Piroshki

Ingredients

Dough

• 600 gplain flour
• 300 mlwarm milk
• 7 ginstant yeast
• 1 tspsalt
• 2 tbspsugar
• 1egg
• 60 gbutter, melted

Mutton filling

• 500 gminced mutton or lamb
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3 clovesgarlic
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspblack pepper
• salt
• 100 mlstock or water

Potato filling

• 600 gpotatoes, boiled and mashed
• 2onions, fried golden
• salt and pepper
• 50 gbutter

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• hot milk tea, suutei tsai
• or ketchup

Directions

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, then work in the warm milk, egg and melted butter. Knead 10 minutes to a soft, smooth dough. Keep the dough soft. A stiff dough gives heavy piroshki that drink oil rather than puffing away from it.
2. Prove for 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled. Meanwhile make the filling: fry the onions until soft and golden, then add the mutton. Cook the mutton hard until it is browned and the liquid has gone, about 15 minutes.
3. Cook it until genuinely dry. A wet filling turns to steam and blows the piroshki open in the oil, which is the one failure that matters. Add the cumin, pepper and salt and a splash of stock, and cook it off again. Cool the filling completely before assembling anything. Knock the dough back and divide it into pieces of about 60 g.
4. Roll each into a ball, then flatten it into a round of about 12 cm with your fingers rather than a rolling pin. Shape them by hand. A rolled disc is uniformly thin and the edges tear when you seal them.
5. Put a spoonful of cooled filling in the centre. Do not overfill. Bring the edges up over the filling and pinch them together into a seam along the top. Pinch the seam hard along its whole length, and press out any trapped air as you go. Air pockets expand in hot oil and force the seam apart.
6. Turn each one seam side down and press it gently into a flat oval. Rest them seam side down for 20 minutes, which helps the seam set closed. Heat the oil to 175°C (345°F). Fry them seam side down first, a few at a time, for 3 to 4 minutes a side. Do not crowd the pan, which drops the temperature and makes them greasy. Drain on a rack rather than paper.
7. Serve hot with suutei tsai, the salted milk tea, which is the standard Mongolian pairing. They are sold warm from kiosks and market stalls in Ulaanbaatar, wrapped in paper, and eaten walking.

Technique

• They are eaten hot and go heavy within an hour or two.
• The dough can be proved overnight in the fridge.
• Cabbage and rice fillings are also common.

Substitutions

• Beef in place of mutton, which is milder.
• Ready-made bread dough.

Variations

• With potato and onion.
• With cabbage and egg.
• Khuushuur, the flatter unleavened Mongolian version.

History

Entered Mongolia through Soviet-era Russian influence and became the standard bus-station and market snack in Ulaanbaatar.

Frequently asked questions

What is Piroshki?

Piroshki is a street food from Mongolia: fried buns stuffed with minced mutton, potato or cabbage; sold from kiosks. Entered Mongolia through Soviet-era Russian influence and became the standard bus-station and market snack in Ulaanbaatar.

How long does Piroshki take to make?

Piroshki takes 40 min plus 2 hr rising of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 16. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Piroshki?

Yes, within limits. Beef in place of mutton, which is milder. Ready-made bread dough.

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

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, then work in the warm milk, egg and melted butter. Knead 10 minutes to a soft, smooth dough. Keep the dough soft. A stiff dough gives heavy piroshki that drink oil rather than puffing away from it.