Tatar Freeze-Dried Corn Echpochmak

Here is their recipe for freeze-dried corn echpochmak — a meat and potato pie that has been made more Tatar but so much nicer with this addition of electric sweetness and crunch. Freeze-dried corn echpochmak Begin with a choux dough recipe and add freeze-dried corn. Whisk four egg yolks with 300 grams of yogurt and 5-6 pinches of salt. Then slowly add in 250 grams of melted butter until you achieve a very liquid consistency. Gradually add a plain flour mixture (500 g flour, 10 g salt, 225 g soda) and cook the dough for 10 minutes over slow steam heat as you would for a profiterole. Add 100 g of dried corn kernels to the dough, give it a knead, cut into slices, and leave to cool. Next, heat up the oven to 180C. Lightly dust the slices with lard and set aside. Then prepare your filling: cut 500 g of beef into cubes, salt and fry the beef until golden. Add 150 g of onions and a tablespoon of butter when it’s almost ready. Then add 250 g of boiled and sliced potatoes, stir, and add dried corn, pepper to taste, and half a teaspoon each of hot and regular paprika. Give it another mix, then cut the dough into four rectangles. Next, spread the filling in the middle, fold the dough over, and then criss-cross the dough on top like a potato crown. Place the potara on a buttered baking tray that’s been covered with tin foil, and bake until it turns deep brown. Freeze-dried corn echpochmak. Recipe: Evgeniya Shulyak

Ingredients:

1 cup freeze-dried corn

300g ground beef or lamb

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large onion, finely chopped

300g all-purpose flour

100g butter, chilled and diced

120ml cold water

1 teaspoon salt, more for seasoning

Pepper to taste

Fresh herbs (such as dill or parsley), chopped for garnish

Preparation:

Step 1: Rehydrate the Corn

Soak the corn (about five minutes in warm water if freeze-dried, until the corn is soft), drain any excess water and set aside.

Step 2: Make the Dough

Place the flour in a bowl, add the salt and rub in the diced, cold butter with your fingertips until the whole thing has the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Gradually add the cold water and the mixture will begin to cling together – continue to knead until the dough comes away from the bowl in a ball. Cover and put the dough into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Step 3: Prepare the Filling

Toss the ground beef or lamb, reconstituted corn, peeled and diced potatoes, and finely chopped onion into a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then mix.

Step 4: Assemble the Echpochmak

Preheat your oven to 200°C (390°F).

Work the dough into 6-inch rounds and pile the filling in the middle.

To shape the echpochmak, pinch three sides together over the centre of the filling, making a loose triangle, then close the corners, pinching where the sides meet. To better seal the pies and stop the filling from seeping out as they bake, take a trick borrowed from Chinese cooking: use a trick of oil. This makes the dough more limber to shape.

Step 5: Bake

Transfer the echpochmak to a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper, and bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown all over and the filling is cooked through.

Step 6: Serve

Serve the echpochmak warm, scattered with herbs. These pies make a hearty meal or a celebratory dish – a taste of Tatar traditional cuisine with one modern ingredient.

Tatar freeze-dried corn echpochmak made this treat familiar as traditional meat pies, inventive in its corn texture and sweetness.