Kibinai

Ingredients

Pastry

• 500 gplain flour
• 200 gcold butter
• 150 mlsour cream
• 1egg
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspvinegar

Filling

• 500 gmutton or lamb, hand-chopped
• 3onions, finely chopped
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 100 mllamb stock or water
• 50 gmutton fat, diced

To finish

• 1egg, beaten

To serve

• clear broth

Directions

1. Rub the cold butter into the flour and salt, then bind with the sour cream, egg and vinegar into a soft dough.
2. Chill it for at least an hour.
3. Chop the meat by hand into small pieces rather than mincing it.
4. Hand-chopped meat is the mark of a real kibinas. Mince packs into a dense paste, while chopped pieces stay separate and the juices run between them.
5. Mix the meat with the onion, salt, pepper and the diced fat, and stir in the stock.
6. Use as much onion as looks excessive, close to the weight of the meat.
7. The onion is not a background note. It cooks down into the meat juices and is most of what makes the filling wet and sweet.
8. The added fat and stock are what create the broth inside, which is the whole reason kibinai are eaten carefully.
9. Roll the pastry out to about 3 mm and cut rounds of about 14 cm.
10. Put a generous spoonful of filling on one half of each round.
11. Fold the pastry over into a half-moon and press the edge closed firmly.
12. Now the crimp. Fold the sealed edge over on itself in small overlapping pleats along the whole curve, pinching as you go.
13. That rope crimp is structural as much as decorative. It is what holds the seam shut against the pressure of the broth building inside.
14. Set them on a lined tray and brush with beaten egg.
15. Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 15 minutes, then drop to 180°C (355°F) for a further 20 minutes.
16. Hot first to set the pastry, then lower so the meat cooks through without the crust burning.
17. Let them stand 5 minutes before eating.
18. Bite a small hole in the end first and drink the broth, or it runs down your arm. This is standard advice and it is offered seriously.
19. Serve hot, traditionally with a cup of clear meat broth alongside.
20. They are the food of the Lithuanian Karaim, a Turkic community brought to Trakai in the fourteenth century, and Trakai is still where people go to eat them.

Technique

• Mutton is traditional and gives a much stronger flavour than lamb.
• The Karaim community in Lithuania is very small, and kibinai are its best-known contribution to the country’s food.
• They are sold from a row of cafés along the lake at Trakai, opposite the castle.

Substitutions

• Beef, or a beef and lamb mix.
• Shortcrust or even puff pastry, which is a real compromise.

Variations

• With chicken, which is common now.
• Vegetarian, with mushroom and onion.
• Made small, as an appetiser.

History

Baked meat pastries brought by the Karaim, a Turkic community settled at Trakai by Grand Duke Vytautas around 1397, who still run cafés there.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kibinai?

Kibinai is a snack from Lithuania: karaite crescent pies of mutton and onion, from Trakai. Baked meat pastries brought by the Karaim, a Turkic community settled at Trakai by Grand Duke Vytautas around 1397, who still run cafés there.

How long does Kibinai take to make?

Kibinai takes 45 min plus 1 hr chilling of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 12. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kibinai?

Yes, within limits. Beef, or a beef and lamb mix. Shortcrust or even puff pastry, which is a real compromise.

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

Chop the meat by hand into small pieces rather than mincing it.