Chebureki
Chebureki is deep-fried pastry filled with meat. It is claimed by several nations as being their national food: Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians and more. Probably the best bet is that they were introduced in Georgia by the Tatarians and from there spread Northwards. Anyway the chebureki resemble the Brazilian pastel very much, which brings us to the common source - China. The main difference between pastel and chebureki is that Georgians use lamb or pork or both in the filling, and the filling is not pre-cooked so it cooks only during the deep-frying, which gives a juicy result.
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Preparation time: 2 hrs.
Difficulty level: Medium
Servings: 10
Ingredients
Preparation
Filling:
700g (1 lb. 9 oz.) finely ground lamb
½ cup chopped cilantro
3-5 garlic cloves
1 white onion
salt
black pepper
½ cup water
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Dough:
500g (1 lb. 2 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 cup water
¼ cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
Prepare the filling:
Mince the garlic, dice the onion very thinly.
Mix all the ingredients well, add salt and pepper to taste.
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Prepare the dough:
In a pot combine the water, milk, oil and salt. Bring to a boil. Take off the heat, add ½ cup of flour, stir well and let the mixture cool off.
Transfer to a bowl, gradually add the remaining flour and egg, kneading for a few minutes, until the dough is even, soft, and doesn’t stick to your hands. If still sticky, add a little more flour.
Cover with a towel or a plastic wrap and let rest for about an hour in the fridge.
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Prepare the chebureki:
Cut dough into portions about the size of a ping-pong ball. Roll out on floured surface into a round of 15cm (6”) diameter and 1 mm (0.03”) thin.
Place 2 full tbsps. of filling on one side of the circle, fold the other half of the circle over to form a “half-moon” shape, and pinch the edges firmly together.
Make sure you close the cheburek tightly and hermetically, and don’t leave too much air in it.
In a wok or a small pot heat oil for deep-frying. When the oil is hot, set the heat to medium.
Put a few chebureki each time, fry about 3-5 mins from each side until golden brown. Let rest for a few minutes on a paper towel before serving.