Chicken pie with meat
4 servings
80 minutes
Kurnik with meat is a traditional Russian pie that was a popular dish at holidays and celebrations. Its history dates back to ancient Russian feasts, where it symbolized abundance and family unity. This pie combines soft, flaky dough with a juicy filling of meat, potatoes, and onions, creating a rich, homey flavor. During baking, the dough absorbs the aromatic broth, making it especially tender and flavorful. Kurnik can be conveniently served whole or in portions, and its versatility allows for experimentation with fillings. Ideal for cozy family lunches or festive gatherings, this pie remains one of the most beloved and unique dishes of Russian cuisine.
1
First, you need to knead the dough. Take the flour, sift it, and pour it into a bowl. Then take a pack of margarine (it's much easier if it's frozen) and grate it on a coarse grater, gradually mixing the resulting 'shavings' with the flour. The resulting dry mixture should be thoroughly rubbed with your fingers to ensure the margarine is evenly mixed with the flour.
- Wheat flour: 2 glasss
- Margarine: 200 g
2
Then make a well in the mixture. Put baking soda in a spoon, pour vinegar into it, and mix it with warm kefir. Be careful! The reaction will be vigorous, so it's better to do this over a bowl of flour. Gradually stir the kefir until it rises slightly (or starts to overflow from the glass). Pour the kefir into the flour, add a little salt, and knead the dough. Don't overdo it, just mix until homogeneous. Place it in a bag and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
- Soda: 0.5 teaspoon
- Vinegar: 1 teaspoon
- Kefir: 0.5 glass
- Salt: to taste
3
First, let's prepare the filling. For this, we cut the meat (beef or pork, tenderloin or neck - as desired) into thin 'worms' about 3-4 cm long. We chop the onion finely (those who dislike onions can skip this). We peel the potatoes and cut them into small thin pieces to match the meat.
- Meat: 300 g
- Potato: 3 pieces
- Onion: 1 piece
4
In vegetable oil, lightly fry the onion, add the meat, and sauté for a short time over medium heat. When the juice appears, add a little hot water to create broth. Keep everything on the heat for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the meat from the heat, transfer it to a plate, and pour the broth into another container — we will need it.
- Onion: 1 piece
- Meat: 300 g
- Ground black pepper: to taste
- Salt: to taste
5
Take out the dough and knead it for a while. Divide it into two parts (one larger) and roll it into a circle. The size of the form for this amount of dough is about 24 cm (it can be smaller, then a little dough will remain, there are no exact proportions). Roll it out not too thin, not too thick — the dough will rise slightly. Place the circle in the form so that it lies over the edges.
6
We lay the filling. First the potatoes, then the meat on top. Roll out the remaining dough, the diameter of the circle should be about 4 centimeters smaller than the diameter of the mold. Place the circle on the filling and start wrapping the pie. The edges of the dough left from the bottom circle need to be joined with the small circle on top. This can be done in the same way as shaping dumplings. Now it is very important to make a hole about 1.5 centimeters in the middle of the top circle.
7
Now we place the chicken pie in a preheated oven at about 200 degrees. After about 10 minutes, when the dough sets, we open the oven and pour the broth left from the meat into the hole with a tablespoon (if you find a smarter tool, that would be great). For the first time, 3-4 tablespoons will be enough. This needs to be done a couple more times. The chicken pie stays in the oven for a total of 40 minutes (until the dough is medium golden brown).
- Meat: 300 g