Kalon prama or Samali from Cyprus

                                                                                                                        Receta en Español   

kalon prama or Samali is a semolina cake very popular in Cyprus, kalon prama means 'good thing' , so you can imagine how delicious this dessert is. It is made with wheat semolina, almonds and syrup, very easy to do.

Ingredients:

- 250 grams yoghurt.

- 150 grams sugar.

- 1/2 ground orange rind.

- 2 eggs.

- 100 grams butter.

- 350 grams semolina.

- 1 teaspoon baking soda.

- 2 teaspoon baking soda.

- 1/2 teaspoon mastika or anise.

- Almonds.

Ingredients for the Syrup:

- 400 grams sugar.

- 400 ml water.

- 1 cinnamon stick.

- 2 tablespoon lemon juice.

Method:

1- Mix semolina with sugar, baking soda, baking powder, ground orange rind, butter, yoghurt , eggs and anise or mastika.

Mastika is a tree resin or the liqueur made from that resin. It tastes like anise so you can use anise in case you don't find Mastika.

I made the cake with the liqueur of Mastika:

I found it in Madrid at this store where you can find other Bulgarian products: http://www.tiendabulgaraenmadrid.es

Mini mercado 4M Ezequiel Solana 78, Madrid

Mix well:

2- Mix until you have an homogeneous dough.

3- Put in an ovenproof recipient, make squares along the dough with the help of a knife, put an almond on top of every square.

4- Preheat oven at 170 º C cook for 30 minutes at the same temperature.

5- While the cake is cooking , lets make the syrup. Put in a casserole sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon. Put on a low heat and cook until all the sugar has been disolved. Then let it cool.

6- Once the cake is cooked, redo the squares on the cake, and pour litle by litle all the syrup over the cake.

7- You can consume it hot or cold, as you want. It is delicious!

Kleftiko from Cyprus

                                                                               Receta en Español 

Kleftiko is a lamb and vegetables stew ,very popular from Cyprus. The name of the dish dates from the revolution of Greece against the Ottoman Empire, there were greek guerrilla groups that lived and survive in the mountains, they were called the 'Klephts'. The name was given to them in the XV century and all their descendants have received this name until the XIX century. The meaning of 'Klephts' is thieves.

That name was due to their custom to eat stolen lamb meat, the meat was also called Kleftico, it is, stolen meat. They used to slow cook the meat in underground ovens to not be discovered by the smoke.

It became a traditional dish in the greek world. In Cyprus it is consumed whenever they have a party or big celebration.

The secret of the success of the dish is the slow cooking until the meat separates easily from the bone.

Ingredients:

- 1 lamb leg.
- 1 onion.
- 4 ripe tomatos.

- Potatos.

- 3 garlic cloves.

- 1/4 glass red wine.

- 1/4 glass olive oil.

- 1/4 glass tomato sauce.

- 1/4 glass lemon juice.

- oregano.

- Salt.

- Pepper.

Method:

1- Salt both sides of the lamb leg, make some cuts along the surface and then fill those cuts with garlic cloves that you have cut into slices. Put the lamb in an ovenproof recipient.

2-  Pour some wine, oil, tomato sauce and lemon juice over the lamb leg. 

3-  Cut tomato and onion into slices and place them next to the lamb leg.

4-  Cut potatos into slices and place them over the onion and tomato. Sprinkle some salt, pepper and oregano.

5-  Preheat oven at 180 º C , then place the lamb leg and cook at the same temperature for 1 hour and a half or 2 hours , until the meat separates easily from the bone.

The meat is juicy and delicious, an easy way to prepare a dish for every celebration.

You can also watch the recipe on my Youtube channel:

 

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Koupas from Cyprus

                                                                                Receta en Español

Koupas are a kind of 'croquettes' very typical from Cyprus and Greece. They are also known als Kibe or kibbeh at Libano, they are made using bulgur, it is, wheat that they let dry after cooked.

You can find bulgur in different sizes; whole, half grain or thin , you must use this last one to prepare the koupas.

The filling of the koupas is also very important, you must use ground pork or beef.

This recipe shows the influence of Middle East into the Greek and Cypriot cuisine, at the same time, is shows the culture of these countries because they use pork meat, something that Middle East people would not dare.

Ingredients for the dough:

- 300 grams bulgur.
- 525 ml water.

- 80 grams flour.

- Salt.

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper.

Ingredients for the filling:

- 400 grams ground pork or beef.

- Olive oil.

- 1 finely chopped onion.

- 2 tablespoon mint.

- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon.

- 1/2 teaspoon cumin.

- 2 tablespoon pine nuts.

- Salt.

- Black pepper.

- Parsley.

Method:

1- This is the  bulgur that we are gooing to use:

2- We first prepare the dough, put the bulgur and salt in a bowl, add flour, cinnamon and white pepper, mix well and add boiling water, stir and let stand for 2 hours until all the water has been absorbed. To let stand you should cover it with cling film.

3- For the filling, first toast pine nuts.

4- Chop the onion and sauté it.

5- Add the meat and stir well, then cook until the meat has changed its colour. Add pine nuts, parseley, mint, cumin, cinnamon, salt and black pepper. Stir well and cook for more few minutes.

6- Soak your hands in water to prevent the bulgur to stick to your hands, take some bulgur and put it on your hand palm, smash it:

7- Place a little portion of meat over the bulgur.

8- Take other portion of wheat to cover the meat, use your hands to help you to wrap all the meat, and make koupas the same shape you see at the following pictures:

9- Fry koupas in hot oil until they change its colour to slightly brown. Place them on paper towel to absorb the excess of oil.

10 - Serve them with some parseley.

Where to find the ingredients

You can find bulgur near Madrid mosque, at Antonio Calvo street. El Carmen metro station.

Cyprus

 

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Recipes from Cypruss that I cooked:

 

  Kleftiko

  Koupas

   Shamali 

Chipre in Internet

https://afroditeskitchen.com/

http://cyprusfortravellers.net/en/

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