Chebureki

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 250 mlwarm water
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tbspoil
• 1 tbspvodka, optional

Filling

• 500 gminced lamb, not too lean
• 2onions, very finely chopped
• 150 mlcold water or stock
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tspblack pepper
• a handful of chopped parsley or dill

To fry

• 1 litresunflower oil

Directions

1. Mix the flour, salt, water and oil into a firm dough and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add the vodka if you are using it, which inhibits the gluten slightly and gives the blistered surface a good chebureki should have.
2. Rest the dough, covered, for 1 hour.
3. Mix the lamb with the onion, salt, pepper and herbs, then beat in the cold water a little at a time until it is loose and almost sloppy.
4. That water is the entire point of the dish. It turns to broth inside the sealed turnover as it fries, and a chebureki that does not run juice when you bite into it has been made wrong.
5. Divide the dough into eight and roll each piece into a very thin round about 22 cm across and no more than 2 mm thick.
6. Spread the filling thinly over one half, leaving a clear border, and fold the other half across.
7. Press out every trace of air as you seal it, then crimp the edge firmly with a fork or a pastry wheel. Trapped air is what makes them burst open in the oil.
8. Heat the oil to 180°C (355°F), deep enough that they can float freely.
9. Fry one or two at a time for about 3 minutes a side, spooning hot oil over the top as they cook, until deep gold and covered in blisters.
10. Drain on a rack and eat within minutes, holding it carefully and biting the corner first, because the broth inside is genuinely scalding.

Technique

• Thin dough, wet filling, no trapped air, eaten hot. Miss any one and you have a pasty instead.
• It is a Crimean Tatar dish. The community’s cooking spread through Ukraine after the 1944 deportation and again after the return from Central Asia.
• Roll them out one at a time and fry as you go. Assembled and left standing, the wet filling soaks through the base.

Substitutions

• A mixture of beef and lamb, which is common and cheaper.
• Brynza or another salty white cheese as a filling, with herbs.

Variations

• With a cheese and herb filling.
• With potato and onion, for a meatless version.
• The Central Asian version, made with a thicker dough and baked rather than fried.

History

A Crimean Tatar dish; the community’s cooking spread through Ukraine after the 1944 deportation and the return from Central Asia.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chebureki?

Chebureki is a street food from Ukraine: large half-moon turnovers of thin dough filled with minced lamb, fried. A Crimean Tatar dish; the community’s cooking spread through Ukraine after the 1944 deportation and the return from Central Asia.

How long does Chebureki take to make?

Chebureki takes 30 min plus 1 hr resting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 turnovers. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Chebureki?

Yes, within limits. A mixture of beef and lamb, which is common and cheaper. Brynza or another salty white cheese as a filling, with herbs.

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

That water is the entire point of the dish. It turns to broth inside the sealed turnover as it fries, and a chebureki that does not run juice when you bite into it has been made wrong.