Pork marinated in red wine – Afelia

Afelia – A typical Cypriot pork dish

Afelia are one of my favourite Cypriot dishes growing up. I remember going to numerous taverns and this was always part of the menu. It was the first dish I would devour! 

The pork is marinated in red wine overnight and fried together with coriander seeds. The coriander seeds are lightly crushed so that they still remain quite coarse. And that smell while you are crushing the coriander… absolutely divine!

Wine and coriander is a typical combination in the Cypriot cuisine. Another dish for example are patates antinahtes. They are small potatoes fried whole and then shaken in the pot they are cooking in until they smash/crack. I have a different version of that on the blog, instead of fried i have the recipe for them baked. Check out the method here. 

Afelia are usually accompanied with fried potatoes or even kritharaki or pourkouri (bulgur pilaf). You could even add pieces of potatoes with the afelia and let them cook with the wine and coriander. 

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Marinated pork in red wine – Afelia

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

55 mins

Marinating

4 hrs

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Cypriot

Servings: 5

Author: Eleni Georges

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork shoulder or pork neck cut in 5-6cm chunks
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil or olive oil
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/3 cup coarsely crushed coriander seeds

Instructions

1. Place the pork in a bowl with the wine and salt, stir it all together and cover before placing it in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.

2. Use a strainer on top of a measuring jug or a bowl to strain the pork from the wine, allow it to strain for about 5min so that less liquid comes in contact with the hot oil when you fry it. You will need to keep one cup of the soaked wine for later.

3. Heat the oil on a medium-high heat and fry the pork on both sides, it usually takes about 20min. My frying pan (30cm) was big enough to do this all at once. If not then fry them in batches.

4. Once the pork is fried on all sides, reduce the heat to medium and add the pepper, ground and crushed coriander. Let them cook for 2-3min or until the coriander becomes aromatic. Add 1 cup of the reserved soaked wine and 1 - 1½ cup of warm water.

5. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and let it simmer for a further 30min or until most of the liquid has evaporated. You may choose to add more crushed coriander seeds and parsley before serving.