How to make trahana from scratch at home
Do you want to make trahana from scratch? Easy!! Read along as I answer as many questions as you may have in relation to the process. If you still have questions please leave a comment or email me 🙂
Trahana is a type of sour soup commonly eaten in Cyprus and Greece, made from kibbled wheat and fermented goat’s or sheep’s milk traditionally. However making the actual wheat pieces at home can be done easily using natural pot set yoghurt as well.
I have completed a number of different recipe testings using four kinds of yoghurt but also using bulgur and not just kibbled wheat. Depending on what is accessible to you where you live, YOU can also make trahana from scratch!
To make trahana from scratch the process is simple! Let the yoghurt ferment, become sour, by leaving it outside the fridge on your kitchen bench. It should be away from direct sunlight at room temperature ~25°C. Then you slowly boil the yoghurt with the wheat, stirring constantly until the yoghurt is absorbed. At which time you simply take it off the heat and your’re done. That’s it!!
Bulgur or Kibbled wheat
Typically trahanas is made using cracked wheat (although I’ve also seen recipes using flour and semolina) and that can be either bulgur or kibbled wheat. However kibbled wheat is traditionally used. The two key differences between them are:
- Bulgur comes from preboiled wheat berries, whereas the later doesn’t.
- Bulgur can be found in 4 size packs (fine, medium, coarse or very coarse), whereas the kibbled wheat has varying sizes in the one pack depending on how the wheat was crushed.
When I first started making trahana I couldn’t find kibbled wheat so I used both the medium and coarse bulgur to make it. Which one you choose to use depends on your individual taste. If you prefer a smoother texture, when eating the soup, then you might choose the medium bulgur.
Type of yoghurt used
To make trahana from scratch it is a lot easier to work with yoghurt than milk as there is a bit more involved with the milk. It is important to note that you must use pasteurized natural pot set yoghurt, which also includes live cultures. As mentioned already, traditionally goat’s or sheep’s milk/yoghurt is used.
I have used goat’s, sheep’s and cow’s yoghurt and I managed to make each of them work to produce a sour trahana. Below is a quick overview of the brands/type of yoghurts I used:
- For the goat’s and sheep’s yoghurt I used the one available from Meredith’s dairy, which is not widely accessible but you can contact them to ask for locations. I get mine from LaManna Supermarket in Essendon or The Village Store in Yaraville.
- For the cow’s yoghurt I opted for the Procal natural pot set yoghurt, which I got from LaManna Supermarket also. As of currently they the yoghurt is available in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. You can contact them directly for more product locations.
- If you are in the state of Victoria (Australia) you can also find a type of cow’s yoghurt that it is made to be sour/tangy to begin with. It is the Sahara Persian natural pot set yoghurt, which you can find at Woolworths and a lot of other independent stores.
Sour or sweet trahana
To make sour trahana it is best you leave the yoghurt out of the fridge to ferment for at least a week. One of my aunties actually leaves it out for two weeks. The less time you leave the yoghurt out the sweeter it will be.
Another suggestion I got from another aunty, to produce a sourer trahana, is the addition of lemon juice. She usually leaves her yoghurt out of the fridge for 5 days. Then in the process of adding the wheat into the yoghurt she slowly adds 1/3 cup lemon juice to every 1kg of yoghurt used. That worked really well for me too when I used the Meredith’s and Procal yoghurts to get an even more tangy flavour, after a week of fermentation. But the addition of lemon was not necessary for the Sahara Persian style yoghurt.
Ways of storing of the trahana
When making trahana from scratch you have two options of storing it, you can either let it air dry completely in the sun or you can freeze it fresh.
I have tried both ways but for reasons out of my control drying is not always successful! If you have ever been to Melbourne in Australia, you would know that the weather here is anything but reliable. Although I tend to make the trahana during the summer time there is no guarantee that the weather will be hot enough for the trahana to dry up completely.
Hence freezing is my most used method. Plus it means I can easily make trahana all year round! To tell you the truth, I much prefer it when I freeze the trahana anyway as the soup turns out so much creamier! And it is less of a hassle than finding the space to lay out all the trahana you make to sun dry and keeping an eye on it for days.
Drying out the trahana
However if you do choose to air dry it, find a netting that you can lie the trahana on free standing. That way the air can also reach the bottom of the trahana and the moisture will be completely drawn out. Depending on how hot it is, you may need to turn the trahana over several times in the day over a week. The pictures above are from when I used my father’s in laws nets to try and dry a batch of trahana.
When you store it dried ensure that the container is well sealed. Some people also like to add bay leaf and unpeeled garlic cloves in the containers to avoid any microbe growth. Nonetheless, be aware that homemade dried trahana doesn’t last too long. Hence, another way to make it last longer is to store the dry trahana in the fridge or freezer as well. Check out my recipe here on how to use the frozen trahana pieces to make the soup.
Click here for more soup ideas like the Greek lemon and egg soup (Avgolemoni), Split peas soup (Louvana) or Greek lentil soup (Soupa faki).
- 1 kg of pasteurized natural pot set yoghurt, see notes1
- 1 ½ tbs salt
- 400 g kibbled wheat, cleaned of any impurities, see notes 2
- 1/3 cup lemon juice, see notes 3
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The first step is to allow the yoghurt to ferment for a week. Let the bucket of yoghurt rest at room temperature (outside of the fridge) with no direct sunlight hitting it. I tend to leave it inside the house on the kitchen bench. Once you open the bucket of yoghurt you’ll notice that the yoghurt would have curdled, which is what is supposed to happen. So don’t panic!
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After the week has passed, use a large pot to softly bring the yoghurt with the salt to a soft boil. Lower the heat and add the wheat, while stirring until everything is well combined. At this point pour the lemon juice slowly into the mixture, only if you need to. Please read the blog above before pouring the lemon juice. It is all dependent on the type of yoghurt you use and the way you like to eat trahana.
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Continue to stir regularly until the liquid is absorbed. This may take anywhere between 15-20min. You will know the mixture is ready to be taken off the heat if you add a wooden spoon standing in the middle of the pot and doesn’t fall to the side.
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Once you take the pot off the heat cover it with a towel followed by the lid. Set aside for 3-4 hours until it cools down.
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Then grab some of the mixture and roll it into long flattened logs using your hands. If the mixture is too dry use a bit of milk or water on your hands to help you roll it. I formed 12 logs each weighing 100g. That will then assist you when making the actual soup to know how much to use each time (see notes 4).
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Freeze the trahana logs in sealed freezer bags to use when you need. Read more about the storage options in the blog post above. A recipe of how to make the soup using this homemade trahana is linked here!
1. Traditionally goat’s or sheep’s yoghurt is used but you can make it with cow’s yoghurt if the first two are not accessible. Check the start of the blog under the heading “Type of yoghurt used” for more details.
2. You can substitute the kibbled wheat with medium/coarse bulgur depending on what you can source. Check the start of the blog under the heading “Bulgur or Kibbled wheat” for more details.
3. For a more sour soup you add lemon juice into the goat’s/sheep’s and normal cow’s yoghurt. It gives it an even more tangy flavour in comparison to the mixture without lemon juice. Although the yoghurt was fermenting for a week. This was the case with the Procal and goat’s/sheep yoghurt. But if you choose to use the Sahara Persian natural pot set, I found that the lemon juice was not necessary.
4. The amount of trahana you make using 1kg of yoghurt is enough to then make the actual soup twice for four people, based on my calculations and methods. Hence if you want to enjoy this soup more than twice then you should at least double the amount of this recipe.
Hi,
I’m looking after my elderly mum during my sister’s break and I didn’t want to trouble her with how to make this Trahana so thank you.
BTW I am the world’s worst cook 😆 but your instructions made it so easy to prepare this for my mum.
I do have a question though and please excuse my ignorance..
My sister’s trahana is yellow and mine turned out a whitish colour. Do you know how she makes it yellow? I have a feeling she may add semolina and or Pumpkin to the mix?
Thank you again for your wonderful recipe.
Hi Eleni,
I am in the UK and decided to try out your trahanas recipe (frozen) I used sheep’s milk yoghurt left for 5 days with added lemon during cooking and I used course bulgar. Just cooked them up this evening and they were delicious. Recipe was easy to follow and loved the ease of freezing the trahanas. Tasted just like yiayia used to make.
Thanks you so much !
Hello! That is superb!! So glad to hear it. Thanks for giving it a go 🙂
Just about to make my batch of trahana and this will be the second year I’ve used your recipe (using Meredith Dairy).
It’s a favourite in our home and when I ran out I turn to the bought variety. I love the goaty flavour!
My preference for storing is the food dryer, then vac seal.
Thank you very much. 😁
This made me smile! Really glad your family enjoys it. Made a big batch myself a few weeks ago. A food dryer is definitely handy in this case!
Made the second batch (2 x recipe), but using steel cut oats. The local shops only had fine bulgur, so I opted for the oats as a change. Not sure if that’s sacrilege, but it worked last year. 😁😋
Oh my! Have never seen that used before! Would love to see a photo of the end result next time you make it.
I make my trachana in a different way I start with one litre of full fat milk 500gr of good quality Greek yogurt and two table spoons of salt . I leave all the ingredients to rest for two days and every second day I add one litre of milk and more yogurt. I add as much as of how much trachana I want to do .Usually I male 10 litre s of milk and 1500gr of yogurt.Then I leave my trachana fermented for 3/4 days or longer if you like it sour lwithout adding anything else .The longer to leave it it becomes more sour .I prefer fine to medium Kibbled wheat too.This recipe it’s been given to me by a very special Cypriot lady named Thalia.
Hi Helena! Thanks so much for all these notes! Yes my aunties in Cyprus do it in a similar way with the salt and milk but this way is more like a “hack” i guess. Definitely a lot easier also 🙂 Love when people around us share their recipes!
I’ve made this twice since seeing this easy and wonderful recipe on your blog. My kids remember and love their yaya’s Trahana but I was nervous about making it as I thought it would be difficult. Well my kids think it’s so much like their Yaya’s so I’ll definitely be making this for many years to come. Thanks Eleni x
Valentina, I can’t tell you how thankful i am for your feedback! Makes me so happy to read that it was so well received by the family. Thank you for making it.
The “trahanitsa” was mentioned in and old Bulgarian historical book from 19th century witch I am reading currently. And here I am. Related to the story of the book – when the “trahanitsa” was mentioned it was made by a cowherd living deep into the mountain. Now I understand why – because of the simple ingredients – the yoghurt, salt and the wheat. I found a recipe in my native language, but I am very happy because here everything is explain way better. I’ll definitely will try to make it soon, have a great 2021 to everybody…
Hi Boris, thank you very much for sharing. I didn’t know it was a dish also known in those parts of the world. Happy New Year!
We have an ancient wheat grinder,my husband grinds it for me. Start off with a pot of yoghurt and milk then add more milk every 2nd or 3rd day for about 2weeks then let it ferment on the kitchen bench.Add the wheat and some lemon juice cook until it thickens and allow to cool.pack in plastic bags,flatten and freeze. Lovely and creamy
That sounds great! I can just imagine the texture you get in the end.
Eleni’s thank you so much for sharing yr recipe . I am not Cypriot, I am from Lesvos. I have many Cypriot friends. Yr trahana is exactly how trahana tasted when my grandmother made it. I yearned for that soup, and this morning I made it and ate the whole pot.
It was delicous and so easy to make and freezing is great!
Thank you so very much. God bless!
Sophie, I am very grateful for your feedback and glad you enjoyed it that much.
I’m not a great cook by any means but I remembered your post on Facebook & thought I’d try it as it looked pretty easy & with this cold weather it would be a treat. Well I’m so glad I did & I’m now inspired to try more of your recipes especially the Cypriot food which sadly my mum cannot teach me as she has Alzheimer’s. Thank goodness I have some of her recipes saved from way back. Thank you for the easy to follow steps & fantastic taste! Keep up the great work, your mum would be very, very proud of you!
Penny, your feedback means the world to me! Thank you so much! Yes this recipe is not as intimidating to do as the majority of people think. I’m very thankful that you gave it a go and happy you enjoyed it!
My ex mother in law is Cypriot and I have been asking for her recipe for years. You make it exactly as I remember she did ….thank you
What a treat
Thanks Tamzin! I’m so glad you gave it a go and that you enjoyed the flavours!
Hi I am in the process of doing my yoghurt. So I have not made it yet. But before I make and freeze it( can I dehydrate it in the air fryer? ) I’m from the Uk so can’t dry it out in the sun.
My jaw dropped when i read you mention Yarraville/LaManna.! I’m a local! Happy to have stumbled across this website, I spend a lot of time trying to find traditional Cypriot recipes. Look forward to exploring this site!
This means so much! Thank you and i’m glad you came across the blog 🙂 Happy exploring!
Hi ! My name is Liriana. Your recipe was wonderful! Just wondering, I am A New Yorker now living in Netherlands . I’m Albanian As well, and just received information on this wonderful cuisine from my husband. My husband and I were looking into moving to Australia after a few years of business here. Hi from the Netherlands and I’d love to hear about your experience in Australia! 🙂 thank you for this lovely recipe. All the best!
I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for living your feedback here. Australia is great! Welcoming with a lot of opportunities if you are able to work (depending on visas). Good luck!