Chebureki is a traditional North Caucasian dish, a large "crescent" made of unleavened dough filled with minced meat, onions and spicy herbs. Traditionally, pasties are stuffed with lamb, but there are recipes with pork as well. Then the formed pies are fried until golden brown in sunflower oil or lamb fat. Chebureks must be served hot to the table.
Homemade pasties from vodka dough
Ingredients:
- 2 cups wheat flour;
- 1 1/3 cups warm drinking water
- 1 chicken egg;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of sunflower oil;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vodka;
- 1 teaspoon of salt.
- 300 g of lamb or pork;
- 3-4 white onions;
- 50 g of fatty kefir;
- salt, freshly ground black pepper;
- fresh dill.
vegetable oil for deep fat
Cooking step by step:
1. Prepare the dough by pouring water into a saucepan, add salt and add vegetable oil. Stir, put on the stove and bring to a boil. As soon as the water boils, immediately add half a glass of wheat flour and stir vigorously. Be sure to get rid of any lumps while mixing. Leave the flour mixture in the saucepan for a while to cool.
2. Then beat the chicken egg into the flour base and pour in the vodka. Move and gradually add all the rest of the flour. Knead a dough that is very plastic in consistency. Collect it in a ball, then cover the pot with a clean cotton towel. Leave the pot under the towel for half an hour - the dough takes time to steep before baking.
3. Prepare the filling by rinsing and cutting the meat. Peel and chop the onion. Place the pieces of pork or lamb along with the onions in a meat grinder or food processor and mince. Add salt, freshly ground black pepper and kefir, stir the mixture. Rinse a bunch of dill under running water, shake off the drops and pat dry with paper towels. Chop the herbs and add to the meat filling.
4. Place the pastry dough on a floured work surface. Roll out a little and divide into small portions. Roll each blank additionally in the form of a round cake a couple of millimeters thick. Place the meat filling on each tortilla and distribute evenly, leaving just a little dough around the edges to seal. Then fold the halves to make a crescent moon. Press down with your hand and squeeze out the air. Firmly align the edges of the cake with each other and press with a fork (preferably with wide teeth), you can also use a special knife.
5. Pour the sunflower oil into a thick-bottomed frying pan so that the layer is at least 2-3 cm high. Put the container on the fire and heat the oil well. Before baking, first place a small piece of pastry dough in deep fat, fry and remove with a slotted spoon. Then move on to preparing stuffed blanks. Dip the pasties in deep fat in portions and fry first on one side and then on the other until a beautiful golden brown color. Stove fire is moderate.
6. Remove the finished pasties from the deep fat with special metal tongs and put on a dish covered with paper towels. Wait a little for the excess oil from the pasties to be absorbed into the towels. And then serve immediately until the pasties have cooled down.
Little tricks of cooking pasties
Why do you need vodka in the pastry for pasties? It is believed that vodka plays the role of a baking powder, but there is also an opinion that it is allegedly thanks to this component that such characteristic bubbles are obtained on the surface of the pasties. In fact, for the appearance of "bubbling", it is enough just to warm up the deep fat well.
What spices are suitable for pasties? In addition to salt and black pepper, you can also add allspice to the filling for pasties, and instead of dill - parsley or cilantro.
What is needed to make the filling for pasties juicy? The secret here is to add enough onions. You can also add a little rich meat broth to the minced meat.
To prevent the cheburek from falling apart during frying, for reliability, you can bend the corners of each "crescent", and then additionally press them with a fork.
