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Chebureki
Updated April 30, 2024
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- Total Time
- 4 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1medium onion, any kind (except sweet), coarsely chopped
- 4ounces ground beef
- 4ounces ground pork
- 2teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
- 1½teaspoons salt
- 8ounces plain kefir, plus more as needed
- 4cups/510 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (if needed)
- 1teaspoon fine salt
- 1cup/240 milliliters plus 1 tablespoon cold water
- Peanut oil or refined sunflower oil, for frying (about 8 cups)
For the Meat Filling
For the Dough
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the meat filling: Place the chopped onion in a food processor and process until it is very fine and has started to release moisture. Transfer the onion to a large bowl. Add the beef, pork, black pepper and salt, and mix very well. Gradually add kefir to the mixture and mix it into the meat using a spoon. The consistency should be pourable and almost soupy, not stiff. If necessary, add more kefir, 1 tablespoon at a time, to achieve the desired consistency. Cover mixture and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
- Step 2
Make the dough: Place 3 cups of the flour in a large bowl. Add the fine salt and mix with a fork. Add the water and mix until combined. Sprinkle a work surface with some of the remaining flour and knead in the rest of the flour little by little (you may not need all of it), until the dough is pliable and not sticky, about 15 minutes. (The dough should spring back when you make a slight indent with your finger.) Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 1 hour.
- Step 3
Set up your frying station: Pour 2 inches of oil into a wok or a Dutch oven. Line a sheet pan with a wire rack and some paper towels to absorb any excess oil from the finished chebureki. Heat the oil over medium-high until the temperature reaches between 350 and 375 degrees.
- Step 4
Divide the rested dough into 12 pieces and roll them into balls. (The dough should be pliable and shouldn’t need much flour.) Flatten the pieces into disks and cover with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out. Working with one piece at a time, lightly dust the counter with flour and roll out the dough into a very thin round about 8 inches in diameter. (You should be able to read text through the dough.)
- Step 5
Place 3 level tablespoons of filling on one side of the round and spread it into a thin half-moon, leaving a 1-inch border around the filling. Make sure not to add too much filling! Overfilling increases the risk of leakage during frying.
- Step 6
Fill a small bowl with water, and using your finger, dampen the edges of the whole round to help seal the cheburek. Fold the dough over the side with the filling, trying to make sure there are no air bubbles between the filling and the dough to help decrease the chance of bursting. Press the edges to seal tightly, then seal them completely with a fork. Use a pasta wheel or paring knife to trim off any uneven edges, if you like.
- Step 7
Once the oil is at 350 degrees, carefully lower the shaped cheburek into the oil and fry until the dough is golden brown and bubbly, about 2 minutes per side. Using tongs or a large slotted spatula, transfer the fried cheburek to the rack. Repeat shaping, filling and frying with the remaining dough and filling.
- Step 8
Let the cheburek cool slightly, then dig in! These are best eaten hot. Enjoy with a glass of ryazhanka or kefir.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Yum. I lived in Zaporizhzhia in the early 2000s and this would be one of my splurges. I can taste them now. Was fortunate to spend a New Year's in Mariupol.
I’ve been making chebureki for years, and our family recipe is a little different than Julia's (no kefir, we add minced green onion and parsley.) But it’s worth talking about how to eat them. Inside a hot cheburek is a pool of hot broth, so it's best to keep the meat pie vertical once you take the first bite. Also, start slurping each bite after the 2nd/3rd, or else you'll end up with hot broth all over! Truly one of the world's most delicious foods. PS - uncooked tortillas will work in a pinch!
I’d add some dill,parsley, paprika, or anise to emphasize the Eastern European origin of this recipe.
Turned out amazing! Did a few changes for convenience and taste: - Used "Uncooked Flour Tortillas" for the dough. A minor detail is not noticeable in the final taste test. It just so happens that both chebureki dough and the flour tortilla dough are made with the same exact dough ingredients (flour, water, and a little bit of fat). - Added garlic, dill, and parsley to the onion mix in the food processor.
If you roll the dough out thinly enough, then the meat pie is a little larger, (about 10 inches diameter) and probably using 10 ounces total of meat would be a more filling amount of the meat mix than the 8 ounces the recipe suggests. They are delicious, and the kefir and onion give the meat a wonderful full and yummy flavor. It is very helpful to have two people working when making these, one to assemble the pies, the other to watch over them as they cook. Definitely going to make them again!
yes, make these at home. I have the Lithuanian recipe which asks you put a little cheese curd in the dough. While visiting my relatives in Lithuania, we went to an open air restaurant which served about 10 or a dozen varieties, including dessert type 'cheburekai.' (note a slightly different spelling). The place was packed. Also sold on the street from vending carts. : -D
It doesn't say anywhere in the recipe, but is it 4 oz of cooked beef and pork or raw? I'm assuming you have to cook the ground meats prior since I don't think the frying would cook the meats thoroughly.
Has anyone tried baking, rather than frying, these? (I hate post-frying cleanup.)
I’ve been making chebureki for years, and our family recipe is a little different than Julia's (no kefir, we add minced green onion and parsley.) But it’s worth talking about how to eat them. Inside a hot cheburek is a pool of hot broth, so it's best to keep the meat pie vertical once you take the first bite. Also, start slurping each bite after the 2nd/3rd, or else you'll end up with hot broth all over! Truly one of the world's most delicious foods. PS - uncooked tortillas will work in a pinch!
Very close to meat samosas, except for the lack of certain Indian spices. My problem was always having the dough separate while being fried, thus contaminating the oil for the rest of the samosas.
I’d add some dill,parsley, paprika, or anise to emphasize the Eastern European origin of this recipe.
Any suggested changes for high altitude?
Could you do these in a deep fryer?
Absolutely!
Yes, you can.
Yum. I lived in Zaporizhzhia in the early 2000s and this would be one of my splurges. I can taste them now. Was fortunate to spend a New Year's in Mariupol.
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