Khychiny is a national dish of Karachay-Balkar cuisine. It is one of the holiday foods. It is a flatbread with filling. The filling used varies; most often it is based on cheese, potatoes, and meat. The technology for preparing Khychin has certain specifics. A piece of dough is rolled out into a medium-sized flatbread (about the size of a palm), the filling is placed in the center, the edges of the flatbread are raised up, fastened, then the dough is rolled out together with the filling, fried and generously greased with oil. If the dough is not soft and elastic enough, it will tear when rolling out the filled flatbread, which will affect the aesthetic appearance of the dish and make it difficult to prepare further. Whatever recipe for the filling for Balkar flatbreads you choose, the dough for khychin must be made diligently, because the result largely depends on its quality.
Cooking features
The recipe for the dough for khychins is not complicated. If you prepare it correctly, it will be pliable and elastic, will hold the filling well, and will be easy to roll out. To get the expected result, you just need to know and take into account a few points. At first glance they may seem insignificant, but in fact they play an important role.
- Flour for khychins is taken of good quality. It must contain a lot of gluten. Otherwise, the finished dough will not be elastic enough and will tear.
- To make the khychin more tender, the flour must be sifted before use. During the sifting process, it is enriched with oxygen. At the same time, the risk of small debris and insect larvae getting into the dough is eliminated.
- Traditional dough for khychin is made without baking powder, but modern housewives add it, and the dough turns out more tender and airy without losing elasticity.
- Classic khychin dough is prepared from fermented milk products. You can use yogurt, ayran, matsoni, kefir. It is desirable that fermented milk products have high fat content. Sometimes milk is used instead of fermented milk products, but it must also have a fat content of at least 3.2%.
- Khychins turn out especially beautiful after frying if you add a little mineral water to the dough. There are recipes according to which the dough for khychin is made in mineral water, without adding milk or fermented milk products.
- The finished dough is allowed to “rest” for at least half an hour before rolling out. During this time, the gluten will swell and the dough will become more elastic. Rushing in this case will not lead to anything good.
The finished dough remains to be rolled out, filled and rolled out with the filling. This should be done effortlessly. If you hurry and press too hard on the rolling pin, even properly made dough can break through.
Caucasian khichina with potatoes and soft cheese
Khychins are Caucasian flatbreads with filling. Khychins are mainly prepared with potatoes and cheese, they are also prepared simply with various soft cheeses, and meat is also used for filling. Khychins come from the North Caucasus; they are often served at the table, especially as first courses. The base is a very simple dough of kefir and flour, kneading easily. We will use potatoes and cheese for the filling. It is advisable to use soft cheese with a creamy taste; you can use cottage cheese. Khychins with cheese and potatoes are delicious both warm and cold, they are perfect even with a glass of milk, so let's prepare these delicious flatbreads and serve them for lunch. I described the step-by-step recipe with photos of delicious flatbreads in detail for you.
- flour – 2.5 cups,
- kefir 2.5% - 1 glass,
- baking powder – 1 tsp,
- salt – 1 pinch,
- potatoes – 3 pcs.,
- soft cheese – 80 gr.,
- pepper - to taste.
Prepare all the ingredients according to the list - pour kefir into the bowl for kneading the dough, preferably fattier - at least 2.5%. Add a pinch of salt to the kefir, add wheat flour, add a teaspoon of baking powder.
First mix the dough with a spoon, then add a little more flour and knead the dough on the work surface.
Leave the finished dough alone for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the potatoes - peel the potato tubers, wash, dry and cut into bars. Boil the potatoes in salted water, drain the water and mash the potatoes.
Transfer the cooled puree into a bowl and add the cheese, grating it on a fine grater.
Make small pieces from the dough that has already rested. Place potatoes and cheese in the center of each piece.
Gather the edges of the dough in the center of the workpiece so that all the filling is hidden inside.
Roll out the pieces with a rolling pin to form a kind of flat cake. Heat a frying pan over the fire at the same time.
Place the tortillas in a frying pan and fry on both sides until golden brown. If desired, grease the finished flatbreads with butter.
Kefir dough for khichina
Compound:
- wheat flour – 0.4 kg;
- kefir – 0.25 l;
- baking powder for dough – 7 g;
- salt - a large pinch.
Cooking method:
- Mix the sifted flour with salt and baking powder.
- Make a depression in the center.
- Lightly heat the kefir. It will be even better if you take it out of the refrigerator in advance so that it warms up to at least room temperature.
- Pour the kefir into the well made in the flour mound.
- Gathering the flour towards the center, knead the dough. The finished dough should be slightly softer than for dumplings. If you press on it, it leaves a small indentation.
- Cover the dough with cling film to prevent the surface from becoming rough. Leave for half an hour.
While the dough is resting, you will have time to prepare the filling. If you don’t have time to make it in half an hour, nothing bad will happen, the dough will not spoil and will be ready for use. The main thing is not to try to make khychin out of it before the specified time.
Khychiny with cheese, feta cheese and potatoes
Khychyny with cheese, feta cheese and potatoes are thin, yeast-free flatbreads that are baked in a dry frying pan. The dough for thin khychins is made with homemade kefir. Making flatbreads is very simple, especially since they are eggless baked goods.
Ingredients for “Khychina with cheese, feta cheese and potatoes”:
For kefir
- Sourdough starter (for kefir from Orsika) - 1 packet.
- Milk (I have 2.5% fat) - 1 l
For the test
- Kefir – 500 ml
- Wheat flour / Flour (+2 tbsp for dusting) - 580 g
- Salt (w/g) - 1 tsp.
- Soda (unslaked) - 1 tsp.
- Olive oil - 1 tbsp. l.
- Butter (for greasing flat cakes) - 100 g
For filling
- Potatoes (weight already boiled, without skins) - 280 g
- Brynza (“Serbian”, can be replaced with cheese, if hard, grate on a fine grater) - 130 g
- Soft cheese (processed) – 130 g
- Green onion - 1 bunch.
- Garlic - 2 teeth.
- Salt - to taste
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Number of servings: 12
Recipe for “Khychyna with cheese, feta cheese and potatoes”:
1. Let's prepare homemade kefir. Sterilize utensils for making kefir. Pour the starter (3 g) into pasteurized milk (1 l) at room temperature. Mix the milk mixture thoroughly with a dry spoon for 2-3 minutes until the starter is completely dissolved. Cover the container with a lid.
2. Pour water t 100 C into the thermos yogurt maker to the indicated mark and immerse a liter container with the milk mixture. Close the lid of the thermos. Place the yogurt maker in a warm place for 6-10 hours. After this time, open the lid of the yogurt maker, take out a liter container and let it cool. Place the container in the refrigerator to completely cool the kefir.
3. Pour room temperature kefir (500 ml) into a large bowl. Add olive oil (1 tbsp) and salt.
4. Add baking soda (1 tsp) to the flour, mix with a spoon and then sift.
5. Mix the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients in small parts. When it becomes difficult to stir with a spoon, transfer the dough to a floured countertop and knead.
6. After kneading, to make the dough smooth, more manageable and elastic, you need to “beat” it. Within 5-8 minutes we throw it on the table or beat it with pleasure with a rolling pin. After this, the dough does not tear, does not stick to the rolling pin and to the table. Then cover the dough with cling film and leave for half an hour. During this time, the gluten in the dough will swell and the dough will reach the desired state. There is a slight stickiness, but do not overfill the dough with excess flour.
7. Let's prepare the filling. Boil the potatoes in their skins, peel and chop. You can grate it on a fine grater or grind it in a blender. Do not add water!
8. Grate the cheese and peeled garlic on a fine grater. Add soft cheese, salt, pepper and knead. You can and even need to add seasoning to my “Dry Mix”.
9. The filling is ready; its weight should be equal to the weight of the dough. Honestly, I write the fillings a little less, but it’s better to cook them in equal parts. Divide the filling into 12 parts.
10. Finely chop the green onions. Consumption per 1 cake: 1-2 tsp. chopped onion.
11. Divide the dough into 12 parts. I have a weight of each part from 65-70 grams. Cover the dough with a transparent bag or film to prevent it from drying out.
12. We form khychins. Manually stretch (“press”) each flatbread in turn to ~ Ф 15 cm. Put the filling, add green onions.
13. Raise the edges of the dough to the top. We collect it into a “knot”.
14. It turns out to be a knot with filling inside. Turn the flatbread over with the knot facing down (and where the middle of the flatbread is, dust with a little flour).
15. Press the flatbread with your palm, trying to stretch the dough as wide as possible. You can stretch it with your hands or gently with a rolling pin so as not to tear the dough. Do not puncture bubbles! Roll out the flatbread to a thickness of ~ 5 mm, Ф = 23-25 cm. The thinner the flatbread, the tastier.
17. Place the khychin on a dry, well-heated frying pan (without oil) and fry (bake) on both sides until golden brown spots. Sometimes the khychins in the frying pan swell with a bubble (air remains when pinching). I didn’t pierce it, the bubble gradually falls off during baking.
The finished products are placed in a high stack and immediately generously flavored with good butter - the result is delicious khychin, soft and tender, they do not dry out for a long time and remain hot.
The dish must be served hot. Cheese and potato khychins instantly disappear from the table - very tasty and satisfying!
Khychiny on kefir with mineral water
Compound:
- wheat flour – 0.4 kg;
- kefir – 125 ml;
- mineral water (carbonated) – 125 ml;
- soda - a large pinch;
- salt - a large pinch.
Cooking method:
- Pour soda into slightly warmed kefir and stir. Wait for the reaction to occur.
- Dilute kefir with mineral water.
- Sift and mix flour with salt.
- After making a hole in the flour slide, pour kefir and mineral water into it.
- Knead the dough, divide into several parts, cover with film and leave for half an hour.
Video on how to prepare Balkar khychin from black dough
When I saw such unusual black khychins, I was very surprised. In the preparation of desserts, dough of different colors is used: red, green, and pink... But this is the first time I’ve seen black dough. I really wanted to know the secret, but it turned out to be simple - when mixing, cuttlefish ink mixed with water was used.
Previously, I had only ever tried black rice cooked with this ink. And I would never have guessed to use them to prepare Caucasian dishes.
“But where can I get this ink?” - you ask. I think that nowadays you can get everything through the Internet. And after looking, I found that it was 25 grams. They ask for a jar of 550 rubles.
But if you still choose the classic color option, then just watch the cooking master class in all the details. Here we will show how to make products in general in the form of flatbreads, with cheese filling and an unusual black color. I looked at it in one breath.
And as a bonus, the video will tell you which sauce is best to prepare for serving.
How to cook Chechen khichina so that it tastes like at the market
Previously, when I periodically visited the bazaar, I would always buy incredibly delicious “chepalgashi” pies from one small culinary shop. These are real khichins, only according to the Chechen national recipe. For a long time I tried to find out the secrets of cooking, until a friend of my relative told me and showed me what and how to do it correctly.
Pies are “loved by sweet souls,” so I cook them in large quantities. For testing, you can easily take half the amount of ingredients.
We will need:
- Kefir 2.5% - 1000 ml.
- Flour, cottage cheese - 1000 gr.
- Parsley – 100 gr.
- Ghee - 1 tbsp. l. + 50 gr.
- Egg, onion - 1 pc.
- Sunflower oil, granulated sugar - 2 tbsp. l.
- Salt – 1 tsp. + 1 tbsp. l.
- Soda – 1 tsp.
Preparation:
1. First of all, you need to make a “sourdough”: pour soda with sugar and salt (1 tsp) into kefir, pour in sunflower oil. Shake with a whisk until all the ingredients dissolve into each other and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In the meantime, it is advisable to sift the flour into a deep bowl twice and set aside 200 grams from the total amount. To the side for now - we will need them a little later. In the remaining 800 gr. Pour in the kefir mixture that has begun to form small bubbles and make a fairly soft and sticky dough. Cover the container with cling film and let it rise slightly for half an hour.
3. Chop a fairly large onion into very small pieces and sauté for 1 tbsp. l. melted butter until light golden brown. The main thing is not to overcook the slices, so as not to spoil the taste with notes of burnt vegetables!
4. Rinse the parsley well and dry. Then chop finely - preferably without stems, so that there are no harsh inclusions. If you wish, you can also add dill and basil, but the taste will be a little different.
5. Combine cottage cheese with chopped herbs and fried onions, beat in a fresh egg and salt well (1 tbsp.). Mix thoroughly to obtain a fairly plastic, homogeneous filling.
6. Since our dough turned out to be quite viscous, you should add the reserved flour to the work surface of the table in several additions and very carefully knead the sticky mass until it becomes soft and airy.
7. Then form khychins one by one. To do this, you should tear off a piece of dough about 130 grams and make a neat flat cake out of it, slightly wider than your palm. Place approximately 1-1.5 tbsp in the center of the circle. l. fillings.
8. Pinch the edges of the dough over the filling so that it resembles whitewash - only without a hole in the middle! Shape into a ball and flatten between your palms to a “cheesecake” state.
9. Using a rolling pin, “flatten” the workpiece to a thick pancake no thicker than 5 mm. To make it round, it is advisable to roll it out from the center to the edges - this way the filling will be more uniform inside and the sides will be more beautiful.
10
Heat a dry thick (preferably cast iron) frying pan over medium heat and carefully transfer the thin pie onto it. If it “shrinks” a little, you can slightly straighten it with your hands so that it covers almost the entire bottom
Fry on one side until golden brown spots and turn over to the other.
11. Be sure to grease the surface of the flat cakes, slightly dried over the fire, with melted butter, which will give the finished products a delicate creamy aroma and soften them.
The deliciousness is simply divine. I recommend trying it!
Whatever filling you choose, the khychins will still captivate you with their ease of preparation and unusual taste.
They can be cut into 4 parts or rolled into a tube and eaten with tea or compote. However, following Caucasian traditions, it is still better to serve them with sauces. Both regular tomato ketchup and complex spicy-spicy compositions with garlic and herbs are suitable.
Many people will like these wonderful pies with sour cream or kefir. Restaurants often serve grilled vegetables with them. Well, if you don’t have bread at home, then khychins can completely replace it and will even be ideal companions to borscht, kharcho and even roast.
Bon appetit and rosy, hearty Caucasian flatbreads for the joy of your loved ones!
