Belyash

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 7 ginstant yeast
• 1 tbspsugar
• 1½ tsp salt
• 250 mlwarm milk or water
• 1egg
• 3 tbspsunflower oil

Filling

• 400 gminced beef or lamb, or a mixture
• 2onions, grated
• 3 tbspcold beef stock
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• ½ tspground cumin

To fry

• 700 mlsunflower oil or rendered fat

To serve

• sorpa or hot black tea

Directions

1. Make a soft dough from the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, warm milk, egg and oil. Knead 8 minutes and prove 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled.
2. Combine the mince with the grated onion, salt, pepper and cumin, then beat in the cold stock a spoonful at a time until the filling is loose and glossy.
3. Lamb and cumin are what mark the Kazakh belyash out from its Tatar and Russian relatives, alongside a slightly larger, flatter pie.
4. Divide the dough into 10 and flatten each into a disc about 13 cm across.
5. Place a generous spoonful of filling in the centre, gather and pleat the edges upward around it, and pinch them together leaving an open hole about 2 cm across in the middle.
6. Press each into a flat disc about 2 cm thick, cover and rest 15 minutes.
7. Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F). Fry hole side down for 5 minutes, spooning oil into the opening, then turn and fry 5 minutes more until deep gold and cooked through.
8. Check one from the middle of the batch before serving them all: the filling must be cooked right through, not pink.
9. Drain on a rack and serve very hot with tea, or with a bowl of sorpa broth.

Technique

• Grated onion, not chopped. It melts into the meat and keeps it moist.
• Cold stock beaten into raw mince is the trick for a juicy filling. Skipping it gives a dry, crumbly pie.
• Moderate oil and patient frying. This is the whole difficulty of any raw-filled fried pie.

Substitutions

• Horse meat, which is traditional in parts of Kazakhstan and gives a richer filling.
• Beef alone for a milder pie.

Variations

• Belyashi in Russia, the same pie sold from city kiosks.
• A closed version with no hole, closer to a chebureki.

History

A Tatar dish spread by Soviet canteens and now a staple of bus stations and markets.

Frequently asked questions

What is Belyash?

Belyash is a street food from Kazakhstan: round fried dough pies with a meat filling, open at the top. A Tatar dish spread by Soviet canteens and now a staple of bus stations and markets.

How long does Belyash take to make?

Belyash takes 40 min plus 1 hr 30 min rising of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 10 pies. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Belyash?

Yes, within limits. Horse meat, which is traditional in parts of Kazakhstan and gives a richer filling. Beef alone for a milder pie.

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

Check one from the middle of the batch before serving them all: the filling must be cooked right through, not pink.