Ingredients
Dough
- 600 gplain flour
- 300 mlwarm water
- 1egg
- 2 teaspoonssalt
- 3 tablespoonsoil or melted butter
- 7 gdried yeast, optional
Filling
- 700 glamb or mutton, finely chopped
- or 700 g minced lamb
- 4onions, very finely chopped
- 100 glamb fat, chopped
- 2 teaspoonssalt
- 2 teaspoonsblack pepper
- 1 teaspoonground cumin
- 150 mlwater or stock
To finish
- 1egg, beaten, for brushing
- a little melted butter
Directions
- Mince works but chop it if you can. The onion must be chopped extremely small. Use plenty of onion, roughly half by volume. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water in gradually. Beat the egg and add it to them. Add the oil or the melted butter. Bring it together into a firm dough. Some cooks add yeast and some do not.
- Knead it for a good ten minutes. It should become smooth and elastic. Wrap it and rest it for thirty minutes. Resting lets it roll out thin. Put the chopped meat in a bowl. Add the very finely chopped onions. Add the chopped lamb fat as well. Add the salt, pepper and cumin.
- Mix it in thoroughly with your hand. The filling should be loose and quite wet. Divide the dough into two pieces. Make one slightly larger than the other.
- Roll the larger one into a wide round. Aim for about thirty centimetres across. Roll the second one slightly smaller. Take both down to about four millimetres. Set the larger round on a greased tray. Spread the filling out over it.
- Leave a clear border of three centimetres. Keep the layer even throughout. Brush the border with a little water. Lay the second round over the top. Press the two edges together firmly. Roll the edge over on itself all round. Crimp it with your fingers as you go. It must be sealed completely shut. Cut a small hole in the centre of the top. Baking it takes about forty-five minutes.
- Brush the top with the beaten egg. Heat the oven to 200C before baking. Bake it for about twenty minutes. Give it another twenty-five minutes. Lift an edge to check the underside. The meat inside must be fully cooked. Brush the hot top with melted butter.
- Let it rest for a good ten minutes. Serving it is done hot and cut in wedges. Cut it into eight even wedges. Hot juice runs out as you cut it.
Technique
- The tamdyr is the Turkmen clay oven, the same form as the tandoor, and similar ovens run right across the region from the Caucasus to India.
- The meat goes into the pie raw and cooks inside the sealed dough, with the crust trapping the juices, which is what keeps it moist.
- Chopping the meat with two heavy knives rather than mincing it gives a coarser, looser and juicier filling, and the filling is deliberately wet so the water turns to steam inside.
Substitutions
- Minced lamb works in place of chopped, though the texture is denser.
- Beef can replace lamb, though lamb is what Turkmenistan uses.
Variations
- Some cooks use a yeasted dough and others an unleavened one.
- A version made as individual small pies is also baked.
- Similar sealed meat pies are baked across Central Asia.
History
Round meat pie baked in the tandyr and cut into wedges for guests.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fitchi?
Fitchi is a bread & pastry from Turkmenistan: round meat pies baked in the tamdyr. Round meat pie baked in the tandyr and cut into wedges for guests.
How long does Fitchi take to make?
Fitchi takes 40 minutes plus resting of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one large pie, 8 wedges. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Fitchi?
Yes, within limits. Minced lamb works in place of chopped, though the texture is denser. Beef can replace lamb, though lamb is what Turkmenistan uses.
What is the most important thing to get right in Fitchi?
Mince works but chop it if you can. The onion must be chopped extremely small. Use plenty of onion, roughly half by volume. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water in gradually. Beat the egg and add it to them. Add the oil or the melted butter. Bring it together into a firm dough. Some cooks add yeast and some do not.
