Gutap recipe

Dürüşde gutap are fried pastries typical of Turkmenistan .

To prepare them, starting with the dough , mixing water, salt, yeast and flour of wheat ; knead until you get a ball, cover with a cloth and let it grow. For filling , stir – frying oil onion and cabbage chopped, add meat ground (or finely chopped) and cook; This transfer for cooking bowl , add rice cooked mash of potato , salt and pepper and mix. Roll out the dough into a thin layer and cut slices about 12 cm in diameter; put a spoonful of stuffing in the middle, fold and close. Fry the pastries in very hot oil .

Deep-Fried Gutap (Cheburek)

Makes 16 gutaps

INGREDIENTS

For the meat filling

500 g ground beef or lamb
1 onion, ground or finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons water

For the spinach filling

1 kg fresh spinach
8 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt

For the dough (enough for one filling)

1 teaspoon salt
300 ml warm water
500 g flour
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

INSTRUCTIONS

To make filling

Meat filling: Mix all the meat filling ingredients thoroughly.

Spinach filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Rinse the spinach and add it to the pot. After 5 minutes, scoop out the spinach with a slotted spoon and, to preserve its green color, put it in a bowl of cold water. Drain the spinach again and then crush it with a wooden spoon. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Stir in the flour. When the flour turns slightly brown, add the water and stir 5-6 times. Add the crushed spinach and salt. Stir well and turn off the heat.

In a large bowl, mix all the dough ingredients together and knead to a smooth dough. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and roll each piece between your palms into a ball. Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Take a ball of dough, sprinkle some flour and roll it out to a 14 cm circle. Spread 1 tablespoon of the meat or spinach filling on half of the circle while leaving a thin border. Fold the other half over and then crimp along the edge with a fork. Transfer the gutap to a tray covered with a kitchen towel and place another towel on top so that the gutap doesn’t stick to the tray or harden. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

Fill a large pot about 4 cm deep with oil and heat over medium heat. Prick the top of each gutap with a fork. Deep-fry the gutaps in batches of 2, flipping them once, until golden brown on both sides, and then take them out with a slotted spoon.

Enjoy!