Kulebyaka began to be cooked in Russia as early as the XNUMXth – XNUMXth centuries (according to some sources, even earlier). And then it was a dish for all classes. The main difference between kulebyaki and simple pies is in the filling, more precisely in the fillings. The content of this pastry is complex, consisting of two or more types of minced meat. They are stacked in layers so that in each separate piece there is a complete set. And so that they do not mix with each other, the fillings are shifted with layers of unleavened pancakes.
Kulebyaka stuffed with meat
For the dough:
– flour – 700 g; – dry yeast – 10 g; – milk – 300 ml; – egg yolks – 2 pcs.; – butter – 70 g; – sugar – 2 tbsp. l.
For pancakes:
– flour – 2/3 cup; – milk – 200 ml; – egg – 1 pc .; – vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l .; – soda on the tip of a knife; – salt.
For fillings:
– long-grain parboiled rice – 1/2 cup; – boiled beef fillet – 1 kg; – meat broth – 2-3 tbsp. l .; – eggs – 2 pcs.; – egg whites – 2 pcs.; – buckwheat groats – 1/2 cup; – fresh mushrooms – 300 g; – medium-sized bulbs – 3 pcs.; – green onions – 1 bunch; – salt, pepper to taste.
In addition, you need one yolk for lubrication and oil for frying.
Traditional kulebyaka is made from sponge dough. To prepare it, you need to dissolve yeast with sugar in slightly warmed milk, then mix thoroughly with half the flour and remove to a warm place, covered with a lid, for about an hour.
When the dough is right, add melted butter, yolks, salt and the remaining flour and knead until the dough comes off easily from the hands and walls of the dish. After that, cover the container with the dough again and send it to rise in the heat.
For the layer between the fillings, you will need six thin pancakes with a diameter of 15-18 cm. To prepare them, you need to mix milk with flour, butter, egg, soda and a pinch of salt until smooth. Bake pancakes in a hot skillet.
While the dough is coming up and the pancakes are cooling down, you can start preparing three types of filling: rice, buckwheat and meat.
The number of fillings in kulebyak is not limited by anything. For example, Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a researcher of Moscow at the end of the 12th – beginning of the XNUMXth centuries, in his writings described kulebyaka with XNUMX different fillings, which was served in the Merchant Club
For the meat filling, you need to finely chop and sauté two onions in oil and mix them with chopped boiled meat. Add one protein and broth, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
To prepare the rice filling, you need to boil the rice and drain the water. Boil two eggs hard-boiled, chop finely and add to the rice. Pour chopped green onions and the protein of one egg into the same container. Salt and mix all ingredients.
For the third filling, it is necessary to lightly fry the buckwheat in a skillet and cook. Rinse the mushrooms thoroughly, peel and cut into small cubes, chop the onion. Fry onion with mushrooms in oil, then add ready-made buckwheat to the same pan and mix.
Put the dough on a floured table and knead again. Pinch off a small piece and leave to decorate. Roll out an oval-shaped layer with a thickness of about 5 millimeters from the remaining part.
In kulebyak, the filling makes up more than half of the weight of the dish. Therefore, the layer of dough should be as thin as possible, but its thickness should be enough so as not to break and hold all the contents.
Along the layer, you need to lay out the buckwheat filling in an even layer and cover it along with three pancakes. On top of the pancakes – minced meat, pancakes again, and then rice filling. Fold the edges of the dough up and pinch gently. Turn the cake seam side down. From the remaining piece of dough, weave a pigtail or other decoration and put on top. Lubricate the kulebyaka with yolk, pierce it several times with a fork and send it to the oven preheated to 220 ° C.
In addition to the layered arrangement of the fillings, cornering is known. In this case, in the section, they form petals. Known kulebyaki for two, three and four corners
After 45 minutes, the ready-made kulebyaka can be taken out and served.