Tatar Beef Pelmeni

In Central Asia, every grocery store teems with frozen pelmeni.

They can’t compare with homemade, handcrafted little pockets bursty with juicy meaty goodness. Here is a recipe from Tatarstan, which lies on the Volga River in Central Russia.

Tatar Beef Pelmeni

Tatars are Muslims and not supposed to eat pork. Though this recipe only has beef in the filling, the dumplings still hit the spot in a deep, happy place.

Dough:
2 cups flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼-½ cups of water, milk, or both mixed, warm
½ teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 pound ground beef
1-2 medium onions, finely chopped or grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 scant teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup lamb fat (olive oil or butter may be substituted)
1 tablespoon red pepper
Salt to taste

Garnish:
2 tablespoons melted butter
Minced herbs of your choice

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and the salt and make a well in the middle. Add the beaten eggs to the middle of the well and, using a fork, pull in flour and mix it with the eggs. Then slowly add water and continue mixing until all the flour is moist and the dough comes together. Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for five minutes until the dough is soft and pliable. Put back in the bowl and let rest, covered with a clean kitchen towel, while you make the filling.

Mix the ground beef, onions, salt and pepper together.

Working on a well-floured surface, cut the dough into three equally sized pieces and roll each one into a cylinder the diameter of a finger. Cut each cylinder into pieces the size of a walnut, then roll out each piece very thin to a diameter of about two inches.

Alternatively, roll out the dough thinly using a rolling pin or a pasta machine, then cut out circles of about 2 inches in diameter using a glass. Put some filling in the center of each disc. Then fold the dough in half and join up the edges to seal them. Pinch the corners together. Boil the pelmeni in salted water for about seven minutes or until they float to the surface. Serve with a pat of butter, sour cream or in beef broth. The recipe makes about 60 pelmeni, which can very generously feed 4-5 people. Pelmeni also freeze well for later use.

Huge Thanks to Madina Kassengalieva for testing this recipe! Madina blogs about food at http://2sisters2kitchens.blogspot.com/