(Untitled)

[theonetruetiny]

Having an existential cholent crisis... My cholent seems to be lacking the thick brown sauce or liquid commonly found in other's cholent. Even those without kishka. Are they adding flour for a kind of roux? Mine has barley, meat, potato, onions, beans, and paprika. Am I missing something? Also, their's is spicier. What other spice is traditional to

Comments

[strauss]

How long are you cooking your beans? I've never made cholent, but someone commented last week on how think and brown the broth in my chili was, that she always wished her chili were like that. My answer was just that I cooked the heck out of it. I had dried beans on low in the slow cooker from midnight Thursday through noon Friday, then added onions, pepper, diced tomato, spices, and cooked it on i think high for 2 hours, then back to a mix of low and keep warm until dinnertime. Other times when I've just soaked the beans overnight, not cooked them, my broth has been much thinner.

[theonetruetiny]

We slow cook overnight. We may need to just let it go another few hours to cook out more of the moisture.

[tapuz]

I have a friend who swears by hungarian paprika for spice. Personally, I put in dried hot peppers -- just make sure to mix and remove. Are you adding black pepper, enough salt and garlic? Chili powder and cumin might also help. Tomato paste is probably another key to the color and flavor.

[mrn613]

I cook my cholent in a bag so the liquid given up by the potatoes and veggies does not evaporate. If you are not using a bag, you need to make sure the level of water in the pot is one or two inches above the level of the food or it will be too dry

[yaffa]

I made both a meat and a vegetarian chollent. The secret ingredient in the veggie version is Gravy Master, which gives it that meaty something that helps it come together. As for beans I used dried beans that have been soaked overnight. But for some kick I add a chopped spicy dried sausage to my meat one (a trick learned from my MIL). Other ingredients are a lot more in the way of flavoring from what you're adding, for both my meat and veggie versions: ketchup, cumin, msg-free chicken soup powder, carrots, garlic (fresh, whole cloves), and enough water, initially, to just cover.

I mix it up and start cooking before shabbat begins and we don't eat it till lunch, so it's been cooking on low (high for the first hour or so) some 17 hours. I find it really only starts getting nice and brown and thick after you've passed those initial 12 hours, so maybe you do, as you said, need to let it go longer. But do add more flavoring!