Crispy, Blistered Chebureki (Vodka Dough)

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make crispy chebureki with vodka? Start with the dough. Gather your ingredients. Use good-quality all-purpose flour; a small egg is plenty. Don't worry about the alcohol in the dough — it cooks off completely during frying. Because vodka evaporates faster than water, it's what makes the chebureki crispy and airy.

2. Step 2:

   

   Sift the flour to aerate it and catch any bits of debris. Set aside about half a cup of it.

3. Step 3:

   

   Add the salt and vegetable oil to the water and bring it to a boil. It's easiest to do this in the same saucepan you'll use to make the dough.

4. Step 4:

   

   Add the reserved half cup of flour to the boiling water and stir quickly with a spoon or whisk until it comes together into a mass.

5. Step 5:

   

   Let the scalded base cool until just warm, then add the egg and vodka. Stir until smooth. Remember to wash the egg before using it. I used a farm egg, which gives the dough a yellow tint.

6. Step 6:

   

   Add the remaining flour a little at a time, kneading as you go. Once it gets too stiff to stir with a spoon, switch to kneading by hand.

7. Step 7:

   

   The dough should be springy, smooth, and non-sticky. If it seems too stiff but still tacky, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest 30 minutes. Then keep kneading, adding a little flour, until it stops sticking to your hands. Cover it again and let it rest.

8. Step 8:

   

   While the dough rests, make the filling. You can use store-bought ground meat, but it's better to grind your own. I used chicken breast.

9. Step 9:

   

   Prep the meat: wash it well and pat it dry with a paper or cloth towel. Cut it into small pieces that fit easily in a meat grinder. Peel, rinse, and cut the onion into pieces about the same size.

10. Step 10:

    

    Run everything through a meat grinder with a medium or coarse plate. You can also finely chop the meat and onion by hand, but that's much slower.

11. Step 11:

    

    Pick over the herbs, discarding any wilted leaves, then rinse and dry them. Chop and add to the filling. You can use frozen herbs, like I did.

12. Step 12:

    

    Season with salt and pepper and start mixing the filling, adding the kefir a little at a time. The kefir binds the moisture (so it won't leak into the dough) and then releases it during cooking, leaving the chebureki juicy.

13. Step 13:

    

    Keep mixing until the kefir is fully worked into the filling. The filling is ready!

14. Step 14:

    

    Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.

15. Step 15:

    

    Roll a piece of dough into a thin round, about 1/8 inch (2–3 mm) thick. Spread about a tablespoon of filling over one half of the round.

16. Step 16:

    

    Fold the other half over, press out the air, and seal the edges tightly. You can trim the edge with a fluted pastry cutter.

17. Step 17:

    

    Pour about an inch (2–3 cm) of oil into a dry skillet, heat it well, and fry the chebureki over medium-high heat (I use 7 out of 10) until golden on each side. They soak up a lot of oil, so top it off between batches.

18. Step 18:

    

    To drain the excess oil, set the finished chebureki on a plate lined with a few layers of paper towels. Serve them hot. Enjoy!