My Yiayia's Tava
 
Preparation time
Cooking time
Total time
 
This is a traditional Cypriot dish that is delicious and simple to make using long-grained rice, lamb, potatoes, fresh tomatoes, and cumin. This meal will be loved by everyone. This recipe can easily be adapted for your kosher, veggie, or vegan friends and family.
Marissa:
Recipe type: Mains
Cuisine: Cypriot
Servings: 8
Ingredients
  • 5 medium potatoes peeled and sliced vertically into 1cm slices
  • 3 beef or large tomatoes sliced, 1½cm thick
  • 2 cups of long-grain rice, rinsed well
  • 1kg bone in lamb (shoulder, cut into 5cm cubes or 1 lamb breast cut into 10 cm dice), rinsed
  • 5 heaped teaspoons of whole cumin plus 1 extra teaspoon kept aside
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of tomato puree
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 2 cups of water and 2 more cups to top up
  • salt and white pepper to taste
  • +- 80g butter to grease your casserole dish, and the balance chopped
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
  2. In a 29-cm 4.7-litre cast iron oval casserole dish, generously butter the whole dish, including the sides, base, and lid, with the butter reserving the balance for the top of the dish.
  3. Slice the base of the potato off so that it will stand proud around the edges of the dish, but allow the lid to close.
  4. Measure the potatoes so that they sit just underneath where the lid will be.
  5. Line the base and edges of the casserole dish with the potatoes; make sure that they are placed vertically. Add the trimmed potato pieces to the bottom of the dish.
  6. In a large, deep bowl, mix the rice, lamb, 5 tablespoons of the whole cumin, salt, and pepper and set this aside.
  7. Add the meat, rice, and cumin mixture gently to the centre of the dish, ensuring the potatoes are still standing proud around the edges of the dish.
  8. Using a spoon, gently level out the meat and rice mixture.
  9. Now lay the tomatoes over the top of the tava in a single layer.
  10. In a jug, mix the tomato paste, stock, and 2 of the 4 cups of water and stir well.
  11. Gently pour the water over the meat and rice.
  12. You do not want to submerge the rice and meat mixture; you need it to sit an inch below the top of the rice and the meat.
  13. You can use your spoon to move the rice to one side to see the water level, if needed, add the remaining 2 cups of water to your tomato paste cumin jug and pour until you reach just under an inch of the top of the rice.
  14. Sprinkle the last teaspoon of cumin over the top of the tomatoes.
  15. Dot the top of the tava generously with the remaining butter.
  16. Bake for 1½–2 hours, then check that the potatoes are cooked by inserting a knife.
  17. If required, cook for another 15 minutes with the lid on until the potatoes have cooked through.
Tips
Rice differs all over the world, so check the instructions on your packet.
The rice I use requires me to double the quantity of water; yours may be different, so follow the instructions on your rice packet.
Recipe by Marissa's Recipes & Ideas at https://www.marissa.co/my-yiayias-tava-recipe-www-marissa-co/