Pampuschky – Ukrainian doughnuts

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 ½ glasses of milk, warm
• 25 g fresh yeast
• 3 tbsp, levelled sugar
• 6 tbsp, heaped flour
• 3 jars of flour
• 50 g butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 liter of oil for frying
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled
• 1 bunch of chives
• 1 bunch of dill
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours 40 minutes

Basic recipe with various hearty fillings, traditional Ukrainian cuisine

I used a 200 ml glass to measure the dough ingredients. For the starter, mix the warm milk, yeast, sugar, and 6-7 tablespoons of flour in a bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Then, whisk two eggs, add them to the starter, melted butter, salt, and 2.5 cups of flour. Mix everything well and knead into an elastic dough. Add a little more flour if necessary. Cover the dough in the bowl again and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes to an hour. It should triple in size. For the filling, dice the eggs, mix with the finely chopped chives and dill, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Once the dough has risen well, form the pampushky. Oil your hands for this – I simply keep a small bowl of oil ready when working with this yeast dough. Roll out a tennis ball-sized piece of dough on a board into a small flatbread, place 1-2 teaspoons of filling on each one, press the edges together firmly, and form into a ball, then place it on a tray. Once all the pampushky are formed, cover them with a cloth and let them rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes; they should roughly double in size. Then fry the pampushky in batches in hot oil until golden brown on both sides, remove them from the pan, and let them drain. They can be eaten hot or cold. Note: In Ukraine, these pampushky are prepared with all kinds of fillings, such as sauerkraut, mushrooms, mashed potatoes, offal, boiled and chopped eggs with dill, or various jams. Stuffed pampushky are a very popular snack in Ukraine. Other fillings: For the potato filling, peel and slice the potatoes, and boil them in lightly salted water. Dice an onion and fry in oil until golden brown. Drain the potatoes, mash them with the fried onions and oil while still hot, season with salt and pepper, and let cool. For the sauerkraut filling, soak the sauerkraut in cold water for 1-2 hours, changing the water a couple of times if necessary to reduce the acidity. Dice an onion and fry in the oil until golden brown. Drain the sauerkraut through a sieve, add to the onions in the pan, and season with pepper. Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, then let cool. For the mushroom filling, dice an onion and fry in the oil until translucent. Add the finely diced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, then let cool. For the pea filling, soak a jar of split peas in cold water overnight. Cook in lightly salted water until tender, drain, and reserving some of the liquid. Season the cooked peas with pepper and mash while still hot, adding a little of the cooking liquid if desired. Let cool. For the giblet filling, boil the chicken hearts in lightly salted water for about 20 minutes, then drain. Dice an onion and fry in oil until translucent. Add the minced chicken and fry until crumbly. Add the chicken hearts, season with salt and pepper, and braise briefly (or braise a little liver if desired). Let cool, then process everything, including the cooking juices, in a food processor or mince. Sweet, liquid fillings such as jam or caramel cream are added after frying using a piping nozzle.