Koldūnai

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1egg
• about 220 ml warm water
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 1 tablespoonoil

Meat filling

• 400 gminced pork
• 200 gminced beef
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 2garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 1 teaspoonblack pepper
• 1 teaspoonmarjoram
• 3 tablespoonscold water

Mushroom filling

• 50 gdried porcini
• soaked and chopped
• 300 gfresh mushrooms, chopped
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• soured cream
• melted butter
• fried onion
• chopped dill
• or in a clear broth

Directions

1. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the middle of it. Beat the egg and pour it into it. Add the oil to the well as well. Add warm water gradually as you work. Bring it together into a firm dough. Knead it for a good ten minutes. It should become smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough and let it rest. Give it at least thirty minutes. Put both of the minces in a bowl.
2. Add the finely chopped onion to it. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Add the dried marjoram to it as well. Add the cold water a spoonful at a time. Work each spoonful in completely. The mixture should become soft and loose. Soak the dried porcini in hot water. Give them about thirty minutes. Lift them out and squeeze them. Chop the soaked mushrooms finely.
3. Strain the soaking water through cloth. Strain the water rather than pouring it all. Leave the last of it behind in the bowl. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the chopped onions to the pan. Cook them for a good eight minutes. Add all the chopped mushrooms. Fry them hard over a high heat. Add a little of the soaking liquid. Let it cook right away entirely. The filling should end up quite dry.
4. Season it and let it cool completely. Rolling the dough takes effort. Divide the dough into several pieces. Roll each out on a floured surface. Take it down to about two millimetres. Keep the offcuts covered as you work. Cut rounds about seven centimetres across.
5. Use a cutter or the rim of a glass. Filling them takes a light touch. Put a spoonful of filling on each round. Set it slightly off the centre. Do not overfill any one of them. Brush the edge lightly with water. Fold the round over into a half-moon. Press out all the trapped air. Press from the filling outwards to expel it. Press the curved edge firmly together.
6. Pinch small pleats along the curve. Setting them aside takes care. Put them on a well floured tray. Keep them apart from each other. Cover them loosely with a cloth. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Keep it barely moving throughout. Do not crowd the pot at any point. Lift them with a slotted spoon. Never pour them into a colander.
7. Set them all in a warm serving bowl. Serving them is always done hot. Toss them all in the melted butter. Scatter fried onion over the top. Add plenty of chopped fresh dill. Ladle a clear broth over them in bowls. They keep two days refrigerated. Boil them from frozen with three minutes more.

Technique

• Kucios, the Lithuanian Christmas Eve supper, is traditionally meatless with no meat and no dairy on the table, and mushroom koldunai are made for it; Lithuania has a long mushroom gathering tradition and dried forest mushrooms stored for winter are exactly what that table needed.
• Cold water is worked into the meat filling a spoonful at a time until it becomes soft and loose, which is what keeps it juicy in cooking; a tight filling shrinks and goes hard.
• Meat filling goes into the dumpling raw and needs three minutes after floating, while mushroom filling is already cooked and only needs the dough done, so two minutes is enough.

Substitutions

• A curd cheese filling is the third traditional option alongside meat and mushroom.
• Any strong dried mushroom stands in for porcini, with its strained soaking water kept.

Variations

• Vilnius makes the mushroom version for the Christmas Eve fast.
• They are served with butter and soured cream, or floated in a clear broth.
• Pierogi, pelmeni and kreplach are the neighbouring traditions.

History

Long eaten in the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Vilnius versions are filled with mushrooms during the Christmas Eve fast.

Frequently asked questions

What is Koldūnai?

Koldūnai is a main from Lithuania: boiled half-moon dumplings filled with meat or curd, served with sour cream. Long eaten in the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Vilnius versions are filled with mushrooms during the Christmas Eve fast.

How long does Koldūnai take to make?

Koldūnai takes 1 hour 30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Koldūnai?

Yes, within limits. A curd cheese filling is the third traditional option alongside meat and mushroom. Any strong dried mushroom stands in for porcini, with its strained soaking water kept.

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

Strain the soaking water through cloth. Strain the water rather than pouring it all. Leave the last of it behind in the bowl. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the chopped onions to the pan. Cook them for a good eight minutes. Add all the chopped mushrooms. Fry them hard over a high heat. Add a little of the soaking liquid. Let it cook right away entirely. The filling should end up quite dry.