..who has been my friend since the age of one..! I have fought with her a number of times (over a pen, over my mum, over bloody nothing) just because we are such good friends that we are actually allowed to fight.
In any case, this friend of mine has in the last few years become a vegetarian therefore abandoning the great traditions of the Cypriot cuisine..Sad. I know. But I have not yet given up on her!
Today while at work I got an email from said friend asking me for the recipe to make Pouryouri and Afelia (Cous cous and pork with wine and coriander) - a very traditional Cypriot dish. She has decided to cook for her English boyfriend and to show off her Cypriotness through her culinary skills! Bravo I say! So of course I wrote down a detailed recipe for her (even though she cooked these dishes before but pretends to have forgotten in her new found vegetarian state).
I thought I would share the recipe on my blog since to me it is a great family recipe! There is a bit too much detail and it probably does not read very well but that is mainly because when I tell people recipes I retreat to my native language..just like I only know lawyer talk in English, i only know food talk in Greek..I apologise in advance and I will make every effort to ensure that it at least makes sense.
Pouryouri (for two)
To buy
- couscous (pouryouri)
- one tin of chopped tomatoes
- fides (this is a noodle used in Cypriot cooking which is basically very thin pasta, spagettini or other thin pasta can be used instead)
- olive oil
- chicken stock (I prefer Maggi chicken stock cubes but for vegetarians as my friend vegetable stock will also do and since we live in London where Maggi stock is not available, Knorr will have to do - Yes they taste different)
- Greek yogurt (obligatory accompaniment of pouryouri)
To do
- Use a medium sized pan and put in a bit of olive oil (just to cover the base) and heat it up (should take about 1 min)
- Throw in half a cup of fides or spaghetinni (which must first be broken into 1-2 cm long pieces either by hand or by putting in a plastic bag and smashing it)
- Stir until the fides becomes golden brown (not just whiteish)
- Once it turns golden brownish, remove from pan
- In the same pan, using the olive oil left in the pan to fry the chopped tomatoes until it mashes into a tomato puree
- then throw into the tomato puree one cup of cous cous, the fried fides, 3 cups of water and one stock cube.
- Keep stirring and checking that the pouryouri does not stick to the bottom of the pan
- Cook on low heat for twenty minutes or until all the water is absorbed
- Add cold water if water is absorbed before the cous cous is cooked (i.e. is not crunchy any more)
- Once done leave to stand for five minutes by covering pan with a napkin and closing with the lid of the pan on top.
Afelia (for two)
To buy..
- 400g of pork (two pork chops without the fat, or two pork steaks or even pork escalopes which in my opinion are the easiest to cook)
- red wine
- coriander seeds (the spice not the herb)
- (bay leaves)
To do
- wash the pork and cut into small cubes (3x3 cm)
- add two glasses of red wine, crushed coriander sees, 2 bay leaves and 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- cover with aluminium foil and leave in the fridge for an hour or for as long as it takes to make the pouryouri
- put a bit of olive oil in a medium sized pan and saute the meat (keeping the marinade on the side) until it is half cooked (until it turns slightly brown)
- then throw in the marinade and two more glasses of wine and a glass of water
- season to taste, and
- cook for half an hour or until the water,wine and marinade blends to become a thick gravy!
Accompany with a Greek salad, yogurt and good red wine ;)
So good luck to my friend the vegetarian as she goes back to her routes looking for love with her English boy..p.s. My dad who is the chef of the family always makes Afelia with mash potato instead of pouryouri. When we were kids he would make a hole in the middle of our mash and fill it up with the thick winey gravey!! Yumm!
