Hrybna Pidliva (грибна підлива, mushroom gravy)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A wide heavy frying pan
• •A heatproof bowl for soaking mushrooms
• •A fine grater
• •A wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the mushrooms

   Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with the just-boiled water. Leave them until they soften and the water turns dark tea-brown and smells like the woods after rain. Lift the mushrooms out with your fingers, chop them finely, then let the soaking liquid settle so the grit sinks to the bottom.

   Pour the mushroom liquid slowly later and stop before the last sandy spoonful. That liquor is the backbone of the gravy, but grit has no invitation to the table.
2. 2

   Cook the fresh mushrooms

   Warm 1 tablespoon sunflower oil and the butter in a wide pan, then add the fresh mushrooms with a good pinch of salt. Let them give up their water, hiss, shrink, and then begin to catch at the edges. Don't rush them. They are ready when the wet squeak in the pan turns to a softer fry and the smell changes from raw mushroom to toasted and deep.

3. 3

   Build the zasmazhka

   In a separate wide pan, warm the remaining sunflower oil and add the onions. Cook gently until translucent and sweet-smelling, then add the grated carrot and garlic. You're not browning anything hard. You're coaxing sweetness out slowly, until the oil turns orange and the carrot has melted into the onions.

   This zasmazhka goes in near the end. If it cooks from the start in the mushroom stock, its sweetness disappears into the background instead of sitting brightly on the finished gravy.
4. 4

   Thicken the base

   Sprinkle the flour over the zasmazhka and stir until it disappears into the oil and smells warm, not dusty. Add the chopped soaked mushrooms, the cooked fresh mushrooms, and the bay leaf. Now pour in the clear mushroom soaking liquid slowly, stirring as you go, until the pan loosens into a dark, glossy gravy.

5. 5

   Simmer until glossy

   Let the gravy bubble quietly, not angrily, until it coats the back of a spoon and the mushrooms taste like they belong to the sauce instead of sitting in it. If it gets too thick, slacken it with a splash of hot water. Taste for salt and black pepper. The spoon should leave a path through the pan for a second before the gravy closes over itself.

6. 6

   Finish with smetana

   Lower the heat and stir a spoonful of hot gravy into the smetana first, then stir that warmed smetana back into the pan. Add the mustard if you want a small lift, then fold in most of the dill. The colour should soften from dark brown to walnut, and the finish should be glossy, not split.

7. 7

   Serve generously

   Ladle the pidliva over buckwheat kasha, boiled potatoes, deruny, mlyntsi, or plain varenyky. Scatter over the last dill and bring more smetana to the table. This is enough for eight guests or one hungry Ukrainian, depending on the weather.

Chef Tips

• •Dried porcini give the deepest colour, but mixed dried forest mushrooms work beautifully. If you only have supermarket mushrooms, cook them harder and longer until the pan smells nutty.
• •Smetana can split if it hits a fierce boil. Warm it with a spoonful of gravy first, then keep the pan gentle.
• •For a meatless Christmas Eve table, use sunflower oil instead of butter and leave the smetana on the side. A bit more modern if you use oat cream, and still useful over potatoes.
• •The flour thickens, but the mushrooms carry the flavour. If the gravy tastes flat, it usually needs salt, black pepper, or one more quiet minute for the smell to deepen.

Advance Preparation

• •The dried mushrooms can soak up to 24 hours ahead in the fridge.
• •The finished pidliva keeps 3 days chilled and reheats gently with a splash of water.
• •It thickens as it sits, which is useful for spooning over mlyntsi or varenyky the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 165g)