Crispy, golden and bubbly Chebureki, is a delicious memory from my childhood. Crispy yet soft, with the trademark bubbles on the dough. No vodka or hot water in this recipe, just a real delicious and easy recipe. Sometimes they are known as Chiburekki.
Chebureki are a fried turnover, filled with ground beef and onions. They also taste great with ground lamb. The dough is rolled out and folded in the shape of a half moon crescent. They are meant to be large in size, not small like Fried Piroshki. It's a popular snack food enjoyed in Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia.
I remember eating these at my grandparents and my parents as a child. Who doesn't love crispy fried foods? I would dip them into ketchup. Although not traditional, ketchup goes with everything!
Chebureki with Tortilla
This is a real Chebureki recipe, not a tortilla in sight. I figure that makes them empanadas! It's funny when I read a recipe for Russian Chebureki, and they're made with Mexican tortillas.... might be faster but nowhere near as good or authentic! I think it might confuse people to think that's how they are actually made. If you're reading this from Russia, this is what American Russians have started to do as a shortcut. So as you can see, I don't believe in using Tortillas!
How to Make Chebureki without Vodka
It's very easy to make this dough, unleavened without yeast. Just mix, rest, and roll! Some recipes use Vodka in the dough mixture, but it's not necessary. You could add 1-2 tablespoons of vodka to the dough if you like. The meat filling is super juicy, when you bite into it, the broth spills out (slurp carefully!). When frying Chebureki, prepare a plate with paper towels on it. When you remove them from the oil, this will soak up the excess.
Chebureki are a classic Crimean, Caucasus and Turkic street food snack, popular across Russia and the former Soviet Union. I remember eating these in Sochi with a cold glass of Kvas in the summertime. The perfect street food combo for me! Crispy outside, juicy inside, so easy to make, an authentic recipe! Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!
Ingredients
Ingredients for dough
- 4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups water
- 4 tablespoons oil
Ingredients for filling
- 1¼ lbs /600g ground beef
- 2 small onions finely diced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup water
- ½ bunch chopped parsley
- oil for frying
Instructions
- To prepare the dough, mix water and salt together until dissolved. place the flour, salty water and oil in a bowl. Mix together to make a dough ball. Sprinkle more flour on a working surface, continue to knead the dough, adding more flour if necessary until the dough is smooth, elastic and non-tacky. Flip the bowl over the dough and allow to rest for about an hour.
- To prepare the meat filling, combine all the ingredients until evenly mixed.
- Pinch small pieces of dough, slightly smaller than a tennis ball, and roll out thinly. The dough circle should be about 7" to 8" wide. Make sure it's not wider than your frying pan!
- Place a heaping tablespoon of meat over half of the dough, spreading evenly. Leave a ½" clean border around the meat. Fold the dough over the meat, forming a half moon, and press the edges to seal the cheburek. Use a fork to press a pattern around the cheburek.
- Heat about ½" oil into a frying pan until hot. Fry the chebureki in the hot oil for 3-4 minutes, carefully turning over each side. If oil isn't hot enough, it will absorb into the cheburek and tasty oily.
- Serve immediately.
©PetersFoodAdventures.com
Daniel
This is a great recipe. All your recipes have been successful for me. Thank you! Is there a trick to checking for salt in the meat? My chebureki could have used some more salt, but I don't want to be tasting raw meat when checking for taste :/
Peter's Food Adventures
Thanks Daniel, that's great to hear! Salting meat can be tricky because there is a personal element of taste. Also impacting is table salt vs kosher salt. Table salt is finely ground and kosher is coarser, so might need to compensate by adding more kosher salt then table salt, if you get when I mean. Only thing I can suggest is to cook a teaspoon of the meat, and taste it and adjust if needed! Hope this helps! 🙂
Bella
Peter, thank you for this recipe! My family is Uzbek and this tastes exactly like the Chebureki my grandma used to make us as kids. I followed your recipe and they turned out perfect. They were gone in less than an hour!
Peter's Food Adventures
Bella, thank you! This is the highest compliment!!! 👍🏻👍🏻
Sarah
I see yeast in your pic but not listed under ingredients?
Peter's Food Adventures
Hi Sarah! Great catch, there is no yeast in the recipe. I accidentally added the wrong picture from the piroshki I was making that day too! Thanks for catching it, will update it!
Ron
Hi Peter, I really like your blog and this post. I'm very fond of Russian (and other) hand pies. I have very fond memories of traveling in Southern Siberia and eating Belyashi. We also have a food truck here (Sweden) that sells Chebureki, put his has diced potatoes in it as well. Perhaps that's a variation. I've not made Chebureki, but soon will. I've pinned this to my "Global Hand Pie Recipe" board.
PetersFoodAdventures
Thanks Ron for checking it out! Belyashi are one of my favorites too! I will post that recipe soon! 👍🏻