Albania / Main
Tavë kosi
Lamb baked under a thick yoghurt custard with egg and rice. Albania's national dish.
Ingredients
- Lamb, in pieces1 kg
- Thick yoghurt800 ml
- Eggs4
- Flour60 g
- Rice80 g
- Butter80 g
- Garlic5 cloves
- Dried oregano1 tbsp
- Salt and pepperto taste
Quantities are auto-calculated from the original recipe as a guide. Items without numbers (e.g. “to taste”) are not changed.
Method 7 steps
Rub the lamb with salt, pepper, garlic and oregano and roast it at 190 °C for forty minutes, dotted with butter.
Parboil the rice for seven minutes and drain it.
Melt the remaining butter, stir in the flour and cook two minutes to a nutty smell.
Whisk the yoghurt with the eggs and salt, add the flour mixture and beat until completely smooth.
Stir in the rice. It takes up some of the moisture and keeps the custard from splitting.
Arrange the meat and its juices in a dish and pour the yoghurt mixture over.
Bake at 180 °C for forty-five minutes, until the top colours and the centre still trembles slightly.
