Matsun (Armenian name) or matsoni (Georgian name) is a traditional fermented milk product of Caucasian cuisine. More than two hundred years ago, the peoples of the Caucasus created this amazing drink, the recipe of which was kept secret by the mountaineers. Real matsoni starter is made as follows: cow's milk is fermented in a thoroughly washed cow's stomach, i.e. in the natural environment, this is how the necessary bacteria appear.

For matsoni they use cow's, sometimes sheep's or goat's milk. There are quite a few ways to prepare the drink, and we will prepare matsoni with the addition of sour cream.

Ingredients

To prepare homemade matsoni we will need:

whole milk 3.4% - 1 liter;

thick sour cream 22% (or homemade fat) - 3 tbsp. spoons.

Cooking steps

Boil the milk, then cool for about 10 minutes, to about 40-50 degrees (the milk should be hot, not warm), skim off the foam.

Pour the milk into a thermos, then add sour cream

and stir. Leave for at least 6-8 hours or overnight. Transfer the home-cooked matsoni into a suitable container.

Cool in the refrigerator

and you can use the result, which I hope will pleasantly surprise you!!!

Matsoni is good in many Caucasian dishes. It is used for making soups and dough for khachapuri. They are poured over hot vegetable and meat dishes. By mixing cold matsoni and cold spring water, you get the tan drink, which helps quench your thirst. Matsoni is used as a salad dressing, as a substitute for sour cream, and for making okroshka.

Matsun dishes

Matsun dishes - 4.4 out of 5 based on 470 votes

As they say, the recipe and proportions are important, but the most important thing is to put a part of yourself into the preparation of the dish, concentrating on positive emotions. We prepare dishes as if meditating. Only with such an attitude will our matsun dishes be sure to turn out amazing and unique.

Onions - 15 g, peas - 15 g, matsun - 200 g, sour cream - 40 g, eggs - 1.4 pcs., flour - 8 g, rice - 20 g, green onions - 18 g, spinach - 40 g, cilantro, dill, mint - 15 g, celery - 10 g, pepper, salt, cinnamon.

Dovga is a liquid dish traditionally prepared from sour milk. To prepare dovga, you need to mix matsun with sour cream, egg and flour, then add rice. The resulting mixture must be cooked slowly, stirring from time to time, so that the matsun does not curdle. When the mixture boils, add finely chopped herbs and salt. That's it, our dish is ready.

500 g matsun, 350 ml water, a piece of beef, 2 tbsp. l. flour, 2 onions, 2 tbsp. l. vegetable or olive oil, 2 eggs, salt, ground black pepper, cilantro (optional), parsley, dill, oregano.

Dilute the matsun with warm water, add flour and beat well with a fork or mixer. Finely chop the onion, then fry a little in a pan (preferably one with thick walls) in butter until golden brown. Pour in the mixture that we whipped before and boil for 15 minutes, stirring all the time. Beat the eggs and pour them into the soup. Gently mix everything and remove from heat. Salt, pepper and decorate with herbs. Place a piece of boiled meat on a plate.

400 g matsun (or sour milk), 200 g water, 1 tbsp. spoon of wheat flour, 2 onions, 50 g butter, 3 eggs, herbs, salt.

Fry chopped onion and finely chopped parsley in butter for 10 minutes. Shake the matsun, add cold water, flour and salt, pour this mixture over the stewed onion and cook for 15 minutes. When it boils, pour the beaten eggs into the soup, stirring constantly, and as soon as they curl, remove the soup from the heat.

Best served sprinkled with cilantro, mint and dill. Try it, you will like it.

Add ≈ 500g of water to 500g of matsoni, mix until smooth, add 1 egg and 0.5 tbsp of flour to the finished mixture, mix well so that there are no lumps left. First, cook 80g of peeled wheat grains or hulled barley until tender, you can also use rice (we choose the grains that we have on hand).

Add the prepared matsoni mixture to the cooled mixture and, stirring, put it on the fire, without ceasing to stir, bring to a boil. (mixing is necessary to maintain a homogeneous mass, otherwise the protein will separate and a curd mass will form).

Add finely chopped onion and salt to taste to the boiling mass and cook for about 10 minutes. Before turning off the gas burner, add mint or cilantro (I recommend combining the spices) and oil as desired (you can replace the oil with fried onions in oil). We use it both hot and cold. Bon appetit.

Ingredients: 500g matsoni; 500g water; 1 egg; 0.5 tbsp. spoons of flour; 80g cereal or rice; 25g onion; mint; cilantro.

2 cups matsun, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of wheat flour, half a glass of rice or crushed wheat, 2 onions, 50 g butter, 2-3 eggs, herbs and salt to taste.

Sauté the chopped onion in oil. Shake the matsun well and, adding 2 cups of cold water, wheat flour and salt, pour it into the pan with the fried onions. Place the pan on the fire and let it boil once. Add rice or crushed wheat (pre-soaked), then cook for 15 minutes, after which 3 beaten eggs are gradually poured into the soup, remembering to stir continuously. Once the eggs have curled, remove the pan from the heat. When serving, we recommend putting cilantro, mint, dill, and tarragon on the plates.

Matsun - 220 g, water - 100 g, fresh cucumbers - 100 g, green onions - 40 g, cilantro - 10 g, dill - 10 g, basil - 5 g, eggs - 1-2 pcs., beef - 108 g, salt, garlic.

To prepare okroshka, beat matsun and dilute with chilled boiled water. Peel the cucumbers, chop finely, then chop the greens. Mix all this with diluted matsun, add salt, garlic and put in the refrigerator.

Serve cold. At the same time, add pre-boiled and finely chopped beef and a hard-boiled egg to each plate.

Eggplant - 1 kg, fresh lightly salted cheese - 500 g, eggs - 5 pcs, melted butter - 500 g, matsun - 2-3 cups.

Using a knife, remove the core of young eggplants from the grains, place them on a baking sheet, and bake until half cooked for 20 minutes. Then boil the eggs, peel them, finely chop them and mix with finely chopped cheese, add melted butter.

Fill the eggplants baked until half cooked with the prepared minced meat, then place them in a frying pan with fat, place them in the oven and bake until fully cooked. Top the baked eggplants with whipped matsun.

500 g zucchini, 5 tbsp. tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 cups matsun, 1 tbsp. spoon of powdered sugar, salt.

Peel the zucchini, cut into slices and add salt. Place the zucchini prepared in this way in one row on a heated frying pan with oil and fry on both sides until golden brown. When serving, pour in the squeezed and then thoroughly beaten matsun and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

A similar dish is usually prepared with mayonnaise and grated garlic, but you’re unlikely to have tried it with matsun and powdered sugar.

All articles
All equipment for the dairy industry

Until recently, the appearance of my pies left much to be desired - no matter what I did, instead of a fluffy matsoni pie from the oven, I took out a flat sheet of baked dough. And in order to somehow hide my pathological culinary incompetence, I covered an incomprehensible surface with powdered sugar, beautifully cut it into pieces and tried to quickly feed my family with it in order to quickly forget about my masterpiece.

Meanwhile, on the social network Facebook, I came across two recipes for a lush matsoni pie, the author of which praised not only the taste of the dough, but also the impressive height of this very delicacy. With distrust and without any interest, I once again took on the task of baking a lush pie at risk to myself, with the firm confidence that I could not conquer such heights...

I won’t surprise you with the result, but for the first time in my entire adult life as a woman, I got a really lush and airy cake, like an inflated mattress. Since I accidentally deleted the step-by-step photos of the recipe, I present to your attention only the final result, and not in the best quality. I promise to provide you with visuals next time.

Lush matsoni pie - recipe 1

• eggs - 3 pieces
• granulated sugar – 1.5 cups
• sunflower oil – 3 tablespoons
• vinegar or vodka – 2 tablespoons
• matsoni – 1.5 cups (you can use kefir)
• soda – 1 teaspoon
• flour – 1.5 – 2 cups

Add eggs, sugar, sunflower oil and 1 cup matsoni to a bowl. Then pour one teaspoon of soda into the remaining matsoni and stir. Naturally, matsoni with soda will turn into a fluffy carbonated mass; it must be added to the above ingredients and stir well, then add 2 tablespoons of vinegar or vodka, a little vanillin (you don’t need to add a lot - vanillin is bad for the liver). Mix the whole mixture with flour (the main thing is that the dough should be weak, but not thicker than sour cream). Grease a baking tray with sunflower oil and pour the dough into it. Place it in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.

Lush matsoni pie - recipe 2

• eggs - 3 pieces
• granulated sugar – 1.5 cups
• sunflower oil – 1 coffee cup
• matsoni – 1.5 cups
• soda – 1 teaspoon
• flour – 1.5 – 2 cups

As in the first recipe, mix all the ingredients step by step. At the end, when our dough is ready for baking, we divide the mass into two parts. To the second part add 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa. In a baking tray greased with sunflower oil, add white and chocolate dough alternately, as if drawing patterns or repeating zebra stripes.

I have been preparing these 2 recipes for a lush matsoni pie for several months now. The main thing is to wait for the pie to turn pink in the oven at a temperature of 180 degrees. Once it is ready, you should not take it out immediately, since it may settle under the influence of air at room temperature.

Matsoni is a fermented milk drink belonging to Georgian and Armenian cuisine. It is quite similar to regular yogurt, but there are still taste differences. This drink is ideal for feeding not only adults, but also children. The matsoni drink can be found on store shelves, but still it is not like the real thing, homemade. There is nothing better than cold matsoni in hot summer weather. It refreshes, quenches thirst and at the same time satiates. If you stick to the recipe for making the starter and the drink itself, you can always provide your family with a tasty and healthy breakfast.

Sourdough for matsoni

Bacterial starters, which you can find in the pharmacy, act as a starter for matsoni. As a rule, these are special substances that are designed to restore the microflora of the human intestine. They also use ready-made matsoni for fermentation, but this too needs to be made first. You can also use good fat sour cream as an ingredient for the starter, but unfortunately it does not produce such good quality yogurt. To make your work easier, we suggest you use special drops of Hilak Forte as the initial starter. This will be the ideal ingredient for the first portion of maroni, the recipe for which will be discussed below.

How to cook matsoni?

Ingredients:

• milk – 500 ml;
• sour cream – 1 tbsp. spoon;
• hilak forte – 5 drops.

Preparation

Boil the milk and cool. The milk shouldn't be hot, but it shouldn't just be lukewarm either. Try it with your fingertip; if you can tolerate it, the temperature of the milk is ideal. Mix the sour cream thoroughly with drops of hilak forte. Pour the milk into a jar, add the starter, mix well and close the lid. Wrap the jar in a towel and leave for 3-4 hours in a dark place in the room. After the required time, carefully transfer the jar to the refrigerator. Do not shake the jar of matsoni under any circumstances. After 2 hours your Matsoni is ready.

It is best to leave the preparation of matsoni for the evening. Then, after standing overnight in the room, it will ferment as best as possible. It is also worth remembering that before making matsoni, you need to make sure the quality and freshness of the milk. For matsoni you need to choose fresh cow's milk with good fat content. Later, after preparing the first matsoni, you can use your ready-made matsoni for fermentation, 1 teaspoon per half liter of milk. By about the sixth leaven you will already have real matsoni, which you can show off to everyone you know.

People have been drinking drinks made from the milk of cows, goats and sheep since ancient times. A special place is given to fermented milk products in the Caucasus. It is not known whether their love for fermented milk products affects their life expectancy or not, but the fact remains a fact.

Matsoni is a traditional Caucasian fermented milk product, which is called the “nectar of long-livers.” In Armenian cuisine, matsoni is called matsun.

Matsoni tastes like yogurt, but there are some differences between these two products. Yogurt is ordinary sour milk, and matsoni is a more complex fermented milk product that requires a certain technique.

Matsoni at home: benefits

• Matsoni is a very healthy drink that residents of the Caucasus enjoy preparing and drinking. This fermented milk product is easily absorbed by the body, supplying it with phosphorus, calcium, vitamins A and D, as well as essential amino acids and protein.
• Matsoni, like all fermented milk products, stimulates the intestines, enriching it with beneficial vitamins and bifidobacteria.
• Matsoni is an indispensable product that reduces cholesterol levels, it prevents the development of dysbacteriosis, early aging of the body and lowers blood pressure.

The secret of making matsoni at home

Matsoni is obtained from milk fermented at a certain temperature. The basis for matsoni can be not only cow’s milk, but also goat’s or sheep’s. The milk is heated to a temperature of 90 degrees, then cooled to 50 degrees and the starter is added.

Sourdough for matsoni is a mixture of Bulgarian bacillus (a special type of lactic bacterium discovered in Bulgaria) and fermented milk streptococci. The resulting mixture of hot milk and starter is placed in a dark place and the product is not disturbed for 4 hours. During this time, the milk will sour and thicken, and the resulting product will cool. That's the whole secret of making matsoni.

Matsoni is a product for everyone, which differs from kefir and yogurt in its slightly sour and spicy taste. Matsoni is somewhat similar to sour drinking yoghurt, which is due to the Bulgarian stick, which is used to make yoghurts.

Homemade matsoni

Matsoni can be prepared at home, following the sequence of steps and the cooking process.

• Bring the milk (any kind) to the boiling stage (about 90 - 95 degrees), but do not boil - this is very important!
• Cool the milk to a temperature of 40 - 50 degrees.
• Add starter to hot milk. For real Georgian matsoni, matsoni itself is used for fermentation. If you don’t have it, you can take full-fat kefir or sour cream - 1 tbsp for 0.5 liters of milk. sour cream or kefir.
• Stir the prepared mixture, cover with gauze and place in a dark place for 4 hours. It is better if you first wrap the container with the mixture in a blanket or pour the matsoni mixture into a thermos. Do not shake or disturb the matsoni mixture.
• Important - strictly observe the fermentation time: if you reduce it, the matsoni will turn out too liquid, and if you increase it, the matsoni will turn out too sour.
• Then put the matsoni in the refrigerator for 8 hours.
• The next time you prepare matsoni at home, use previously prepared matsoni for the starter.

You can prepare different dishes from matsoni, each time surprising your guests with unusual recipes based on matsoni at home.

Vegetable salad with matsoni at home

Compound:

• Chicken fillet - 300 g
• Carrots - 1 pc.
• Potatoes - 2 pcs.
• Cucumber - 1 pc.
• Greenery
• Matsoni - for dressing
• Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Boil chicken fillet, potatoes and carrots.
2. Cut the boiled ingredients into small cubes.
3. Cut the cucumber into strips, chop the greens.
4. Place all the ingredients in a salad bowl, add salt and matsoni. Mix everything.

Matsoni salad is ready! It can be used by girls on a diet.

Homemade matsoni soup

Compound:

• Milk - 1 l
• Matsoni - 1 l
• Onions - 6 pcs.
• Butter - to taste
• Egg yolk - 3 pcs.
• Dill, cilantro, tarragon leaves - to taste
• Sea salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Finely chop the onion and fry it in butter until transparent.
2. Mix matsoni with milk and shake well.
3. Pour the matsoni and milk into a large saucepan, add the onion. Bring the onion and matsoni to a boil, stirring constantly. When the mixture comes to a boil, continue cooking for another 7 minutes.
4. Remove the soup from the heat, cool it a little, pour the egg yolks into the soup. Add chopped herbs.

Matsoni soup at home is ready!

Homemade matsoni sauce

Compound:

• Matsoni - 400 g
• Goat cheese - 100 g
• Nadugi cheese - 100 g
• Greens (onion, cilantro, dill) - 50 g
• Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Grate the goat cheese on a fine grater.
2. Rub naduga cheese through a sieve.
3. Finely chop the greens.
4. Pour all the ingredients into a bowl, add salt and matsoni.
5. Mix all ingredients thoroughly until smooth.

Matsoni is a very healthy Georgian drink that gives people strength and vigor. Drink matsoni and you will live happily ever after!