Posted on December 6th, 2011

I guarantee, you will love Russian Pelmeni [peel’-MYE-nee] – Русские пельмени ( singular )! Russian pelmeni are meat dumplings, they resemble other pasta products such as vareniki, tortellini, ravioli, or Chinese jiaozi, and are also known as pelmeshki [peel’-MYESH-kee] пельмешки.

Dough for pelmeni is made from flour mixed with water (an egg can be added), while the filling is made out of minced meat. Different type of meat in a different combination can be used as a filling for Russian pelmeni. For example, you can use minced pork or mix minced beef with pork. Russian pelmeni are usually very rich in flavour and are one of the most favourite and popular Russian dishes. If you love Russian pelmeni, you will love Ukrainian Vareniki as well!

Pelmeni Recipe (approximately 8 servings)

Ingredients

Dough
3 cups of flour
1 egg
1/2 cup of water, you can add a little more water if you need

Minced filling
1 lb of minced meat filling, ½ lb beef and ½ lb pork, or you can use minced beef, lamb, mutton and pork in any proportions you like.
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
Salt, pepper to taste
Salted water with black pepper and bay leaf added , chicken or beef broth

Directions:
1. Mix flour with egg, add warm water and knead dough for several minutes until it’s smooth and elastic. Then wrap it in a plastic wrap and leave it to rest for 30 min to 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, you can mince beef and pork, then add finely chopped onion and garlic, and mix them well together.
3. Dust the surface with flower and place dough on it. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out very thin.
4. Using a round cookie cutter, make circles in the dough and place a 1tsp of minced filling in the center.
5. Fold them in half and pinch edges to seal, then bring two opposite corners together and pinch to seal.
6. Place pelmeni into salted boiling water or broth and boil until they come to the surface for approximately 5-8 minutes. Stir pelmeni to prevent them from sticking together. Also, if you are using water for cooking pelmeni, don’t forget to salt it and add some black pepper and a bay leaf.
7. Serve pelmeni as soon as they are ready. Usually, they are served with melted butter or sour cream, or both. You can also try mixing broth with a little vinegar and use it for dipping pelmeni.

If making pelmeni from scratch seems to be a very tedious task, you can always get a pack of premade frozen pelmeni from a Russian store, just cook them and enjoy!

Don’t forget to subscribe to russian4real.com to not miss a single Russian recipe! You can also join Russian4real on Facebook and Twitter for the Russian word of the day and other fun stuff!

Do you like Russian pelmeni? Have you ever tried to make them from scratch? I’d love to hear from you!

Viktoria.

Related Posts:

• Video: First Conjugation Verbs Завтракать, Обедать, Ужинать.
• Russian Curd Fritters (Syrniki) Recipe
• Vareniki Recipe
• Russian Cutlets or Kotleti Recipe
• Is Chicken Kiev Really from Kiev? – Chicken Kiev Recipe

Comments

The courses of Russian as a foreign language with Russian4real take place online via Skype. The teacher works with adults individually since he is convinced that each person must receive maximum time for practice and professional attention while learning a foreign language.