Chebureki! Quick and Easy Russian Food (Чебуреки) Version #1

Hi! I decided to show something a little different today: A Russian recipe! Food and cooking are a major part of my life, like it or not! :) Fortunately for me, I enjoy it most of the time. This will be called Version #1 because using all the same methods and just tweaking a little at the end, you can make a whole different meal!

One of my favorite past times were sitting at the kitchen table, watching my mother cook. She was always teaching, always showing. If you know Russian food (or even Uzbek food, where I was actually born) than you know it involves a lot of dough! Don't get scared! It seems like a long process but the beauty of cooking with dough is that break you get while the dough is rising. It always make me feel a little nostalgic when I make traditional Russian food and I want to give that memory to my children. When we were little, we always got a little piece of dough to play work with and that has always been such a fun memory!


Chebureki (airy-like flat bread filled with ground meat and onions) are very easy to make. You can make them for a lunch/brunch or as appetizers for a party. They are best eaten right away when they are still crispy from the frying pan but they are even good cold. (I would refrain from microwaving them because it makes them soggy)


Ingredients for Dough:
Flour (All purpose)
2 eggs
1 1/2 C Warm water
Salt


Meat Filling:
One pound ground Turkey
One pound ground Pork
Salt and black pepper
1 large onion, minced


Directions:
1. Mix the eggs with the salt and water. Add Flour. I dont have the exact amount but add by the cup full until the dough starts to form. It should be soft. It will be a little sticky still!


2. Knead a lot. Put it in a bowl and cover with plastic and let it rise half an hour. If it is still too sticky to work with, add more flour. If you do that, let it rise again another 20 minutes. 

3. While the dough is rising, make the meat filling. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. You can add a splash of warm water if it isn't mixing together well. Salt and pepper to taste. It may seem like a lot of onion but the more onion, the tastier!

 

 

4. Cut the dough is three parts. Take out one section and cover the rest so it doesn't dry out. Roll out in a long fat snake form. It should be around one inch thick and each chebureka should be 2 inches long. (this is approximate)

 

5. Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a oval/circle shape a little smaller than your hand. Don't make it too thin. Put about one kitchen tablespoon on one side. 

6. Spread out on half side

7. Fold the other side over and pinch or press around the crescent. 

Note the meat visible on the right side: this is bad! Try to keep it away from the edges because this causes oil to spray and juice to leak out of the pouches.

8. Pour oil of your choice to fill the bottom of a large frying pan. (I usually use canola oil). Make sure it heats very well before you put in your chebureki. It has to be hot. Fry at medium heat.

9. Fry each side for about 4-5 minutes. When you notice the other side browning (pictured above) you'll want to flip them. Make sure when you remove them that the meat has cooked all the way through. You may need to adjust your heat as all ranges don't cook the same. Also, be careful! Even if you fold them perfectly, they can still seep out juice which causes the oil to splatter! Wear an apron for this one!

 Look at that beautifully fried dough! Yumm!

10. Serve after they have cooled just a little. They are very juicy inside and it can drip- beware! :) We like ours with a dollop of sour cream.

I hope you enjoy this! Another plus to this recipe: It works two ways. I will be posting version #2 soon so keep any extra dough and meat filling left that you were too lazy BUSY to finish! :)

If you would like an exact amount of flour I will try another batch and measure to get that number! Half of my mothers recipes are exactly like this: everything is measured by eye. :) If you try this, I'd love to hear how it turned out and what you thought about it! Have a great Monday!