Russian Beef Dumplings

A traditional and delicious recipe for hand-made Russian pelmeni filled with beef, flavored with onions and garlic.  Definitely, a must-try dish!

A traditional and delicious recipe for hand-made Russian pelmeni filled with beef, flavored with onions and garlic! Watch the video above to learn how to make the perfect pelmeni!

They are cheap and tasty – and you’ll recall your childhood.

You will have enough for about 6 dinners with this recipe, so if you are up for suffering through the process once, you will have a nice stash of these in the freezer.

Serve these in a good quality chicken broth, or boil and butter them up, then dip in sour cream, vinegar or ketchup. It is so common to eat pelmeni ( dumplings) everywhere in Russian speaking countries. 

This dish is very filling; the usual serving per person is around 10 pelmeni each. It doesn't take long to cook them, but the preparation process can take up to one hour.

If you make more of them, you can store them in your freezer for later. I prefer them fried, however, the boiled soup version is much healthier. Definitely, a must-try dish, I hope you enjoyed it!

They are lovely on a cold winter day. The dough is what really makes pelmeni what they are. When making the dough it's important to not overdo with the liquid. The dough has to be dense and elastic so that later it could be rolled out very thin.

Ingredients

For the dough


• 1 large egg

• 100 ml of water
• 
100 ml of milk

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
400-500 gram of plain flour
• 
2 tbsp of olive oil



Beef Filling


• 1 kg of fatty beef cut

• 4 medium onions

• 2-3 garlic cloves

• 1 tbsp of salt

• 1 tbsp of pepper

• 2 Bay leaves 
Butter 

• Beef or Vegetable Stock

Directions

Step 1: Add flour into your stand mixer. 


Step 2: Whisk together eggs, water, milk, oil and salt in a glass or a jug. 


Step 3: Combine your wet mixture with dry and keep adding in small amounts until your dough comes together. Knead the dough in your mixer for 5-8 minutes. 


Step 4: Add flour to your flat surface, and then knead the dough by hand for another 3 minutes. 


Step 5: Cover the dough with cling film and place in the fridge and let rest for at least 30 minutes.


Step 6: To make the filling, add your onions, garlic, and splash of water into the food processor. Blitz everything together until you get a nice smooth mass. You can also do this by hand with a grater! 


Step 7: In a large bowl, add minced beef, salt and pepper, and your onion-garlic mixture. Mix everything together really really well.


Step 8: Roll dough out on a floured work surface into a large circle or rectangle, to about the thickness of pasta sheets. Make sure you add four constantly onto the surface, dough and your rolling pin, as the dough will be sticky. 


Step 9: Use a 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter and cut as many circles as possible. Place 1 teaspoon of filling onto each circle. 


Step 10: Flour hands well and shapes pelmeni by pinching together the seams, forming a semi-circle then bringing the two edges together. Place prepared pelmeni onto a floured board until ready to cook. Use all the scraps of dough and roll out again. You can also use a dumpling mold to make pelmeni. Just use one sheet of rolled dough onto your mold, add the filling and then add the second sheet and roll until the pelmeni starts to fall out.


Step 11: If you want to freeze them for later, just place the floured board into the freezer for 30 min and then in a plastic bag. Pelmeni will last up to 6 months in the freezer.


Step 12: To cook pelmeni, heat a large pot of vegetable stock, add salt, peppercorn and bay leaves. Cook pelmeni in small batches for about 8 minutes. Once they rise to the top, they are pretty much done. Remove with a slotted spoon into the bowl. Add butter if you wish, mix well and serve with sour cream!

To make these yummy dishes you will need to do the following:



For boiled ones


Step 1: Boil water with 1 cube of beef/pork/chicken stock, add 1 bay leaf.


Step 2: Place pelmeni into hot water, and let them cook for 5-7 min. Make sure you don't overcook them, or they will become soggy.


Step 3: Serve with hot soup, sour cream, and dill. 



For the fried ones


Step 1: Place some butter in the pan and drop all the pelmeni. 


Step 2: Fry them on medium heat, cover with a lid.


Step 3: If you want them juicy, add a bit of water and cover with the lid. 


Step 4: Once they are golden brown, serve on a plate with sour cream and dill.

Text, photo, video, and recipes: Alla Driksne