Pelmeni

Dough

• plain flour550 g
• eggs1
• water200 ml
• salt1 tsp

Filling

• minced pork250 g
• minced beef250 g
• onions1
• garlic2 clove
• cold water80 ml
• salt1½ tsp
• black pepper1 tsp

To serve

• butter50 g
• soured cream200 g
• black pepper
• dill (optional)2 tbsp

Dough

1. 01

   Tip 500 g of the plain flour and the salt into a bowl, make a well, and add the egg and lukewarm water. Bring it together with a fork, then turn it out and knead for a full 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, firm and springs back slowly when you press it. It is a stiff dough and will fight you for the first 5 minutes.

2. 02

   Wrap the dough and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes. This is not optional: an unrested dough springs back as you roll and you will never get it thin enough.

Filling

3. 03

   Grate the onion and crush the garlic, then mix them with the minced pork, minced beef, salt and black pepper. Grating the onion rather than chopping it releases its juice into the meat and leaves no crunchy pieces to tear the dough.

4. 04

   Beat in the cold water a tablespoon at a time until the filling is soft, slightly sticky and holds a spoon mark. Keep it in the fridge while you roll.

Shaping

5. 05

   Cut the dough into four pieces and keep the ones you are not using covered. Roll the first piece out on a surface lightly dusted with some of the remaining plain flour until it is 1 to 2 mm thick and you can almost see the worktop through it.

6. 06

   Stamp out 6 cm rounds with a glass or cutter. Put a rounded teaspoon of filling in the middle of each, fold into a half moon and pinch the curved edge shut, pressing out any trapped air as you go.

7. 07

   Bring the two corners of each half moon round to meet and pinch them together so the dumpling sits like a little ring. Set them, not touching, on a tray dusted with the last of the plain flour, and repeat with the rest of the dough.

Cooking

8. 08

   Bring a large pan of well salted water to a rolling boil. Drop in about 20 pelmeni, stir once so they do not stick to the base, and bring the water back to a gentle boil.

9. 09

   They will float after 1–2 minutes. Cook for a further 4 to 5 minutes from the moment they surface, until the dough at the pinched seam is tender rather than chalky. Cut one open to check: the filling should be cooked through with no pink left.

10. 10

    Lift them out with a slotted spoon into a warm bowl, add a knob of the butter and swirl to coat. Cook the rest in batches.

11. 11

    Chop the dill, if using. Serve the pelmeni straight away with the soured cream, a hard grind of black pepper and the dill scattered over.