Passport & Plate - The Magical Dance of Pyroshki
Russian Federation | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
2 cups warm milk?
4 cups + 8 heaping tablespoons flour
?2 eggs
?2 tablespoon sour cream?
4 tablespoons olive oil?
1 tablespoon yeast?
1 1/4 teaspoon salt?
1/4 teaspoon sugar
5 potatoes peeled and cooked in salted water?
1 med or 2 small onions chopped?
1 stick butter (118 grams)?
How to prepare this recipeThe pyroshki making is a fun, collaborative experience. Although it a traditional Russian food, it is celebrated in every kitchen in Armenia. So bring together friends and family and let the festivities begin!
To prepare the dough:
1.In a medium bowl whisk together 1 cup warm milk,1/4 teaspoon salt, sugar, yeast, and 8 tablespoons of flour.
2.Cover and set a side for about 10 minutes. It should rise and be foamy.
3.While it’s rising, in a large mixing bowl whisk or use a hand mixer to mix 1 cup warm milk, sour cream, oil, eggs, and salt.
4.Add 2 1/2 cups flour and mix.
5.Add the foamy yeast mixture.
6.Whisk and add the rest of the flour and mix carefully.
7.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the warmest area (or if you would like to do the Armenian way, cover it with a blanket, as that will keep things warmer). This should take about 1 hour.
After the dough is done it is time to prepare the pyroshki:
1.Cut a piece of dough in size of tennis ball and place it on well floured board or surface.
2.Using your fingers stretch the dough.
3.Place about 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of filling (which can be the potatoes you boiled and mashed).
4.Carefully pinch the sides together.
5.Place it on well floured board or baking pan seam side down.
6.Heat a frying pan with a lot of oil.
7.Place pyroshki seam side down and deep fry pyroshki in batches turning them over once.
8.Line a large plate or a bowl with paper towel and place fried pyroshki to drain.
The magical pyroshki is now ready. Bon Appétit!
The story behind this recipeYou could say that these little golden brown pockets of warm potato called pyroshky are magical, because every time my grandma would make them, we would start to dance. There we would be, rolling the dough with our face splattered with flour and our hands sticky with yeasty dough when at the sound of music, we would begin to raise our hands and circle around one another dancing the dance of “Zorba the Greek.” My sister would be the one hopping to and fro with her hips, my mom would be the one whistling with her two fingers, and my grandma, well my grandma would be the one smiling and dancing with her soul. The ways she dances is just the way she cooks, and that is how I would like to live my life: with exploration, love, and warmth.
The pyroshki making always accompanied with dancing in our small kitchen in Armenia has come to serve as a beautiful symbol for me. To the countries I travelled to and lived in, like US, Peru and Argentina, where the cultures and languages were so different than mine, I brought the recipes and hospitable warm nature of cooking along with me. Thus I realized that I had become more and more like my grandma: as the flavors of the pyroshki have danced on our tongues, so have I danced in the kitchen with people of other cultures and countries. That is why the recipe of pyroshki is so special for me. It serves as a symbol of bringing people together, reminding you to cook as you would dance, always in companion with others and always with your soul. The warmth and love my grandma kneaded into the dough with her flour encrusted hands, I will now put into my own recipe for life, and let the different flavors to dance.
