Dumplings

Vareniky Dough

One dough covers cherries, potatoes and cabbage alike. The trick is not in the ingredients but in water temperature and resting: hot water scalds part of the flour so the dough turns obedient, and half an hour under a towel makes it elastic. Skip the rest and it tears as you roll.

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Vareniky Dough — the finished dish
Prep
20 min
Rest
30 min
Total
50 min
Servings
6
Level
Easy
Per serving
280 kcal

Ingredients

Makes: about 60 vareniky

Method

  1. Step 1: Sift the flour

    Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt. Sifting is not fussiness: it aerates the flour and the dough comes out softer.

  2. Step 2: Scald part of it

    Pour in the hot water in a thin stream, stirring with a fork as you go. The mixture turns flaky — that is right.

  3. Step 3: Add the oil

    Pour in the oil and start kneading by hand. It will feel too dry at first; do not add water, it comes together.

  4. Step 4: Knead

    Knead for 8 minutes on the worktop until smooth and no longer sticky. It should feel as soft as an earlobe.

  5. Step 5: Let it rest

    Cover with a bowl or a towel and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature so the gluten relaxes and the dough rolls easily.

  6. Step 6: Roll in batches

    Divide into four, work with one piece and keep the rest covered. Roll to 2 mm and cut circles with a glass.

Tips & variations

  • Tip

    The water should be hot but not boiling: at 100 °C the flour scalds too much and the dough turns dense.

  • Variation

    Kefir instead of water gives a puffier dough — good for lazy vareniky and potato, less so for cherries, as the juice leaks.

  • Tip

    Gather the offcuts into a ball and let them rest for 10 minutes before rolling again.

  • Storage

    The dough keeps a day in the fridge, wrapped. Freeze the shaped vareniky rather than the dough.

Nutrition

Approximate nutrition per serving and for the whole dish
1 serving Whole dish 6 servings
Energy280 kcal1,680 kcal
Protein8 g48 g
Fat3 g18 g
Carbohydrates54 g324 g

Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.

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