Russian Pelmeni ( Russian Dumplings )
Russian pelmeni is one of the most popular Russian Foods . Which has very interesting history . According to one version it originates from China and was brought by Chinese merchants to Russia , according to another version it was brought by Mongols . An then It became the post famous dish in Russian cuisine . The word Pelmeni originates from Finno-Ugric Komi and Mansi languages sounds like “pelnyan” meaning “ear bread”.
In older times people made thousand of pelmeni to store outdoors all winter . It was easy to bring for long journey because it is so fast to cook and easy to store when its winter . Nowadays , Moscow Russians buy a pre-made ones . Pelmeni can be so different , so unusual , with different fillings from pork and beef till calamari . But not with sweet filling . Ukrainian Vareniki is the “relative” of pelmeni but with a sweet filing .
There are many other ” relatives ” of Pelmeni in Russia . For example , “Manti “ it’s the same as Pelmeni , but just a bit bigger and more popular in eastern parts of Russia . So the dough is very simple . You just mix flour with water, egg , salt . You mix all ingredients until smooth consistency and leave the dough “to have rest” in a fridge for 35 minutes or so. Then you just roll it into a very-very thin layer and using a special cooking tool you cut out small circles to be filled by specially prepared filling. The filling usually is made of beef , pork, beef + pork , chicken and even calamari . You just mix minced meat with onion, salt , pepper,garlic . All ingredients must be finely chopped. Then you just form a small ball out of prepared mixture and put it in prepared circles of dough . You need to train a bit how to do it really good . After you ready and make a mountain of pelmeni , you can try them finally . To cook it you need to drop 10-15 ( for the standard portion) in to a salty boiling wait for 5-10 minutes . When you see Pelmeni floating up to the surface of boiling water – it is a sign , that Pelmeni are ready . We eat it with sour cream with a few spoons of pelmeni bouillon.
Enjoy your meal
There are lot’s of interpretations of pelmeni recipe . Just look at one of it . And try to cook it one day
Some video about it
