Koulouri is a sesame crusted bread ring from Greece. It is a street food sold by the vendors in Athens. Apparently it is a common snack for both Greeks and Turks and is believed to have been brought to Greece by Greek refugees from Asia Minor and Constantinople(Istanbul). In Turkey they go by the name of Simit or Susam kebabi meaning Sesame kebab. Though a derivative of the Turk Simit, the Politiko Simiti is quite distict from it. It is braided and given a generous coating of petimezi(Greek grape must syrup or grape molasses) before being rolled in sesame seeds and baked. The braiding lends a bagel-type texture to the Koulouri and the grape molasses gives it a mild sweetness, thereby making it a popular breakfast bread or teatime snack for the Greeks.
Last month Priya Suresh of Priya's Versatile Recipes challenged the members of Gayathri's Baking Eggless Group to bake an eggless version of these braided bread rings. The original recipe uses only one large egg, which wasn't much of a challenge to deal with. I simply replaced it with ¼ cup Greek yogurt. The real challenge however was to make the grape must syrup. Most recipes called for petimezi called for grape juice and wood ash. Now we do not have a fireplace or barbeque grill and I did not know where to get the wood ash from.. so after some considerations I decided to simply simmer the grape juice and make a syrup. I am not sure if the thickened grape syrup tasted anything like petimezi, but it was really good... Having said that I must add that though the grape syrup was great by itself, one could barely taste it in the bun. So unless you are in the mood for it, do not sweat it out. Simply substitute the syrup with an equal measure of honey and you are good to go....
But... in case you want to make the grape syrup my way here is how you can do it. For 2 cups of grape syrup, blend 5 cups of red grapes, strain the juice into a large saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the juice to a boil, skim off the foam that rises on top and simmer over medium low heat for the next 1½ to 2 hours, until the juice thickens and acquires the consistency of honey. This syrup can be used as a dipping syrup for the bread or served as a sauce with savory snacks. It also tastes good when served over Greek Yogurt or Frozen yogurt.
But... in case you want to make the grape syrup my way here is how you can do it. For 2 cups of grape syrup, blend 5 cups of red grapes, strain the juice into a large saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the juice to a boil, skim off the foam that rises on top and simmer over medium low heat for the next 1½ to 2 hours, until the juice thickens and acquires the consistency of honey. This syrup can be used as a dipping syrup for the bread or served as a sauce with savory snacks. It also tastes good when served over Greek Yogurt or Frozen yogurt.
