Shapale
Shapale or shapaley is a popular Tibetan dish. It is a deep fried thin pastry with lamb meat filling, and it is a close relative of Brazilian pastel or Georgian chebureki.
Shapale can come in different forms: rectangular, triangular, half-moon or round. Just like in the case of chatamari, some people prefer the shapale to be deep-fried with raw filling and some other with pre-cooked one. I personally prefer the pre-cooked version, where the meat is sautéed with some spices and greens and its taste is richer.
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Preparation time: 1 hr. 30 mins
Difficulty level: Medium-High
Servings: 8
Ingredients
1/2 kg (1 lb 2 oz) ground lamb meat
200 gr white flour
2 red onions
3 cloves garlic
2 cm ginger root
100 gr baby bok choy.
1 stalk spring onion
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. red chili powder
1/2 cup cilantro
salt
pepper
canola oil
Preparation
In a bowl mix the flour with a pinch of salt and gradually add water until you get firm dough.
Knead for 5 minutes, then cover with a towel and let rest for 20 minutes.
Chop the onions thinly, crush the garlic and mince the ginger root. Chop the bok choy, the cilantro and the spring onion.
Heat a frying pan or a wok. Put 3 tbsps. canola oil and sauté the onion until golden brown.
Add garlic and ginger and sauté a minute more.
Add the meat and keep stirring until all meet changes its color.
Add the chopped bok choy, the spring onion, chili and soy sauce and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If needed add some salt. Finally add the cilantro, stir well and remove from heat.
Let the filling cool down.
In the meantime make balls from the dough a little bigger than ping-pong. Roll them into circles of 20 cm (8"). Put 2 tbsps. of filling in the middle of each circle, fold the circle over the filling to get the half-moon shape and tighten the edges together.
Heat oil in a wok for deep frying and fry the shapale on both sides until golden brown.
Dry using a paper towel and serve hot.