Belyashi

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 7 ginstant yeast
• 1 tbspsugar
• 1½ tsp salt
• 250 mlwarm milk
• 1egg
• 40 gbutter, melted

Filling

• 400 gminced beef or a mix of beef and lamb
• 2onions, very finely chopped or grated
• 3 tbspcold water or beef stock
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1 clovegarlic, crushed

To fry

• 700 mlsunflower oil

Directions

1. Make a soft dough from the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, warm milk, egg and melted butter. Knead 8 minutes, then prove 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled.
2. Mix the mince with the grated onion, salt, pepper and garlic, then work in the cold water a spoonful at a time. The water keeps the filling juicy through frying and is what separates a good belyash from a dry one.
3. Grate the onion rather than chopping it. It disappears into the meat and releases its juice, where chopped onion stays in noticeable pieces and can be raw at the centre.
4. Divide the dough into 10 and flatten each into a disc about 12 cm across, slightly thinner at the edges.
5. Put a heaped spoonful of filling in the centre of each. Gather the edges up and pleat them around the filling, then pinch them together leaving a deliberate opening about 2 cm across in the middle — belyashi are open-topped, and that hole is how they are recognised.
6. Flatten each gently to a thick disc, cover and rest 15 minutes.
7. Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F) — moderate, because raw meat inside needs time to cook through.
8. Fry hole side down first, for 4–5 minutes, then turn and fry another 4–5 minutes, until deep golden and cooked through. Spoon a little hot oil into the opening as they fry.
9. Drain on a rack and eat hot. They are sold from kiosks and eaten standing up, and the filling is scalding, so give them a minute.

Technique

• Fry hole down first. It seals the opening and stops the juices running out into the oil.
• Moderate oil. Too hot and the dough browns long before the raw meat is safe.
• Raw filling, not pre-cooked. The meat cooks in its own steam inside the dough, which is the point.

Substitutions

• Chicken mince for a lighter pie, fried a minute less.
• Baked at 200°C (400°F) for 22 minutes, brushed with egg — a different thing, closer to a pirozhok.

Variations

• Belyash in Kazakhstan and across Central Asia, the same pie under the Tatar name.
• Peremech, the Tatar original from which both descend.

History

A Tatar and Bashkir dish that became a Soviet street and station staple across Russia.

Frequently asked questions

What is Belyashi?

Belyashi is a street food from Russia: round fried dough pies with a meat filling, sold hot at kiosks. A Tatar and Bashkir dish that became a Soviet street and station staple across Russia.

How long does Belyashi take to make?

Belyashi 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 Belyashi?

Yes, within limits. Chicken mince for a lighter pie, fried a minute less. Baked at 200°C (400°F) for 22 minutes, brushed with egg — a different thing, closer to a pirozhok.

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

Grate the onion rather than chopping it. It disappears into the meat and releases its juice, where chopped onion stays in noticeable pieces and can be raw at the centre.