For 25 pelmeni: | For 4 khinkali: |
Flour - 250 g Beef - 300 g Pork - 300 g Egg - 1 pc Onion - 1 pc Milk - 125 ml | Flour - 150 g Water - 85 ml Beef - 200 g Onion - 1 pc Caraway Cumin Black pepper Red pepper Salt |
There are similar dishes in almost every culture – Ravioli in Italy, Gyoza in Japan. The main idea is wrapping chopped or ground meat in dough. Then, boiling or steaming it.
The word pelmeni is derived from pel'nyan' (пельнянь) – literally "ear bread" in the native Finno-Ugric Komi, Udmurt and Mansi languages. Some theories say that pelmeni originate from Siberia, where hundreds or even thousands could be made, and then frozen and stored outside during the long winters. However, dumplings have become very popular throughout Russia. They are traditionally made of flour, milk, one egg, and salt. The dough is rolled out fairly thin, and cut in circles approximately two inches in diameter. The filling is usually a mixture of ground pork, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Khinkali is a dumpling which originated in Georgia. Khinkali is filled with various fillings, mostly spiced meat, herbs, and onions. Mushrooms, potatoes, or cheese can be used instead of meat. We’ll talk about khinkali due to their growing popularity in Russia. A few years ago you may have seen sushi at every corner; now it's time for Georgian cuisine.
The main difference between pelmeni and khinkali lies in the consistency of the ground beef. The beef for khinkali is more liquidy since it should contain some water that becomes a broth in the end. The dough for khinkali is made without eggs or milk. In addition to this, there are several herbs commonly used for khinkali that you will never find inside pelmeni.
More video recipes in Delicious Russia podcast.
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