Ossetian pies on kefir with yeast

Name: Ossetian pies on kefir with yeast
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 12-14 servings
Cuisine: Ossetian
Ingredients: flour - 500 g + a little more for molding pies; dry yeast - 7 g; sugar - 1 tsp. l.; kefir - 250 ml; drinking water - 100 ml; vegetable oil - 1.5 tbsp. l.; egg - 1 pc.; potatoes - 700 g; cheese - 600 g; butter - 50–80 g

Cookinero 4 January 2023

Ossetian pies on kefir with yeast will pleasantly surprise fans of this famous Caucasian pastry with a particularly delicate taste and pleasant texture. Perhaps our version will seem to someone not quite authentic (the classic dough consists of flour, water, yeast and salt), but it has a right to exist, because no one has canceled the culinary fantasy. Moreover, in the arsenal of almost every Ossetian housewife there is a family recipe for a round pie, inherited from her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. Does it make sense to compare versions and find the "most correct" one? It seems to us that no, because the main thing here is taste, not truth. Our Ossetian pies with potatoes and cheese are very convincing in this regard: they disappear from the table at an incredible speed!

How to cook Ossetian pies on kefir with yeast

Step 1

Prepare the dough of Ossetian pies. Sift the flour through a fine sieve. Mix half in a separate bowl with dry yeast, sugar and warm kefir. Cover with a towel and leave for 1 hour.

Step 2

In the risen dough, add the remaining flour, water, vegetable oil and an egg. Knead the dough thoroughly (until it is practically no longer sticky to your hands), divide into 3 parts and shape each into a ball. Cover with a towel and leave for 30 minutes.

Step 3

Prepare the filling of Ossetian pies. Peel potatoes and boil until tender without adding salt. Drain the water, mash the tubers with a crush. Grind the cheese with a blender or mash. Pair with warm potatoes.

Step 4

Lay the dough out on a work surface dusted with flour. With your hands, knead the resulting blanks into small cakes. Put in the center of each third of the potato filling with feta cheese.

Step 5

Gather the edges of the dough over the filling and seal. Gently knead again with your hands to make thick cakes. Make a small hole in the center of each.

Step 6

Heat the oven to 220°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Lay one Ossetian pie and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and brush generously with melted butter. Do the same for the rest of the pies.