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Oh yes, back to Albania - and Tavë Kosi is a national dish in Albania. Homely and indulgent, it is what Albanians dream of when they are away from home (at least the few I spoke with anyway). When I first came across this dish, the eminence of yogurt intrigued me… Indeed, the dish literally translates to something like ‘soured milk casserole’. The idea of this yogurt rice lamb dish at first seems a little unusual to Brits, but in reality it is just a twist on the classic white sauce we all know and love. What makes this creamy topping different to a lasagne is two things - firstly the yogurt replacing the milk, which helps cut through the richness of the lamb beautifully, but also the egg. Adding eggs to your white sauce is how mousakka gets its fluffy moorish results; this sauce has a similar topping to that holiday favourite and if you get it right I’m sure you will love it as I do.
I am no expert on Albanian food, I am merely a great advocate of it after a lovely holiday there. From what I can tell, it doesn’t tend to have the onion added to the lamb - that’s my personal addition but I simply prefer it that way. And if you are thinking that this sounds similar to Elbassan Tava (which you may have had in Greece or Turkey), that’s because it comes from this same dish. Elbassan is a town in Albania to which the Greek and Turkish variants get their name. I usually serve this with Fasolakia - A tomato and green bean stew that I have come across on many Greek holidays.
A few notes:
When making the topping, you can use milk as you would in a normal white sauce, in this recipe the yogurt simply replaces the milk so if you prefer you can use a mixture of milk and yogurt, or simply use milk. It is less authentic this way but if you prefer it then go for it!
Water - If you change the quantity of servings, remember to use the amount of rice as a guide to the water quantity or you will get an overly soggy end result. For 1 cup of brown rice you want 2 1/2 cups of water (go slightly under if you want to be on the safe side).
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 1 1/4 hours
Cooking Time: 40 mins
Ingredients:
For the Lamb:
Lamb shoulder - 1kg, cut into large chunks
4 garlic cloves, grated
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup of brown rice
3 onions - sliced into thin strips
For the topping:
Butter - 75g
Plain flour -75g
Greek yoghurt - 500g
4 free-range eggs, beaten
Nutmeg - freshly grated
Method
In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil and butter over a medium high heat, brown the lamb in batches.
Using the lamb juices, fry the onions adding a dash of sugar to help bring out the sweetness. Add in the garlic for the final minute and when the onion is translucent and softer, add the lamb back to the pot.
Add in the oregano and 550ml of water. Bring the water to a simmer and with a lid on, continue to cook for 1 hour on a low heat or until the lamb is tender.
Stir in the rice, and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large oven proof dish ready to be topped by your enriched white sauce.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and make yourself a basic roux.
After cooking for a few minutes take it off the heat. Add the yogurt/whole milk and mix well, then return to the heat and cook gently for a couple of minutes to form a creamy white sauce.
Take it off the heat, add the eggs and stir in with some seasoning.
Pour the sauce over the lamb mixture (don't stir it in, though it is normal for it to sink and blend in with the lamb -fear not)
Top with nutmeg and place in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes - or until the top is golden (you may want to test the rice is fully cooked)
Serve with my favourite accompliment - Fasolakia - a green bean and tomato stew.