Omani Coffee

Submitted by Sharon123

"The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa. Posted for the North African Middle East (NAME) forum. Serving Omani coffee has certain traditions to be observed. Such rituals include that the cup should not be filled to the rim. It is rather served with only one fourth of the cup is filled, Also when the person have taken enough coffee he or she should shake his cup as a sign so that the one who is serving stop pouring more coffee for him."

 

• Ready In: 13mins
• Ingredients: 4
• Yields: 4 cups

ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1⁄3 cup of freshly ground coffee (I use decaf)
• 2 -4 tablespoons ground cardamom
• 4 whole cloves

directions

1. Preparing the Beans: Roast the ground beans in a thick skillet or pan over medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until they are a dark brown all over.

2. Making the coffee:

3. To boiling water, add the cardamom and ground coffee. Bring to boil again and then reduce the heat. Continue boiling for 3-4 minutes.
4. Remove from the stove and cover the pot. Allow to sit for another 3-4 minutes.
5. Put the whole cloves in the coffee thermos.
6. Strain the hot coffee into the coffee thermos. Allow to sit for ten minutes before serving. Avoid shaking the thermos, as some coffee grains and the cloves will settle to the bottom and you do not want to pour these grains into the coffee cups.
7. Sweeten to taste.
8. For the full experience, sit on the floor, serve in small cups and serve with dates which help offset the bitter taste.

Reviews

[Baby Kato]

I love coffee and I adore cardamom. This was perfect for me. The cloves are a nice pairing with the cardamom. The only change to your recipe was to add a little sugar. Thank you for sharing a recipe that I will enjoy again. Made for NA/ME Feb. Sun & Spice Event 2013.

 

[Annacia]

I have made this for the second (and this time correctly) time. I made just 1 cup for myself using 1.5 tsp cardamom, 1 clove and adding a sprinkle of Splenda. The cardamom is lovely giving the coffee and added warmth of flavor with the clove. The saying "Spice is Nice" is true and this is a very good example of that.