Stifado (beef and onion stew) with pourgouri

What is in the dish

The standard portion, before the app adjusts it to your calories.

How to make it

Serve stifado. Serve pourgouri pilaf on the side. Serve with salad and lemon.

The recipe for the whole pot: Stifado (beef and onion stew)

4 servings · 130 minutes

• Stewing beef (shoulder), cubed800 g
• Pearl onions for stifado, peeled800 g
• Dry red wine1 cup · 240 g
• Red wine vinegar½ cup · 120 g
• Olive oil4 tablespoons · 55 g
• Salt¾ teaspoon · 4 g

Seasoning: 5–6 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick

1. Heat half the oil in a large pan and sauté the pearl onions until lightly golden. Take them out onto a plate.
2. Add the rest of the oil and brown the meat on all sides, 8–10 minutes.
3. Add the wine and, as soon as it boils, add the vinegar, the salt, the spices and the onions.
4. Add just enough water to cover the meat, cover and simmer for 1½–2 hours, until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.

Alcohol: about 20% remains (USDA R6, 1½ hours).

This recipe is based on: Traditional Dishes of Cyprus, Press and Information Office, PIO 31/2026, p. 34: Stifádo · Flavours of Cyprus, Cyprus Tourism Organisation, 2015

The recipe for the whole pot: Pourgouri (bulgur wheat) pilaf

8 servings · 30 minutes

• Olive oil4 tablespoons · 55 g
• Onion1 small · 80 g
• Vermicelli, broken½ cup · 50 g
• Ripe tomatoes, finely chopped2–3 · 500 g
• Tomato purée3 tablespoons · 50 g
• Coarse pourgouri (bulgur wheat)2 cups · 360 g
• Salt¾ teaspoon · 4 g

Seasoning: pepper, a little lemon at the end (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion for 5–6 minutes, until it starts to brown.
2. Add the vermicelli and stir for 2 minutes, until it takes on colour.
3. Add the tomatoes and the tomato purée and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add 2½ cups (600 ml) of water and, as soon as it boils, the pourgouri and the salt.
5. Cover and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed.
6. Leave it covered for 5 minutes and fluff it up with a fork before serving.

As a side dish it makes 8 servings.

This recipe is based on: Traditional Dishes of Cyprus, Press and Information Office, PIO 31/2026, p. 16: Pourkoúri · Flavours of Cyprus, Cyprus Tourism Organisation, 2015