Sibirskie Pelmeni

Ingredients

• 400 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 large egg
• 180 ml cold water
• 1 tsp salt, for the dough
• 250 g minced pork
• 250 g minced beef
• 1 onion, very finely grated
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 80 ml iced water, for the filling
• 1.5 tsp salt, for the filling
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves, for the cooking water
• 40 g butter, to serve
• 150 g soured cream, to serve
• 2 tbsp chopped dill, to serve
• Cider vinegar, to serve

Before you cook

• Tip the flour and 1 teaspoon of salt into a bowl, make a well in the middle and add the egg and cold water.
• Bring the dough together with your hands, then knead it on the worktop for 10 minutes until it is smooth and springy and no longer sticks.
• Wrap the dough and leave it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Mix the pork, beef, grated onion, garlic, 1.5 teaspoons of salt and the black pepper in a bowl.
• Beat the iced water into the meat a splash at a time until the filling is soft, loose and slightly sticky.
• Dust two baking trays generously with flour.

Steps

1. Cut the rested dough into four pieces and keep three of them covered.
2. Roll the first piece out on a floured surface until it is 1.5 mm thick, thin enough to see the worktop through.
3. Stamp out rounds with a 6 cm cutter, gathering and rerolling the scraps once.
4. Spoon a scant teaspoon of filling into the centre of each round.
5. Fold a round in half over the filling and pinch the curved edge shut, pressing out any trapped air as you go.
6. Bring the two pointed corners of the half-moon together and pinch them firmly so the dumpling forms a little ring.
7. Set the finished pelmeni on the floured tray without letting them touch.
8. Shape the remaining dough and filling the same way.
9. Put the trays in the freezer for at least 20 minutes, which firms the dumplings and stops them bursting.
10. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil and drop in the bay leaves.
11. Lower in half the pelmeni and stir once straight away so they do not stick to the base.
12. Boil them for 5 minutes from the moment they rise to the surface.
13. Lift them out with a slotted spoon into a warm bowl and toss them with half the butter.
14. Cook the second batch the same way and toss it with the remaining butter.
15. Scatter over the dill and serve with soured cream and a small jug of vinegar for people to add themselves.