Pelmenis are traditional Slavic dumplings. They have a tender bite of dough and savory meat filling for a satisfying dish!
Cuisine Ukrainian
Keyword Pelmeni
Prep Time 50 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
5 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 8
Author Valya's Taste of Home
Ingredients
For the Dough:
2cupswhey, buttermilk or Kefir
1large eggs
5cupsall-purpose floursifted
2tsp.baking soda
¼tsp.sea salt
For the Filling:
2 ½lbs.ground turkey meat
1tsp.sea salt
¼tsp.black pepper
1large egg
1small onion
2garlic cloves
Instructions
How to Prepare the Meat Filling
Wash the turkey breast tenderloins to clean off any impurities, then grind them using a meat grinder.
Add shredded onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, and egg to the ground turkey.
Mix all the ingredients well using a hand mixer until they are thoroughly combined.
Cover the mixture with plastic food wrap and place it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
How to Make the Dough
Combine all the dry ingredients together - sift all-purpose organic flour, baking soda, and sea salt, then set the mixture aside.
In a mixer bowl, pour in the whey, add the egg, and mix on medium speed using the mixer's whisk attachment. Mix for about 30 seconds or until the ingredients are well combined.
Switch the attachment to the mixer's dough hook. Add half of the flour mixture to the whey mixture and mix on the lowest speed. Continue adding ½ cup of flour mixture at a time until a soft dough forms with no clumps.
Transfer the dough onto a large cutting board or work surface that has been dust with flour. Cut a fist-sized piece out of the dough and roll it out into a large circle, a little wider than the pelmeni maker.
How to Fill and Shape the Pelmenis
Place the pelmenis maker on the rolled-out dough. Sprinkle some flour to dust the pelmenis maker and the dough to prevent sticking.
Place the floured side of the dough over the floured pelmenis maker. Press the dough into the pockets.
Place 1 tsp. of the seasoned ground turkey mixture into each pocket.
Roll out another dough circle and place it over the pelmenis maker filled with meat.
Use a rolling pin to press and roll over the top of the pelmenis maker from the center outward until all pelmenis are cut and the hexagon shapes are well visible.
Remove the outer layer of the remaining dough, knead it into a ball (to be used for the next bottom layer).
Turn the pelmenis maker filled with pelmenis over and hit an edge against the rolling pin or cutting board a couple of times until all pelmenis fall out from the pockets. Place the raw/uncooked pelmenis onto a rectangular plate.
Repeat the same steps until you've used up the rest of the dough and meat. You should have approximately 5 batches or 275 pelmenis. Any leftover pelmenis can be frozen in a ziplock bag.
How to Cook the Pelmeni
Unfrozen Pelmenis: Bring a medium pot filled with water halfway to a boil (on high temp) then carefully toss in pelmenis. Reduce the heat to medium and stir. The boiling will subside and then resume. As soon as gentle boiling starts, simmer pelmenis for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Frozen Pelmenis: Bring a medium pot filled with water halfway to a boil (on high temp) then carefully toss pelmenis into the pot. Do not reduce the heat (keep it on high) and stir. The coldness of frozen pelmenis will cause boiling to subside and then it will resume. As soon as pelmenis start boiling again reduce the heat to low/medium and let them simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Both Unfrozen and Frozen Pelmenis: Transfer the cooked pelmenis into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp. of butter, cut into smaller pieces, then toss to coat.
Serve the pelmenis right away with vinegar, sour cream, or anything else you prefer. Enjoy your delicious, homemade pelmenis!