Proja bread, old proja, in the old days - it was bread, i.e. it was used in the daily diet. Today's proja is more often consumed as an appetizer or side dish with certain dishes. Or, with cheese, greens and other ingredients, it is turned into projara, i.e. independent, main course.
Proja's bread was kneaded in načva (smaller or larger wooden container in which bread was kneaded), and was prepared in the following way:
- Clean water is poured into the copper (copper is a Turkish word for a pot, wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, which was used for cooking, mostly in the hearth, above the fire) and put it to heat.
- While the water is heating, the breadcrumbs are cleaned, and then the proja flour ground in a streamer (integral with the husks) and a little salt are sifted. In poorer houses, in order to save money, spelled flour is not sifted and not salted.
- When the water is heated (flowed), it is poured over the flour into the breadcrumbs, but care must be taken not to pour too much water
- A little flour was sprinkled on the lopar (a lopar is a board on which bread was kneaded), then one lump of dough was taken and a regular circle was made from the dough with the palms of the hands. Then, with wet hands, the dough was coated with water, on top and on the sides, and sprinkled with a little flour, so that it would not crack and the crust would be yellow.
- The dough would be placed in a heated crepuja (a crepuja is a shallow clay dish for baking), which until then had been heated in a fire.
- When the proja bread is placed in the bowl, a small ember is taken from the fire, finely chopped, mixed with hot ashes and the bread is covered with it.
- During the baking, the ash with which the bread is covered was stirred several times. If it is seen that the ash has cooled, a new amount of ash is added and it is heated.
- When the bread is baked, shake well and wipe off the ashes. Then they are scraped well with a blunt knife.
In this way, bread was kneaded as much as was needed for the family. Hot bread was not eaten, mostly for the reason that it would not be eaten all at once, because in that way it was saved.
Proja bread - traditional proja, peasant proja - recipe
ingredients:
- 600 g of corn flour, whole grain, ground on a streamer (if you want, you can sift it)
- 600 - 700 ml of warm water (so that it flows through) - take care that the mass is not too wet
- 0,5 - 1 teaspoon of salt (to taste)
<strong>Preparation: </strong>
- Heat a shallow ceramic dish in the oven at 200 C
- Add heated water to the corn flour and mix well. Make sure that the dough is not too wet
- Sprinkle cornmeal on the mixing board. Form flat circles from the dough (1,5 - 2 cm thick). Coat the dough with water from above and on the sides and sprinkle with flour
- Remove the heated ceramic dish from the oven and put baking paper on it. Put the formed dough circles in a bowl and put them in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes. The top crust should be golden yellow.
Proja bread or peasant bread or traditional bread, is eaten chilled like any other bread, for breakfast, lunch, dinner.
The text about proja bread from the book Serbian folk dishes and drinks, Jovan Erdeljanović, 1908, was used as the basis.
READ: WHERE CAN I BUY THE BOOK TRADITIONAL RECIPES OF HOME SERBIAN CUISINE?
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