Chichiny

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g flour and flour for rolling out
• 250 ml water
• some salt
• 375 g potato(s), floury
• 375 g cream cheese, 40%
• Butter, liquid, for spreading

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

Potato dish from the Caucasus

A potato dish, usually offered at small stalls on the streets of Kabardino-Balkaria (Caucasus). For the dough, mix flour, water, and salt until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. Then, cut it into small pieces (about 5 cm in diameter). For the filling, boil the potatoes, peel them, and mix them with the curd cheese, either in a meat grinder or a sieve. The ratio of dough to filling should be about 1:1. Flatten the pieces of dough, cover with the filling, and seal the edges. Roll the resulting ball into a flat, round disc (add flour, otherwise it will stick!), which you fry in a dry (!) pan. Don’t worry if the chitchin puffs up; simply turn it over and it will settle down again! Place the finished chitchin on a plate and spread generously with butter. The next one comes on top, and so on. Finally, the stack is turned over and the whole thing is served. In the Caucasus, the chitsini are cut into sixths with a biscuit cutter and then placed in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves to.