Souppa Trakhanas - Trahana Soup

Description
Trahana is considered the traditional soup of Cyprus. It is made by villagers when they have a lot of extra milk on hand. The trahana itself is a combination of wheat and sour milk that has been boiled in a cauldron to a gruel like paste and then set out to dry. Once dry, it is cut into pellets that can be stored for future use. It is also factory made and can be bought commerically in grocery stores. The soup has a delightful sour vibe to it and can be finished off with a bit of fresh lemon juice. With a crusty loaf of bread, it is a meal in itself.

Ingredients

 * 200g trakhana
 * 1.5ltr stock (meat, Chicken or vegetarian)
 * Juice of 1 Lemon
 * 125g Halloumi cut in small cubes
 * Pepper and salt to taste

Directions
Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 30–45 minutes, stirring from time to time. Do not cover the            saucepan as it might boil over. Add more water if you think the soup is too thick and cook for a few minutes extra.
 * 1) Place the trakhana and the stock in a medium sized pan and cover it with water. Let it soak for few hours. It should soak up all the water.
 * 2) (To speed up the process you can cover it with hot water and when it is partially soft put it in a blender)
 * 3) Bring the pan to the boil over a high heat, stirring all the time.
 * 4) Add the lemon juice.
 * 1) Five minutes before you turn the heat off add the Halloumi.
 * 2) Gently stir until you take the soup off of the cooker.
 * 3) Add the peppar and salt to taste (it depends how salty the halloumi is) and more lemon juice if needed.
 * 4) Serve hot with boiled Chicken or on it’s own with paximathia (Greek crispbread)