Kurnik is a traditional Russian large pie with a variety of fillings. In the old days in Russia, kurnik was considered the king of pies, not a single festive table could do without it. You can use chicken, potatoes, mushrooms, pancakes and many other products as a filling for this pie.
The traditional kurnik recipe is a puff pastry pie with chicken flesh as minced meat. Also, ingredients such as potatoes, mushrooms, onions, cabbage and chicken eggs are perfectly combined with chicken.
Kurnik history
Since ancient times in Russia, all baked goods were considered ritual food and accompanied a person at all the most important moments of his life: birth, wedding, etc. A huge kurnik was presented on a towel and it was they who were sure to decorate any wedding feast.
Kurnik for the bride was baked in the groom's house, and the girls baked a cake for their lover. The male kurnik was decorated with dough figurines, which symbolized future family life. There were always flowers on the bride's cake, which were associated with purity and purity. It is the word "cake" that comes from the word "feast".
The traditional filling of this pie - chicken - was revered by the Slavs as a symbol of fertility. As a rule, puff pastry was used for kurnik, although pies were also baked on liquid and shortbread. According to testimonies, the favorite pie of Ivan the Terrible was kurnik.
Cooking chicken chicken
To prepare a classic chicken chicken, you will need.
For filling:
- chicken breast - 1 pc.;
- chicken legs - 2 pcs.;
- onions - 2 pcs.;
- 300 g champignons;
- potatoes - 4 pcs.;
- dill - 1 bunch;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
For the test:
- 500 g flour;
- 100 ml of milk;
- 75 g butter;
- 120 ml sour cream;
- 100 ml mayonnaise;
- 1 tsp soda;
- salt (to taste).
Defrost chicken legs and breast, rinse and leave to dry on a paper towel. If you have a whole chicken, then separate the legs and breasts, these are the parts you need to make the pie.
Remove all cartilage and bones from the legs and breast, chop well with a knife. You should not use a meat grinder and turn chicken into minced meat.
Cut the champignons into pieces, peel and chop the onions, rinse the dill and chop finely. Wash the potatoes, peel and cut first into rings, and then into small cubes.
In a separate bowl, combine all parts of the chicken filling: chicken fillet, vegetables, mushrooms and herbs. Then salt and pepper the filling for the pie and mix all the ingredients well to get a homogeneous minced meat.
Knead the chicken puff pastry: cut the butter into small cubes and grind it with wheat flour. Now you can add baking soda or baking powder to the dough, thanks to which the chicken in the oven will rise and turn into a very fluffy pie.
Add sour cream, mayonnaise, milk and salt to the dough, then knead the dough well with your hands. The dough should be elastic. Send it to us in the refrigerator for 30 minutes in a plastic bag.
After the indicated time, divide the dough into 2 parts and roll them into rectangular shapes. On a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil, put the first layer of dough, then evenly distribute the filling and cover with a second layer of puff pastry. The edges of the dough must be pinched in any way, and the middle of the cake must be pierced. Grease the top of the pie with egg yolk and send to the oven, preheated to 180 ° C for 40 minutes.
Kurnik turns out to be very tasty and satisfying, it will provide you with energy for a long time. You need to store the pie in the refrigerator. Even the next day, the chicken will not lose its taste, it can even be eaten cold.
