Cooking Chechnyan Style

This morning we had 6 moms at MOPS and Lena taught us how to make Chepalgish. It is a traditional dish in Chechnya and typically is eaten for breakfast or lunch.


The dough is made from equal parts of flour and buttermilk. Lena used 2 cups each and then added in 1 teaspoon of baking soda.


















Zhenya kneads the dough while Lena explains to us what consistency the dough needs to reach. After the dough is elastic (like for bread dough or pizza crust) let it rise for about 15-20 minutes.






















Lena separated the dough into 7 sections and shaped them into circles. Using a large tablespoon she places a dollop of low fat cottage cheese on each circle. Then she carefully closed each one up like a dumpling.

















After they are the in the dumpling shape take a rolling pin and flatten into the shape of a tortilla and place in dry skillet and cook on each side until golden brown. You can see Lena frying them in the background.

















Each one was then dipped into a hot tub of water, laid onto a plate and drenched with butter!






















They are stacked like pancakes, cut into wedges like a pie and then eaten by hand.


This was the first time that Lena herself had ever made them, normally her mother cooks this dish, and although she said they needed more cottage cheese, the rest of us thought they were great!