Pirojki (patties) is very cordial food and close to the heart of every person living in Russia. When hearing about pirojki we remember at once our babushka (grandmother) making them for us in her warm cosy house and their wonderful smell is the best memory about our childhood.
So what is pirojki? – This is yeast bread made from white flour with very very different fillings: cabbage, mushrooms, rice with egg, meat and so on... and sweet patties with apples (like my mummy's patties), cottage cheese and berries. Usually we make them when we wait for guests and eat them while drinking tea.
In the old times the pirojki in Russia were usually made from rye flour and they were cooked by poor people. And only rich families used to cook them from wheat flour and only for great dates and holidays. In the extant menu of the tsars and princes one can find varous kinds of pies which were considered the main dish on the table.
To make pirojki first prepare the dough. Mix the following products:
- 0,5 l of warm milk
- 2 big spoons of sugar
- 15 g of dry yeast
- 1 small spoon of salt
- 2 big spoons of vegetable oil
To dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm milkand wait 15-20 minutes till the mixture rises. Add the other ingredients, knead the dough and let it stay in the warm space for about 40-50 minutes and grow twice as much.
Knead, make balls and flatten, put some filling inside and close.
The fillings can be different. The traditional are:
- Boiled eggs with riсe and spring onion
- Mashed potatoes
- Mushrooms fried with onion
- Pirojki with meat are called belyashi
- Cut apples with some sugar
