COPPERKama recipe
A cold cream of kamajahu, the Estonian flour of roasted barley, rye, oats and peas, which is already cooked and therefore never heated again.
Ingredients
- 100 g kama flour
- 400 ml kefir
- 100 g sour cream
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 150 g fresh berries
- 1 pinch salt
How to make Kama
- Kama flour is not plain flour: it is barley, rye, oats and dried yellow peas roasted whole, then milled. Buy kamajahu, or roast 100 g of each in a dry pan or at 180 °C until deeply brown and nutty, then grind them fine.
- Pour 400 ml cold kefir into a bowl and whisk in 100 g kama flour a spoonful at a time, or it will lump instantly.
- Add 2 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt and whisk until completely smooth.
- Fold in 100 g sour cream for the classic kamavaht texture, thick enough to hold a spoon upright.
- Chill 30 minutes: the roasted flour swells and the mixture sets into a spoonable cream. Do not cook it, the grain is already roasted.
- Serve cold, topped with 150 g fresh berries and a drizzle of honey.
What is Kama?
Kama is a traditional dish from Estonia, roasted, and takes about 40 minutes from start to finish. It is built around kefir, fresh berries and kama flour. The recipe below uses 7 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Kama take?
At 40 minutes it is quicker than 89% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 3 dishes built on kefir. The method runs to 6 steps, the longest being 30 minutes.
Any tips for making Kama?
Whisk the kama flour into the cold kefir a spoonful at a time, or it lumps instantly, and never cook it: the grain is already roasted.
How Kama compares
Hard to find elsewhere: kama flour (1), fresh berries (1) and kefir (3).
Cooked with the same thing elsewhere
Other traditional dishes built on kefir, from other countries.
- Saltibarsciai 🇱🇹 Lithuania
- Grey peas and ham 🇱🇻 Latvia
Copper documents Estonia alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.