Proja - Serbian Cornbread
Proja is a traditional Serbian cornbread that used to be a staple among Serbian peasants. Today it's a family favourite among many Balkan homes. We like to eat proja freshly baked out of the oven as a part of a breakfast brunch or as a side dish served alongside things like prebranac. In Serbia, you often use cups aka šoljice as measurement tools, but I've listed them in mertic as well :)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 400 ml milk (3 šoljice)
- 200 ml sunflower oil (1 ½ šoljice)
- 200 ml sparkling water ( 1 ½ šoljice)
- 200 g feta cheese / white cheese
- 200 g fine cornflour (3 šoljice)
- 250 g wheat flour (3 šoljice)
- 15-20 g baking powder
- some additional salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° (392 F)
- Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients (milk, sparkling water, and oil) and mix it all quickly together. Then, crumble some feta cheese and stir it lightly into the dough.
- In another bowl, add and mix the dry ingredients (cornflour, all purpose flour, baking powder, and a little bit of salt).
- Now add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and give it all a good stir. Whisk or stir until you're left with a homogeneous, runny, and bubbly consistency without any lumps in the dough.
- Add a little sunflower oil to your baking dish of choice and sprinkle and dust a little flour all over the dish, until it is coated very lightly.
- Pour the mixture into the square baking dish (our measures 27cm x 17 cm) previously greased.
- Bake for 20 minutes and then have a look at the proja. If it's getting way too dark too quickly, you can lower the oven temperature to 180° and bake for 10-20 additional minutes.
- After 30 minutes of baking, insert a toothpick into the proja. If it is dry, it is fully baked. If not, continue baking for 5 minutes. You'll know that it's close to being done when the top is golden and kind of caramelized.
- Cut the proja into 8 cm (3-inch) squares to serve.
- Eat it straight away as a breakfast served with yogurt, soft cheeses, ajvar, and some fresh greens, or enjoy it as a side dish alongside with dishes like prebranac and the like.
Video
Notes
If you don't have a baking dish, try using some (silicone) muffin cups and bake them for a shorter amount of time. This is called projice and is really delicious, especially as a snack or as a part of a lunch box.
You can experiment with proja and add greens like leeks or maybe even some ajvar to get a beautiful red color, but we just always enjoy it straight as it is.