Spas is something that is geographically locked in the territory of Armenia. If half the world claims to be minced meat wrapped in grape leaves, naming this dish in their own way, some cabbage rolls, some dolmia, some dolma, then saved - this is a pure patent of Armenia. Everybody has it there. They are reinforced after operations, they hawala when they do not want to eat anything at all. It is given to children and the elderly for the purpose of "refreshing". The combination of a slightly sour soup and a refreshing mint is very unusual.

So: I suggest a soup based on sour yogurt. Ricebt is essentially uncomplicated in ingredients and preparation process.

What do you need:

A liter of matsoni (or matsun) - kefir will not work, you don't even need to experiment. If you live abroad, you can try Plane Yogurt produced by some Middle East country. Personally, I stole a little when visiting an Armenian restaurant and further at home, observing the peculiarities of the technology, fermented three liters of milk.

Onion head.

A tablespoon of flour

Half a glass of rice (traditionally put wheat grains, but in my opinion rice gives a more noble flavor).

Butter

5 tablespoons of dry mint.

Mix yogurt and water in a ratio of 1 to two (more water) and put on fire. Throughout the entire cooking process, the pan will remain open, so add one extra glass to two liters of water - this is exactly how much it will be lost during the cooking process.

We know that any fermented milk product curdles into cottage cheese when heated. We don't need cottage cheese. Curd is a failure! You need to manage to bring the mixture to a boil in its original form. We achieve this by observing the following diamond rules:

1.Before putting on fire, mix an egg with a spoonful of flour (adding a little water) and pour the resulting mash into the main solution.

2.the fire should be highly weak.

3.need constantly, I emphasize - stir constantly until boiling.

All three rules serve the same purpose - not to bring the matter to cottage cheese! But the most important is the namba rule 2. It will take a long time to stir, oh-oh-very long. At first, it will seem that the mixture will boil quickly, then mirages in the form of gurgling will begin. We keep stirring! Then a depressing state will come and it will seem that this is a dream and it will NEVER boil. Further, you will involuntarily begin to think about me, each to the extent of his depravity. I will not be offended and will treat with understanding. Whoever reaches this level can rejoice. Because in 15 minutes the mixture will boil :-). Those who did not wait go to pour the curd mass into the toilet.

So, as soon as the first bubbles appear, indicating that we are boiling, put the spoon aside and deal with the remaining ingredients. The main difficulty is over! Now:

Pour the rice into boiling water and stir for a couple of seconds.

We cut aki onions for frying, in this way:

Fry the onion on creamy oil:

Add the onion to the soup and stir for a couple of seconds. Now the most crucial moments of the cooking process come - we begin to turn the mixture into Spas using mint. From five tablespoons of mint cooked, three in soup. And mix:

Leave Spas to boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Until the rice is done. After this period, before extinguishing the fire, throw in a large kusman of butter and 2-3 teaspoons of salt:

and after extinguishing the fire, add the remaining two tablespoons of mint and leave to languish for about 5 minutes. Do not stir!

Spas is ready:

It can be served hot or cold. The taste will be different. It goes awesome with grilled beef. I just drop chunks of grilled beef into a plate with Spas and get a whole new flavor. By the way, the onion miraculously turns from onion into tender grumpy pieces that do not in any way resemble onions.

Step-by-step recipes for the Armenian soup "Spas" with kefir and yogurt, sour cream, bulgur, rice

Assessment
recipe

Time
(min)

Servings
(people)

In 100 grams of finished dish

2 gr.

3 gr.

Carbohydrates

60 kcal.

Option 1: Classic Armenian soup "Spas"

Spas in Armenia is as popular as borscht in Ukraine, but we have okroshka. This fermented milk soup is prepared on weekdays and holidays, it is served on the table for the most dear guests. It is also believed that the dish has a lot of useful properties, helps sick people get out of bed and protects immunity. In general, it makes sense to cook and taste it.

Ingredients

• 1 liter of yogurt;
• 1 egg;
• 1 liter of water;
• 1 tbsp. l. flour;
• 40 g butter;
• 1 tsp dry mint;
• 40 g cilantro;
• 1 onion;
• 120 g of wheat groats.

A step-by-step recipe for a classic Armenian soup

For real Armenian soup you need dzavar wheat grits. Since it takes a long time to cook, you can soak it overnight. After that, cook until almost soft, but not in soup, use a separate saucepan. Strain the wheat grits into a sieve.

Take a pot for cooking soup. We break one large egg into it and throw flour, add a pinch of salt. Beat well, then add yogurt and stir.

We measure out cold water and add to the yogurt. In no case do we do the opposite, otherwise lumps cannot be avoided. If suddenly the yogurt is not very thick, then you can reduce the amount of water a little.

Now we fill in the wheat grits, which we have almost ready and put the soup on the stove. We make a strong fire so that the dish boils quickly, be sure to stir. According to the rules, use a wooden spoon or spatula.

Melt the butter, fry the chopped onion in it until golden brown, you do not need to overexpose the vegetable. Checking the soup. If it boils, then add fire and cook under a lid for ten or fifteen minutes, now you need to bring the cereal to full softness.

We transfer the fried onion head to the soup, stir, salt, add the pounded dry mint. At the very end, we throw in finely chopped cilantro. In no case replace with dill or parsley. Stir and pour the Armenian soup into plates. We immediately serve the dish to the table.

In Armenia, yogurt is called matsun; sometimes the soup is cooked with kefir. In principle, any fermented milk product will do. If it has a low fat content, then just add a couple of tablespoons of good thick sour cream.

Option 2: Quick recipe for Armenian soup "Spas"

This version of the Armenian soup can be made in literally fifteen minutes, as it is prepared with semolina. An incredibly simple and easy recipe. Greens are added according to the list and there really should be a lot of it.

Ingredients

• 500 ml of yogurt;
• egg;
• 0.5 tbsp. l. flour;
• 50 g cilantro;
• 0.5 tsp mint;
• 500 ml of water;
• 2 tbsp. l. semolina;
• 1 onion;
• 35 g butter.

How to quickly cook Spas soup

Beat the egg with flour and yogurt, dilute with water and set to heat. Immediately chop the onion and fry a little in oil.

Introduce semolina into the boiling liquid, mix and add the onion. Boil until boiling, add chopped cilantro with mint.

We heat the soup over low heat for a minute, turn it off. Pour into plates. As it cools, it will become thicker, this must be taken into account.

Instead of semolina, you can use other small cereals, such as rice or wheat slices. It takes a little longer to cook, but the result will be close to the classic version.

Option 3: Armenian soup "Spas" with rice on kefir

A delicious soup is obtained with wheat grits, but it takes a very long time to cook. There is a way to prepare a dish much faster. Here is another well-known recipe for the Armenian soup "Spas", which can be served hot or cold, it all depends on personal preference and the time of year.

Ingredients

• 0.5 l of kefir;
• egg;
• 3 spoons of rice;
• 20 g cilantro;
• bulb;
• 3 tablespoons of oil;
• a spoonful of flour;
• 5 mint leaves;
• 0.5 l of water.

How to cook

Fill the rice with cold water, let it stand. Mix the egg with flour and add half a teaspoon of salt to them. Bring to homogeneity, pour kefir with water and put on the stove. It is important to constantly stir before boiling, lifting the thickening mass from the bottom. Otherwise, the soup will not be homogeneous, lumps and egg clots will appear.

Rinse the rice, by this time it is already swollen. Add to the kefir when boiling and immediately remove the fire. Stir, cook rice until soft.

Cut a small onion into cubes. Usually it is fried in butter, but vegetable fats can also be used. Add to the soup, as soon as the rice is cooked, stir.

Chop mint and cilantro. If fresh herbs are not available, then dried herbs can be used. We fall asleep in the finished soup. Do not forget to taste the salt at the very end.

In the spicy version, the Armenian soup is also very tasty, you can pepper the total mass or add spices individually to the plates.

Option 4: Armenian soup "Spas" with bulgur and sour cream

Another recipe for the Armenian soup "Spas" on kefir, but it is prepared with bulgur. This is also a cereal made from wheat, it is cooked relatively quickly, it is great for a national dish. Since kefir itself is not fat enough, sour cream will be added to it. We choose a non-acidic product of 20-30%.

Ingredients

• 1 liter of kefir;
• a glass of sour cream;
• 500 ml of water;
• 90 g bulgur;
• 2 onions;
• 2 tablespoons flour;
• 50 g butter;
• large egg;
• 30 g cilantro.

Step by step recipe

You do not need to cook cereals separately in this recipe. Just pour boiling water over it, stir it and let it swell for half an hour, the bulgur will practically reach readiness, then pour it into a sieve.

If the egg is small, then we take a couple of things. Beat with flour and salt, dilute with sour cream, then kefir and water. We add the ingredients in such a sequence along the growing liquid so that lumps do not appear. It is best to use a whisk to stir. We send a saucepan with fermented milk products to the stove.

While the base of the soup is warming up, cook the onions. Just fry in oil. Do not forget to often stir kefir with sour cream. After boiling, throw in the bulgur, stir and simmer for ten minutes.

We put the onion in a saucepan, stir it and again let the Armenian soup boil, boil it, salt it again, if necessary, and fill it with cilantro. Cover, let it brew. Mint is also added at will at the very end of cooking Armenian soup.

Instead of water, you can dilute fermented milk products with broth, but not fatty and necessarily cold, in general, all ingredients should be at approximately the same temperature when mixed.

This soup is made on yogurt. Yes, yogurt is boiled directly and it turns out very tasty, and also low in calories, even despite the small amount of oil in the recipe. So those who follow the figure can afford such a soup without fear of gaining extra pounds.

Ingredients:

Matsoni - 300 ml;

Boiled water - 500 ml;

Wheat - 100 g;

Egg - 1 pc.;

Wheat flour - 1 tbsp. l .;

Onion - 1 small head;

Cilantro - the more the better;

Butter - 50 g, that is, a piece the size of a matchbox;

Salt to taste.

Prepare wheat overnight. It must be washed and filled with a large volume of boiling water.

In 8-10 hours the wheat will be steamed and cooked much faster. Drain the remaining liquid, rinse the cereal again and pour it again with a large amount of boiling water. After boiling, reduce heat to low and leave to simmer until the wheat is completely boiled. As it boils, add hot water to the pan. When all the wheat grains have opened properly, allow the last portion of water to boil and remove from heat. The groats should cool slightly.

In the meantime, you can start cooking frying. Cut the onion into small pieces and fry it until yellowish in half the butter (that is, half a box). Please note that the onion should not be golden, but yellowish from the absorbed oil.

We remove the frying from the heat and return to the cooled wheat. Then we will cook it in yogurt, but it doesn't like to boil: it always strives to curl up and turn into an unappetizing substance. Therefore, from now on, take a closer look. Mix the cereal with a tablespoon of flour. Then add the egg and salt at the same time. Mix thoroughly. Everything should turn into a viscous homogeneous mixture. Pay attention that the egg white does not remain in one "piece". Otherwise, during cooking, it will curl up and float in a separate incomprehensible lump. Only then add the yogurt.

Stir and add frying.

Pour cold boiled water last. Now we put the saved on medium heat, but do not relax. The matsoni must be constantly stirred. With slow, measured circular motions, we interfere with the rescue until it boils. Only then can you move away from the stove for 10 minutes. We remove the finished rescue from the fire and add the remaining oil to it.

Spas is one of the most popular soups in Armenian cuisine. Prepared with the fermented milk product yogurt (matsun). Unusual yummy! Hurry up to replenish your culinary treasury with one more recipe of Armenian cuisine.

There are many first courses in the national, which are based on fermented milk products. Spas is prepared with yogurt (matsun), a thick fermented milk drink that tastes like kefir. Armenians consider such a soup to be curative. It restores strength and immunity, is useful for hypertensive patients, as it reduces blood pressure. Spas is the best pill for a hangover and high fever. In winter in cold weather it is served hot, and in summer heat it is cooled, and it wonderfully refreshes and protects from overheating.

Sour milk soup spas - ingredients

For 5-6 portions of Armenian spas you will need:

• 3 glasses of yogurt;
• 1.5 glasses of drinking water;
• 1 egg;
• 120 g bulgur or rice;
• 2 onions;
• 1 tbsp. tablespoons of flour with a pea;
• 70 g butter;
• 30 g fresh cilantro;
• salt tastes.

The recipe for making Armenian soup saved

1. Before cooking spasa bulgur or rice, pour hot water overnight. In the morning, rinse the cereals and cook until the grains are soft. Strain the broth into a separate bowl.
2. Make onion frying in a frying pan - in butter, you can use ghee. Fry the onion until light golden brown. If the soup is to be made completely dietary, frying should be avoided. Then the onion is removed from the ingredients altogether.
3. Then add flour to the cooled bulgur or rice and mix well so that there are not even small lumps. Pour the egg into this mass and mix again. You can add a couple of tablespoons of yogurt. And then a fried onion with butter.
4. In a separate bowl, dilute the yogurt with drinking water to the desired consistency - for example, like diluting kefir for okroshka. For breeding, you can also use the broth strained after boiling the cereal. But keep in mind that the rescuer should not be too liquid.
5. Then move the pan with yogurt to the stove, over low heat. Put the mixture of cereals and onions there. Boil, stirring all the time, so that the fermented milk drink does not curl. Cook for about 3 minutes, then reduce the heat to very low and continue simmering the Armenian soup for about ten minutes, season with salt.
6. Pour into bowls and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. And on request - and hot ground pepper. If served cold, then instead of cilantro, it is better to put a little mint. Enjoy your meal!

Spas - a popular yogurt soup in Armenia

Video recipe: classic yogurt soup

Recipe for the Armenian summer savior from the "Beautiful Armenia" channel.

According to legend, in the 19th century, thanks to the Russian Cossacks, the word “bistro” appeared in France. But that's not all! The Cossacks also contributed to the Armenian language: in this country, too, thanks to them, the traditional soup tan-Singapore received a new name - saved.

They say that one night Russian Cossacks knocked on an Armenian house in the Kars region (now it is the territory of Turkey). Cossack regiments were permanently stationed in Transcaucasia in the 19th century after the Russian-Turkish wars. The Cossacks were very hungry and very cold: in winter in this mountainous area, frosts down to -30 ° C could stand. According to the immutable laws of hospitality, the host offered the unexpected guests a plate of hot hearty soup, which has been prepared in every Armenian home for a long time. The Cossacks ate the soup, thanked the owner and said: "You saved us, brother, you just saved us." Since then, the traditional Armenian soup tan-apur has got another name.

"Apur" in Armenian means "soup", and the word "tan" refers to the fermented milk base from the matsun drink. Matsun in Armenian cuisine is a universal product. To prepare it, milk is heated to +40 ° C, sourdough is added and placed in a warm place. This creates a healthy product that resembles yogurt or Bulgarian jelly mlyako. In the villages, he was kept in earthen jars for about a week. Kamats matsun is also made from matsun, which looks like soft cottage cheese. It is eaten in Armenia for breakfast with warm tortillas, honey, nuts, mulberry sauce, or served as a light snack. Butter, karag, is also whipped from matsun. The remaining whey, tan, is drunk or boiled, after which it is squeezed and dried in the sun, resulting in very acidic and salty chorotan cakes. They retain useful and taste properties for a long time. These cakes are harvested for future use in order to fill them with warm water if necessary and get another version of the liquid base for tan-apura.

Traditionally, the soup was cooked in a cast iron in a tonir oven (this is a hole dug in the ground with stones lined with walls and hot coals at the bottom). Such a stove used to be in every peasant house in Armenia. The famous Armenian lavash is also baked in tonir, which is usually served with tanapur. And if the lavash has dried up, it can be crumbled into soup.

Fermented milk matsun is the basis of tan-apur, to which flour and wheat are necessarily added, the main components of the diet of Armenians since ancient times and another symbol of hospitality. And finally, the egg - also an obligatory ingredient in the soup saved - is a symbol of the revival of life and well-being: a fresh egg was broken on the forehead of a bull before plowing, expecting a rich harvest.

Today tan-Singapore is still one of the most beloved Armenian dishes. It warms both the heart and the stomach. Having tried the soup, you will definitely want to thank the owners from the bottom of your heart.

Armenian tan-Singapore (spas soup)

RECIPE

How many servings: 4
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Calories per 1 serving: 545 kcal

Dzavar wheat - 200 g
Matsun - 500 ml
Water - 1 l
Egg - 1 PC.
Wheat floura - 100 g
Cilantro - 100 g
Butterabout - 100 g
Sour cream - 2 tbsp. spoons
Salt - ½ tbsp. spoons

1. Rinse the wheat, boil for half an hour over low heat. Put matsun and sour cream in an aluminum pan, add raw egg and flour.

2. Mix everything thoroughly. Fill with water at room temperature. Put on fire and stir continuously so that the soup does not burn.

3. Bring to a boil, add boiled dzavar. Leave for 3-5 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly - this way the mass does not curl up and lumps appear. Add butter.

4. Season with salt, remove from heat and add finely chopped cilantro. Serve hot or cold.