Dumplings are the hallmark of Ukrainian national cuisine. They share the first place in fame and popularity with borsch. Do you know that the glorious city of Poltava is the culinary capital of Ukraine? After all, the most delicious borsch and the most amazing dumplings in the whole country are cooked there. Well, we'll talk about Poltava beetroot soup with donuts some other time ... But dumplings ... Huge, male-sized fist each, tender, just melting in your mouth ... Whatever the filling inside, the secret of popularity is not in it. The fact is that the dough for these products is prepared on kefir. Sour-milk product gives it elasticity and tenderness. Here you will read about how to cook dough for dumplings with the addition of kefir.
Fast dough with a minimum of products
In fact, in every city of Ukraine, what can I say - every housewife has her own recipe for these products. Someone makes dough on kefir, someone - on yogurt, sour milk, whey. In a word, a fermented milk product as an ingredient simply must be. Let's start with the simplest recipe, which does not take much time. To make kefir dough quickly, take two glasses of flour, an egg and salt. Well, instead of water, as in the usual recipe, add 250 ml of fermented milk product. By the way, Ukrainian housewives do not like the so-called low-fat kefir. The more natural the product will be, the more tender and elastic the dough will turn out. Pre-dissolve the salt in kefir and add the remaining ingredients. Knead the elastic dough and leave for 15 minutes or half an hour to make it fit. And then we start modeling.
Lush Dumplings
If you visit the fair in Sorochintsy (Poltava region), then make sure that it is most appreciated there. These are the so-called “fluffy” dumplings. The secret of their splendor is explained very simply. In the dough for dumplings on kefir baking soda is mixed . Pour five and a half glasses of flour into a deep bowl. We put one and a half tablespoons of soda and a little less salt there. Mix the bulk mass. In a mug, beat an egg with a soup spoon of sugar. We do not need persistent peaks, just chat with a whisk or even a fork for three minutes to form a foam on the surface. From flour we form a “volcano”, that is, a hill with a crater on top. Pour a sweetened egg and half a liter of kefir into this funnel. There is another important nuance. Kefir must be at room temperature, so that the dough does not become too tight. Mix and roll the dough until it stops sticking to your fingers. Then we cover it with a towel and leave it to reach for half an hour.
How to cook them right
It is not enough to know how to make dough for dumplings on kefir. We must also be able to cook and serve them. You can throw the products in slightly salted boiling water, stir lightly with a wooden spatula and hold there for 5-6 minutes over low heat. But the classic Poltava dumplings are steamed. A sieve is placed in a large pot of boiling water so that it does not touch the liquid. Dumplings are laid on the bottom and covered with a lid. After three minutes, the products are gently turned over onto the other side. Dumplings with sweet filling are quickly spread in a ceramic bowl with butter, cut into pieces, and sour cream. Close the lid and shake the container vigorously. It is necessary that greasy gravy envelop each dumpling, otherwise the products will stick together. This dish is served quite differently if the filling is unsweetened. As soon as you put steam to boil flour for cooking flour products, set on a fire and a frying pan. Slice a piece of bacon (good, Ukrainian) into small cubes and bake on the cracklings. In the resulting fat, fry the onion. Meanwhile, our dumplings with kefir dough will reach the right condition. We take them out of the sieve and throw them in a frying pan, stirring with a wooden spatula.
Kefir dumpling dough with cookies powder
There are other regional recipes. Sometimes the ingredients are the same, but the dough mixing technology is different. This recipe is well suited for dumplings with savory curd or potato filling. First, pour kefir at room temperature (half a liter) into a deep bowl and add half of the standard packet of powder for cookies to it. Leave for 5-10 minutes, so that the baking powder and lactic acid bacteria form a yeast. Well, then add the egg, a spoonful of salt and begin to mix the flour (approximately 600-700 g).
Kefir dumplings with quenched soda
In this recipe the features are as follows. First, a mixture of 400 ml of fatty kefir, eggs and a pinch of salt is made. We collect half a spoonful of baking soda and drip on it about the same amount of vinegar (any). When the chemical reaction, expressed in hissing and bubbling, stops, pour the soda into kefir. Sift the flour with a slide, make a funnel and pour the kefir mixture there. Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes. If necessary, add flour. So that the dough does not work out too tight, we throw the kolobok onto the countertop with force (about fifty times). This simple technique releases gluten. Therefore, the dough comes out very elastic and does not tear, even if it is rolled into a very thin layer.