Pelmeni

As it turned out, I never recorded the pelmeni recipe in English, and a possible reason is that we didn’t make them in my house for years! Still, I am happy that Anna is making them at home on a more or less regular basis, and Vlad recently requested the recipe as well. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures, but I hope that “when the war will be over, ” we will get together and make five hundred of them, as in old times. 

For now, here is a recipe.

Note. Pelmeni are usually counted in hundreds :); this recipe is supposed to be for one hundred, but in reality, it yields around 110-115 pelmeni. 

Dough.

2 eggs,

1/2 cup of water

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

flour – as much as it can take

Combine all the liquids and then add flour (it will be at least 3 cups, but literally as much as it can take). Start mixing with the spoon, and then continue kneading with your hands. You will need to apply a lot of force; the dough will end up being hard. 

Filling

1 lb of ground beef

1 lb of ground pork

You can use a 2/3 lb pork and 1 1/3 lb beef, or even better, you can make it a three-meat filling, combining beef, lamb, and pork. Just make sure it id not beef-only. 

1 small onion 

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp khmeli-suneli (or make your own dry mix)

Grind the meat one more time, grind the onion, add all of the remaining components, and mix well.

Assembling pelmeni

Divide the dough into six pieces. Most likely, you will be using this classic pelmeni mold. It yields 37 pelmeni, and you will need two sheets of dough for each batch. 

Roll one portion of the dough really thin; dust the mold with flour. Put the dough sheet over the mold. Gently push with your finger over each of the holes so that the dough forms a small dip. 

Using a teaspoon, place the filling into each of the dips. Roll the second portion of the dough, cover over the filling, and roll it over really hard. The sharp edges of the mold will cut the dough and thus form the individual pelmeni. Flip the mold over, and pelmeni will fall on the surface. 

Repeat two more times.

You may have some leftovers, either from the dough or from the filling. The remaining dough makes excellent noodles. 

Next step.

Pelmeni should be frozen for at least three days before you can consume it, so you need to put them in the freezer immediately after preparationl. They can stay in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.

Cooking

Prepare the broth, preferably using the pork neck bones, but any broth will do. Put frozen pelmeni into boiling broth, wait till they float to the top, then reduce the hit and cook for 2 more minutes. You can either drain then and serve with butter or sour cream, or eat them in the broth.