Skillet Chebureki with Meat

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   The best dough for chebureki is a hot-water dough made with boiling water. Put the sifted wheat flour in a deep bowl — be sure to sift it, both to remove any bits and to aerate it. Add the salt.

2. Step 2:

   

   Bring water to a boil and pour it over the flour, stirring so the mixture comes together in clumps. Let the dough sit on the counter to cool a bit.

3. Step 3:

   

   Pour in the vegetable oil and crack in the egg. Mix until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

4. Step 4:

   

   Put it back in the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for half an hour.

5. Step 5:

   

   Meanwhile, make the filling. You want a juicy meat filling, so a pork-and-beef blend is best. Use pre-ground meat or grind it yourself from fresh cuts. Grind the peeled onion together with the meat for a smoother, more even filling. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste and mix.

6. Step 6:

   

   Divide the rested dough into several pieces, depending on how many you want and the size of your pan — I got 6. Roll each piece out into a thin round. Spread a little of the meat filling over one half.

7. Step 7:

   

   Fold the other half of the dough over the filling and crimp the edges with a fork — it makes them prettier and keeps the filling from leaking out as they fry, so the meat juices stay inside.

8. Step 8:

   

   Pour vegetable oil into the pan — enough that the chebureki sit about a third of the way in the oil while frying. Get the oil very hot; you can test it by dropping in a small piece of dough. Fry the chebureki over high heat for two minutes per side — that's enough for the meat inside to cook through. Set them on paper towels to blot off the oil, then serve. Enjoy!