Proja (Serbian corn bread)

Proja (Serbian corn bread) has a long history and attachment to the Balkan people. During tough times of poverty, war, and lack, this bread was a staple for many families. And just like a lot of other peasant foods, proja has become a traditional dish dear to the Balkan people. Though I say it’s Serbian cornbread, there are other Balkan countries that share the history such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and others which were at some time in the past all part of Yugoslavia.

The Balkans have a very rich cuisine because there’s influence from a lot of countries. The food includes sarma, which is a huge favourite, Sataraš which you’ll find in many different forms, and of course Proja. The list is endless, and the food is amazing. Anyway…

Nowadays, Proja is found in every celebration and there are so many variations of it. This is a recipe I got from my mother-in-law and I tweaked it to my liking. She asked me why I’m adding sour cream to the Proja recipe, lol. Well, sour cream adds moisture to the batter. This Proja (Serbian cornbread) has a soft almost cake-like texture, though it still qualifies as cornbread to have as a side to savoury dishes. I added feta cheese, but it may also be plain or with other many additions as seen on the internet.

Ingredients

Cornflour: You may use polenta instead of cornflour, which will make the cornbread rougher in texture than when using cornflour. I sometimes use polenta when I feel like “original” cornbread. it makes it more earthy like how it might have been before everything was finely grounded.

The original proja recipe required very basic ingredients so this recipe sort of is different from it. as it has advanced with the years. It’s richer and moist in texture, very delicious, and totally addictive. I mean I think it’s the perfect Balkan cornbread and you’ll just love it.