Hychiny

A recipe for a dish from the Kabardino-Balkarian cuisine. Hychiny are thin flatbreads that are fried on a dry hot skillet and then generously brushed with butter. They somewhat resemble the familiar cheburek, but only slightly. The fillings can vary from meat with onions, cheese with potatoes, cheese with herbs, mashed red bean puree, pumpkin, etc. In their homeland, hychiny are dipped in broth or soup and made almost every day. Very delicious and filling!

For the dough:

Kefir

2 cups (or any other fermented milk product)

Baking Soda

1 tsp

Salt

a pinch

Flour

4-4.5 cups

For the filling:

Minced Meat

2-2.5 cups (finely ground meat)

Onion

1 pc (large onion)

Salt

to taste

Black Pepper

to taste

To prepare hychiny, pour kefir into a bowl, add salt, soda, flour, and knead the dough. It should not be too tight. Then for 5-10 minutes, "beat" the dough - you can beat it with a rolling pin or throw it on the table. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

Beating the dough is necessary to make it obedient and elastic, so you won't have any problems with it later - it won't tear and will roll out easily.

Divide the dough into balls the size of a large tangerine (about 100-120 g each).

For the filling, you can grind the minced meat with onions again (you can use a blender), season with salt and pepper to taste, and mix well. Shape the dough into flatbreads and place the filling in the center. The volume of the filling should be equal to the volume of the dough.

Pinch the edges of the flatbreads to form a knot.

Carefully shape each knot back into a flatbread. Then, using a rolling pin, roll out the flatbread into a thin circle (3-5 mm, the thinner, the better). The size of the circle should match the size of the skillet.

Hychiny with meat filling are usually slightly thicker than those with other fillings.

Fry the hychiny on a well-heated dry skillet over medium heat. They may puff up during frying, simply prick them. Generously brush each hychin with butter after frying. Stack them in a suitable pot and cover with a lid. They will become tender and very soft.