Albanian recipe
How to make Baked lamb with yogurt
tavë kosi
Elbasan, in central Albania
Pieces of lamb and a little rice baked under a thick layer of yogurt beaten with eggs, butter and flour, which sets into a golden, slightly tangy crust. It is seen as one of Albania's national dishes.
Ingredients
- 700 g lamb on the bone (shoulder or leg), cut in serving pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, salt and black pepper
- 50 g rice and 150 ml hot meat or chicken stock
- For the topping: 1 litre thick plain yogurt, 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons plain flour and 80 g butter
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C. Rub the lamb with the oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and lay it in a baking dish.
- Bake for about 1 hour, basting now and then with the juices, until the meat is tender.
- Scatter the rice around the meat, pour in the hot stock and bake for 15 minutes more.
- Meanwhile melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then let it cool a little. Whisk the yogurt with a pinch of salt, beat in the eggs one at a time, then whisk in the butter and flour.
- Pour the yogurt mixture over the meat and rice and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is set and golden in places. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
In Turkey, Greece and North Macedonia the dish is often called Elbasan tava, after the city it is thought to come from.
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