Khychins are round-shaped national thin pies of Caucasian cuisine, which are a very honorable dish, even participating in many folk rituals. They are so thin that they are more of a flatbread than a cake in its usual sense.
Khychins are prepared from unleavened dough stuffed with meat, cheese, cottage cheese, herbs and potatoes in their various combinations, combinations and proportions. Moreover, each nationality and even the mistress has its own characteristics of their preparation. So, for example, a distinctive feature of the Balkar khychins is very thinly rolled dough and frying them in a dry frying pan. Just their version with cheese and greens filling is presented in this recipe.
Ingredients:
For the test:
Curd serum - 250 ml
Wheat flour - 480 g
Salt - 1 tsp l.
Soda - 1/3 tsp l.
For filling:
Greens - 100 g
Curd cheese - 400 g
Preparation:
Step 1: Prepare the required ingredients. It is better to take fresh herbs, but you can take them from the freezer, just defrost them first. Cumin, cilantro, celery, dill, parsley, or a mixture of them (100 g) are suitable. Choose the version of greens that you like more to taste, then the khychins will be delicious. Traditionally, the dough for khychins is prepared in water, but so that it does not seem too bland, modern housewives use kefir, milk, yogurt, but then they must be diluted with water in a 50/50 ratio. And you can cook with curd whey, without diluting anything.
Step 2: The first step is to prepare the dough, as it needs some time to "rest". Dissolve baking soda in whey (kefir). Soda is not used for the water test. Be sure to sift the wheat flour, add it to the liquid part and knead the dough of a slightly strong consistency, but not tight. It should be elastic and not sticky to hands or dishes.
Step 3: Place the dough in a bag or leave in a bowl, tighten with plastic wrap, for 30 minutes at room temperature. While it is "resting", prepare the filling.
Step 4: Rinse greens, dry, remove, if any, very thick, tough stems and chop finely. It is very important that there are no large pieces in the filling, as this will interfere with the rolling of the cake.
Step 5: Grate the cheese on a fine grater or mash with a fork, you can rub it with your hands. Usually Adyghe cheese or feta cheese is used for khychins, but you can make a simple alternative to them at home from milk and sour cream. Add greens to it, mix thoroughly.
Step 6: Divide the dough into 10 equal parts and cover them with foil or a towel so as not to wind up. Roll each into a round 4 mm thick, if necessary, use a thin layer of flour to burn. You can perform operations simultaneously with all, or you can completely shape one, then the next.
Step 7: Put the filling on a very juicy side. It will be very good if the cheese mass is capable of molding, then divide it similarly into 10 parts and form a ball from each. If it crumbles, then spread it on a juicer for about 4 hours. l., slapping after each spoon, as in a sandbox with a spatula. Form with "washers", collecting the cake in a knot, carefully fix in the center. You can apply another molding method by rolling out two equal very thin juices at once. Apply the filling evenly on one and cover with the second, connect their edges. But in the process of frying, a dryish crust will turn out at the bonding points. Although this is not for everybody.
Step 8: First, knead each workpiece with your fingers, as far as possible, into an even thin circle. Then roll it out with a rolling pin into the thinnest cake, using a thin layer of flour to burn. It rolls out so thinly (3 mm thick) that the filling is visible. It is important to do this very carefully, without sudden movements, so as not to damage the integrity of the juicy.
Step 9: Heat a dry frying pan, preferably cast iron. Fry the khichiny on both sides until golden brown at medium heat. If the cake swells with a ball during frying, then carefully make a puncture in the center with a knife. Immediately grease hot cakes with butter. There is a traditional opinion: if they served khychins to the guests without greasing them with butter, then they saved on them. You can start to grease in a frying pan, while the second side is being fried, the first fried one can already be greased.
Step 10: Khychins are good, both hot and cold.
Balkar pies should be served with sour cream or fermented milk drinks. Ayran, tan, kefir, yogurt, yogurt will do. But you can also serve them with tomato sauce and fresh vegetables.
Bon appetit and may it be delicious!
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