for 5 minutes. Brush the chicken with one layer of flour. Sear the chicken (boneless) on both sides for 2-3 minutes properly until it becomes a little crispy and brown. You can fry according to your level of crispiness. Remove the chicken and keep it aside.
4. Then, fry the onion and garlic and saute until it turns reddish-brown. Add flour to make a roux. And mix it properly. Pour white wine and mix it well. It is not necessary to add wine. Next, add boiled water to the mix. You can also use chicken broth or vegetable stock.
5. Add salt and pepper according to your taste palette. Adjust the saltiness according to your preferences. Put dried herbs and the bay leaf. Add leeks and put the pieces of chicken into it.
6. Add evenly cut vegetables to the pot and stir them with other vegetables.
7. Taste and adjust if needed. Cover and simmer until fully cooked. Add lemon juice. Simmer for 15 minutes. Put the parsley, and it's ready to serve!
Conclusion
Obara is cooked all over Slovenia, with slight regional variations. The stew can be served with Ajdovi žganci. The dish's uniqueness is that it is simple and easy to make. It is authentic and homely. Perfect comfort food to savour as it uplifts your spirit! All these qualities of Obara make it popular across the world.
