Pishme

Ingredients

The dough

• 600 gplain flour
• 250 mlwarm milk
• 1egg
• 60 gbutter, melted
• 7 gdried yeast
• 1 tablespoonsugar
• 1 teaspoonsalt

The quick version

• 600 gplain flour
• 250 mlyoghurt or kefir
• 1egg
• 1 teaspoonbicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoonsalt

To fry

• oil, for deep frying
• a deep heavy pot

To serve

• with tea
• at celebrations
• or at funerals

Directions

1. Cool oil soaks into the dough. Hot oil seals the outside immediately. Warm the milk gently in a pan. Stir the yeast and sugar into it. Let it stand there for ten minutes. The yeast should foam up visibly. Discard it and start again if not. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast milk and the egg. Add the melted butter to them.
2. Bring it together into a soft dough. It should be soft and slightly tacky. Knead it for about eight minutes. Eight minutes is enough for this. Put the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm. Give it about one whole hour there. Mix the flour, salt and bicarbonate. Add the yoghurt and the whole egg.
3. Bring it together into a dough. Knead it only briefly to combine. Roll it out on a floured surface. Roll it about half a centimetre thick. Half a centimetre is about right. Cut parallel lines across the sheet. Space them about four centimetres apart. Use a knife or a pastry wheel. Cut right through the whole dough.
4. Keep all of the lines straight. Cut diagonal lines across those. Fry those too rather than discarding. Let the cut pieces rest ten minutes. Ten minutes is quite enough for it. Pour the oil into a deep heavy pot. Fill it no more than half full.
5. Heat it to about one hundred and eighty degrees. A deep pot of hot oil is genuinely dangerous. Keep a lid nearby to smother a flare-up. Never put water on an oil fire at all. Keep children well away from the pot. Drop a small scrap of dough in. It should rise and sizzle immediately.
6. Adjust the heat before the batch. Do not crowd the pot at any point. Work in small batches instead. They should puff up within seconds. Turn them once they are golden below. Give them about two minutes a side.
7. Tear the first one open to check. The inside should be cooked through. Fry them for longer if it is not. Lift them out onto a wire rack. Let all the excess oil drip away. That softens them within minutes. Pile them all into a large dish. Serve hot green tea alongside them. They keep two days in a sealed tin.

Technique

• They appear at both celebrations and funerals, which is genuinely true of the dish — it is a food of gathering rather than of mood. Both occasions bring people together and need food for many guests, and fried dough feeds a crowd cheaply. Distributing food at funerals is a widespread and respected Central Asian custom.
• Cutting a rolled sheet into diamonds wastes nothing and is far faster than cutting rounds, which matters when hundreds are made for a gathering. Cut parallel lines about four centimetres apart, then diagonal lines across them, and fry the odd triangular offcuts from the edges too.
• Water in the dough turns to steam and inflates each diamond into a hollow pillow. Hot oil at about one hundred and eighty degrees is what makes that happen: cool oil soaks in and gives a greasy heavy piece, and one that comes out heavy rather than almost empty means the oil was not hot enough.

Substitutions

• The quick version uses yoghurt or kefir with bicarbonate of soda, the acid reacting with it for lift, and needs no rising at all; the yeasted one is lighter and airier and both are genuinely made.
• Roll it about half a centimetre thick — thinner pieces crisp rather than puffing and thicker ones stay raw in the middle.

Variations

• A deep pot of hot oil is genuinely dangerous: fill it no more than half full, never leave it unattended, lower the dough in gently, keep a lid nearby to smother a flare-up, never put water on an oil fire and keep children away.
• Work in small batches, since crowding the pot drops the oil temperature and gives greasy heavy pieces.
• Green and black tea are both served with them in Turkmenistan.

History

Fried dough diamonds served with tea at celebrations and funerals.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pishme?

Pishme is a snack from Turkmenistan: diamond-shaped fried dough, holiday and guest offering. Fried dough diamonds served with tea at celebrations and funerals.

How long does Pishme take to make?

Pishme takes 30 minutes plus rising of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 40 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pishme?

Yes, within limits. The quick version uses yoghurt or kefir with bicarbonate of soda, the acid reacting with it for lift, and needs no rising at all; the yeasted one is lighter and airier and both are genuinely made. Roll it about half a centimetre thick — thinner pieces crisp rather than puffing and thicker ones stay raw in the middle.

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

Bring it together into a soft dough. It should be soft and slightly tacky. Knead it for about eight minutes. Eight minutes is enough for this. Put the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm. Give it about one whole hour there. Mix the flour, salt and bicarbonate. Add the yoghurt and the whole egg.