Tuesday 17 November 2015

Piragi (Latvian Buns)

Piragi (Latvian Buns)
A pīrāgs -  plural - pīrāgi is an oblong or crescent-shaped baked Latvian bread roll or pastry, often containing a filling of finely chopped bacon cubes and onion. Pīrāgi range from 5 centimetres in length to 13 centimetres, depending on if they are intended as a snack or a more substantial meal. Smaller pīrāgi are often prized for their daintiness and are considered the work of a skilled cook. As with many national dishes, Latvian families often have their own unique recipe for the dish, resulting in many variations of pīrāgi. Due to the amount of work involved to make pīrāgi, they are usually made only for special occasions.
Other common pīrāgs fillings include fatty bacon, fatback (speķis), mixtures of ground or finely chopped meats (ground beef, ham and chicken with or without bacon), fish, cabbage and pressed cottage cheese. Pīrāgi come in two main varieties: plain bread pīrāgi and brothor soup pīrāgi (zupas or buljona pīrāgi). Bread pīrāgi come with a larger variety of fillings and are made using a yeast dough. Broth pīrāgi are made from a flaky pastry butter dough, often a sour cream dough, and are usually filled with boiled beef or sometimes cooked fish. These are intended to be eaten with a cup or bowl of good broth.
Information source Net

My version of Pīrāgi
Suffing
1 cup Cottage chesse finely minced
1 cup Red Cabbage finely minced
2 Onions, finely minced
1 tsp Garlic finely minced
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
1 tsp Oil

Method
In a heavy non stick pan, add the oil. Sauté the onions, garlic, red cabbage and cottage cheese until the onions are translucent. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Keep the stuffing aside to cool completely.

Pīrāgi
Ingredients
3 and 1/2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tbsp dry Yeast
1/4 cup Warm Water
2 tbsp Sugar
3/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Butter
Salt to taste
Stuffing
2 tbsp Milk + 2 tbsp butter

Method
Place yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl, put aside for the yeast to activate atleast 10 minutes. In a small saucepan add butter, milk, salt. Warm over a low heat until butter has melted. When milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm stir in the yeast. Place two cups of the flour in a large bowl, pour liquid over and stir to combine. Once combined add the remaining flour. Mix until all ingredients have come together, then leave to rest in the bowl for 10 minutes. Once rested turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and soft, about 5 – 10 minutes. Place dough back in to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Leave dough to raise, around 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. Once dough is ready, divide the dough into  lime size portions. Take a portion and roll the dough in to a ball and stretch it to a circle. Place a tablespoon of stuffing, and bring the edges of the dough together. Seal the bun in a oval shape and pull the 2 points outwards. Place formed buns on a baking tray that has been greased. The seal edge has to be facing down.  Mix the milk and melted butter to make wash. Brush it on the buns.  Place buns in a preheated oven of 180 degrees celcius  and bake for approximately 25 minutes,brushing the milk and butter in between 2 times, bake until golden brown.

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