Surely many have heard of such a dish as a chicken pot. But what it really is, few know.
Kurnik is a large Russian pie with filling. There is an opinion that the dish got its name for the reason that it was originally prepared with chicken meat. In ancient times, it served as a real table decoration. Each housewife kept her cooking secrets, which were not disclosed to outsiders. The recipe is passed on in the family from generation to generation.
A bit of history
The dough for a chicken coop can be sand, puff or fresh. The main part of the pie is the filling.
An old Russian dish is a real culinary masterpiece with a long history. Once upon a time, henchmen served at the royal table on especially important events. For many centuries he was present at wedding feasts.
The dish of our ancestors outwardly resembled a closed pie, which was prepared from sweet unleavened dough with an incredibly complex filling. It included porridge, chicken, eggs, mushrooms, delicious milk sauce. At present, it is even difficult to imagine such a grandiose dish. It took a lot of time to cook it, because different types of fillings were layered with thin pancakes. Of course, they baked a pie in a Russian stove on birch wood. The dish was served with milk sauce. The chicken pie is really royal, he just can't but like it.
Of course, a modern kurnik is not such a grandiose dish as it was in antiquity. Now the cake is prepared according to simplified recipes. Millet and buckwheat in it are replaced with potatoes with onions or rice. For cooking, fewer layers of filling are used, and pancakes do not at all interlayer. Mistresses are increasingly less likely to use sweet unleavened dough, more often puff, shortbread, and yeast dough for the chicken appears on the table.
Yogurt Kefir
The simplest dough for a chicken kefir is very easy to prepare, but it turns out amazingly soft. Baking is not stale, even if it lies a little in the refrigerator.
Ingredients:
- margarine - 110 g;
- flour - 465 g;
- 1 tsp salts;
- 2 eggs;
- 2 tsp Sahara;
- kefir - 235 g.
Before starting to cook margarine, melt it and let it cool slightly. Beat eggs with a whisk and add to margarine. After falling asleep sugar and salt. Without stopping to interfere, we introduce the sifted flour in parts. Knead the soft dough for the chicken house, wrap it in cling film and hide in the refrigerator. You can use it for cooking a kurnik no earlier than in an hour. It can be stored up to three days, while the dough does not lose its properties.
Mayonnaise Dough
Quite an interesting recipe for a chicken dough on mayonnaise. It will appeal to those who prefer thin dough. It resembles a sand, only more elastic and softer. It is very easy to work with it, it does not tear, does not stick to hands and rolls well.
Ingredients:
- vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l .;
- flour - 380 g;
- 120 g of mayonnaise and water.
In a glass, mix the mayonnaise with sour cream until smooth. Add vegetable oil and salt. Pour the sifted flour in portions into a thick creamy mayonnaise mass and knead elastic and soft dough.
Butter dough
A classic option can be called butter dough for a chicken coop. It is incredibly plastic and tender, never tears and holds its shape perfectly. From it you can make decorations for the cake. Yes, once the dish was a real holiday cake, which was generously and richly decorated.
Ingredients:
- sour cream - 5-6 tbsp. l .;
- flour - 585 g;
- milk - 135 g;
- 3 eggs;
- 1 tsp. sugar, salt and soda.
We get sour cream and milk from the refrigerator, let them warm to room temperature. Beat eggs with salt and sugar, add milk and sour cream. Mix everything thoroughly and begin to gradually add the sifted flour. As a result, our dough should not be sticky, but not tight. You may not need all the flour. We form a ball from the dough and cover it with a natural fabric. After 25 minutes, you can bake a cake from it.
Margarine Dough
One of the best options is shortbread dough for a chicken coop. As the filling for the dish, take vegetables, mushrooms, meat and cereals.
Ingredients:
- margarine - 1 pack;
- flour - 780 g;
- a teaspoon of baking powder;
- sour cream - 235 g.
Margarine must be melted, slightly cooled and add sour cream to it. Sift the flour in advance by mixing it with a baking powder. We gradually introduce the flour into a mass of margarine and sour cream. Knead the plastic dough and cool for an hour. The dough is ready to bake.
Puff pastry
No less delicious is the dough for the chicken margarine. Puff pastries are always good. Many housewives prefer to buy ready-made dough, and not waste time preparing it. Although homemade cakes can not be compared to taste.
Ingredients:
- flour - 400 g;
- margarine - 385 g;
- vinegar - 0.5 tbsp. l .;
- water - 185 g;
- 2 eggs;
- salt.
Flour must be sieved on a work surface before proceeding with cooking. Approximately 200 g of flour must be set aside. The dry mass is formed in the form of a slide. In the center we make a deepening and drive eggs into it, add salt, vinegar and pour in cold water. Knead the dough with your hands and knead it until it stops sticking to your hands.
Mix the remaining flour with soft margarine, roll the dough into a layer, put the margarine in the center. We turn the envelope out of the dough and roll it out again. A similar procedure is best repeated up to 4-5 times. Between each approach, the dough needs to be cooled in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes. The finished mass can be frozen and stored until it is needed. The preparation of puff pastry is not simple and quick, but the result exceeds any expectations. Such a kurnik is a real miracle.
Ingredients for Cooking
We offer our readers to cook a classic kurnik from yeast dough. The dish is not at all simple, and therefore it will take us time to prepare it.
Pie can be baked on the festive table. For the daily menu, you can use more simplified baking options. This old recipe is based on the use of several options for toppings and pancakes, not counting the yeast dough. Chicken potatoes, mushrooms and chicken meat - a classic version of the dish.
Pancake Ingredients:
- egg;
- milk - 480 g;
- sugar 2 tsp;
- a pinch of salt;
- flour - 185 g.
For the test:
- egg;
- milk - 240 g)
- oil - 65 g;
- yeast - 1 tsp dry weight;
- butter - 65 g;
- sugar - 1 tbsp. l .;
- 2 pinches of salt;
- flour - 585 g.
For filling:
- chicken fillet - 385 g;
- boiled rice - 145 g;
- sour cream - 475 g;
- 2 eggs (boiled),
- mushrooms - 480 g;
- 2 onions.
Kurnik's recipe
We start making the cake with pancake dough. Beat eggs and milk by adding sugar and salt. We introduce flour in portions, stirring constantly, so that no lumps form. From thin batter, prepare thin pancakes in the usual way. We periodically grease the pan with oil. Six pancakes are enough to make a pie.
Next, you can move on to kneading yeast dough, which is rich, because it is prepared with yeast and milk. We brew yeast in warm milk and wait 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the sugar with eggs with a mixer, add the melted butter and salt, add the milk and gradually pour the flour. Knead the mass until an elastic and soft dough is obtained. We leave it to insist for an hour, and we ourselves proceed to the preparation of the filling.
Chicken fillet must be boiled. If you use any other part of the chicken, then after cooking, the meat must be separated from the bones. In the finished mass, add a couple of spoons of sour cream, salt and a little pepper. Cut boiled eggs, mix with boiled rice and add a little sour cream. Add salt and pepper to the filling.
Grind mushrooms and onions, fry them in vegetable oil until the liquid evaporates completely.
We prepare a baking sheet, covering it with parchment. We divide the dough into two equal parts: we roll out one of them so that the layer is slightly larger in diameter than the pancakes. We spread a layer of chicken filling on it. Put one pancake on top. Next, spread the rice, on top of it - another pancake, and then a layer of mushroom filling, which we cover with another pancake. If you laid out the filling with a thin layer, then you can repeat the layers again. We roll out the second part of the test much wider than the first. We cover the cake with this layer and pinch the edges. In the center of the baking dish, a hole can be made from above for steam to escape, so that the product does not burst during cooking. Bake the cake for at least 40 minutes at a temperature of 180-200 o C.
Instead of an afterword
Cooking a chicken coop is a rather laborious and lengthy process. No wonder in the old days this dish was considered royal. Modern housewives can use simplified recipes. Of course, the dish will not be so interesting, but still delicious. If you want to surprise guests or please your family, then use the old recipe and cook a real chicken pot.