Bichak

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 3 tbspvegetable oil
• 1egg, beaten
• 200 mlwarm water

Potato and herb filling

• 500 gfloury potatoes, boiled and roughly mashed
• 1onion, very finely chopped and softened in oil
• 1large handful coriander, chopped
• 3spring onions, chopped
• 1 tspground coriander
• ½ tspturmeric
• 1 tspchilli flakes
• 1½ tsp salt
• ½ tspblack pepper

Alternative meat filling

• 300 gminced lamb or beef, browned with 1 chopped onion, 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp salt

To fry

• 1 litrevegetable oil

To serve

• chaka or a green chutney of coriander, chilli and lemon

Directions

1. Rub the oil into the flour and salt with your fingertips, then work in the egg and enough warm water to make a firm, smooth dough; knead 8 minutes and rest it 30 minutes under a cloth.
2. Mash the potato while hot but leave some texture, then fold in the softened onion, herbs, spices and salt. Taste it: the filling must be strongly seasoned because the dough is plain.
3. Cool the filling completely. Warm filling steams inside the pastry and blows the seams open in the fryer.
4. Roll the dough out to 2 mm and cut 10 cm rounds; keep the offcuts under the cloth and reroll them once only.
5. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling slightly off centre on each round, brush the rim with water, and fold into a triangle by bringing three sides up to meet in the middle, pinching the three seams closed.
6. Press the seams firmly with a fork or crimp them with your fingers, and check every parcel for gaps.
7. Heat the oil to 170°C (350°F), testing with a scrap of dough that should rise and sizzle steadily rather than furiously.
8. Fry in batches of five for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until the pastry is blistered, deep gold and crisp, and the bubbling around them has slowed.
9. Drain on a rack, not paper, so the undersides stay crisp, and serve hot with chaka or green chutney and a glass of green tea.

Technique

• Bichak came into Afghanistan from Uzbek and Turkmen kitchens in the north, which is why the triangular fold matches Central Asian samsa rather than the Indian samosa.
• The dough is short from the oil and the egg, so it fries crisp rather than puffing into layers. Do not substitute puff pastry unless you want a different food.
• Oil temperature is everything: too cool and the turnovers drink fat, too hot and the dough colours before the filling heats through.

Substitutions

• The pumpkin filling, kadoo bichak, sweetened with a pinch of sugar and spiked with chilli, is just as traditional in Mazar-e-Sharif. Baked at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes they work too, though the texture is drier.

Variations

• Bichak-e gandana is filled with Afghan leek and chilli, the same filling used for ashak.
• In Uzbek Afghan homes the same parcels are baked on the wall of a tandoor and called samsa.

History

A Turkic pastry brought into northern Afghanistan by Uzbek and Turkmen communities; sold warm from Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul bakeries.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bichak?

Bichak is a snack from Afghanistan: small triangular turnovers filled with spiced potato, herbs or minced meat, fried crisp. A Turkic pastry brought into northern Afghanistan by Uzbek and Turkmen communities; sold warm from Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul bakeries.

How long does Bichak take to make?

Bichak takes 50 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 20 turnovers. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Bichak?

Yes, within limits. The pumpkin filling, kadoo bichak, sweetened with a pinch of sugar and spiked with chilli, is just as traditional in Mazar-e-Sharif. Baked at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes they work too, though the texture is drier.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bichak?

Mash the potato while hot but leave some texture, then fold in the softened onion, herbs, spices and salt. Taste it: the filling must be strongly seasoned because the dough is plain.