Boorsok

Ingredients

Dough

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

To fry

• 1 litreneutral oil, or rendered tail fat

To serve

• butter
• kaymak
• honey
• jam
• tea

Directions

1. Warm the milk to blood heat, whisk in the yeast and sugar, and leave it for 10 minutes until it froths on the surface.
2. Mix the milk into the flour along with the egg, melted butter and salt, and knead for 8 to 10 minutes into a soft, smooth dough. It should be softer than a bread dough but not tacky to the hand.
3. Cover and prove for about 1 hour, until doubled.
4. Knock back and roll the dough out to 1 cm thick. Boorsok has to be rolled thick: taken any thinner it fries into flat crackers instead of puffing hollow.
5. Cut into squares or diamonds about 4 cm across, cover them with a cloth and leave them for 15 minutes. This second short rest is what makes them balloon in the oil.
6. Heat the oil to 180°C (355°F), deep enough that the pieces can float and turn.
7. Fry in small batches, turning them as they rise. Each piece should inflate within a few seconds and go hollow inside; 2 to 3 minutes gets them to a deep even gold.
8. Lift them onto a rack rather than paper, so they stay crisp, and heap them onto a platter while you fry the rest.
9. Serve warm with butter, kaymak, honey and tea. At a remembrance meal the boorsok is fried first and the plate is set out on the dastorkon before anyone eats.

Technique

• One centimetre thick and a fifteen-minute rest before frying. Those two things decide whether they puff or not.
• Keep the oil at temperature between batches, because cold oil soaks straight into the dough.
• They are best within the hour and still good the next day, but they do not keep beyond that.

Substitutions

• A soda version with no yeast: soured milk and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, which is quicker and denser and common in the villages.
• Water in place of milk for a plainer, more everyday dough.

Variations

• Mongolian boortsog, made with a firmer, sweeter dough.
• Kazakh baursak, often cut round rather than in diamonds.
• Rolled thinner and fried crisp as a snack rather than a bread.

History

Fried dough squares heaped on the table at every celebration and remembrance meal.

Frequently asked questions

What is Boorsok?

Boorsok is a bread & pastry from Kyrgyzstan: fried dough pillows heaped on the celebration dastorkon. Fried dough squares heaped on the table at every celebration and remembrance meal.

How long does Boorsok take to make?

Boorsok takes 20 min plus 1 hr 15 min rising of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 60 pieces. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Boorsok?

Yes, within limits. A soda version with no yeast: soured milk and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, which is quicker and denser and common in the villages. Water in place of milk for a plainer, more everyday dough.

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

Knock back and roll the dough out to 1 cm thick. Boorsok has to be rolled thick: taken any thinner it fries into flat crackers instead of puffing hollow.