Kavarma is the Bulgarian clay-pot stew: pork or chicken slow-cooked with onions, peppers, tomato and paprika until the meat falls from the bone.

The dish takes its name from the Turkish kavurma (roasted meat), reflecting Ottoman influence on Bulgarian kitchens. Bulgarian villages each have a personal recipe; the clay pot (gyuvech) holds the heat and concentrates the sauce into a thick, paprika-stained gravy. In Plovdiv tavernas the pot arrives bubbling at the table with bread for mopping and a glass of mavrud red wine.

Where to eat Kavarma in Plovdiv

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Make it at home

Serves 42 hrEasy

Ingredients

  • 800g pork shoulder, cut into 3 cm cubes
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 2 red peppers, sliced
  • 200g mushrooms, halved
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon sweet Bulgarian paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried savory (chubritsa)
  • 200ml white wine
  • Sunflower oil, salt, pepper

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
  2. Brown the pork in oil in a heavy pan over high heat, working in batches. Transfer to a clay pot or oven dish.
  3. Cook onions in the same pan until soft. Add peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in tomato paste, paprika and savory. Pour in the wine and let it reduce by half.
  5. Pour the vegetables over the pork in the clay pot. Cover.
  6. Bake for 90 minutes until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.
  7. Rest 10 minutes. Serve with crusty bread and a glass of Mavrud.

Editor tip. If you don't have a clay pot, a Dutch oven works fine. Add a beaten egg over the top for the last 10 minutes if you want a traditional Bulgarian skin.