Kurnik is a traditional holiday cake that has been cooked in Russia for a long time. There were a wide variety of fillings in it - from chicken and meat to nuts and porridge. Often they made the pie flaky, and the more different fillings in it, the better. Kurnik with meat and potatoes is easy to prepare and is popular with many housewives.
You need
For the test:
- wheat flour - 2 glasses;
- kefir - 1 glass;
- creamy margarine - 125 g (half a pack);
- egg - 2 pcs;
- sugar - 1 tsp;
- soda - 0.5 tsp;
- salt - 0.5 tsp
For filling:
- meat - 400 g;
- medium potatoes - 4 pcs;
- medium onion - 3 pcs;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Dough preparation
In a deep bowl, combine kefir, which you remove from the refrigerator in advance and bring to room temperature or slightly heat, and soda. Add one egg, sugar, salt and whisk lightly. Melt the margarine in a water bath, sift the flour beforehand. Combine the margarine with the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Then gradually add flour and knead the dough. When it is thick enough, place it on a floured table and continue kneading with your hands until smooth, adding flour as needed.
Cover the finished dough with a towel and leave for half an hour. Such dough, wrapped in polyethylene, is well stored in the freezer, without changing its properties and taste. Whenever you feel like baking a pie, just take out the dough and defrost it.
Preparation of the filling
For the chicken, it is better to choose pork with layers of bacon, this will provide the cake with softness and juiciness. Depending on your taste, you can use beef or veal.
Cut the peeled potatoes into slices approximately 3-5 mm thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the meat into strips of the same thickness as potatoes. Chop the onion into not too thin half rings.
Making the cake
Preheat oven to 200C. Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil or melted margarine and lightly sprinkle with semolina (or flour). Divide the dough into two approximately equal parts. Roll out a medium-thick crust out of one so that it completely covers the baking dish.
Place the bottom layer of the pie in the baking pan, smooth the edges along the sides, it’s good if the dough will go a little beyond the baking pan. Then lay out the potato slices, lightly salt and pepper, then lay out half of the meat and half of the onion, then the remaining meat and onion, adding spices between the layers.
Roll out another crust, cover the top of the cake with it and pinch the edges to form a pigtail, connecting the bottom and top layers of the dough. In the egg, separate the yolk, beat it and grease the chicken on top. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 160 ° C and leave in the oven for another 40-50 minutes. Take out the finished cake and let it rest for a bit, so it will acquire an even richer taste.
