How to bake “Kravets” - a hearty festive pie from Russia’s Republic of Mari El (RECIPE)
If you want to enjoy meat that’s soft and juicy, and that takes only a minimum of effort to make, then try “kravets”, a festive meat pie from the most eastern part of the European plain.
Kravets pie is a culinary gem of the Republic of Mari El, which is a Russian region located in the central part of the Volga River.
Kravets or kyravets got its name from the name of another pie, karavayets. Like the karavay, it too has a round shape. The pie is prepared for holidays, as well as weddings, to welcome dear guests.
Depending on the time of year, different types of meat are used for the filling: lamb in summer, pork and beef in winter, and poultry in autumn. Hunters bake kravets with rabbit meat. Sometimes a mix of different types of meat are used as a filling. Poultry on the bone can even be used.
The pie is made of unleavened dough, without yeast. It is divided into two parts and rolled out with a rolling pin. The larger part is put into a deep pan on a heat-resistant dish. In addition to the meat filling, the pie is filled with grits, most often millet, onions and a bay leaf. The grits not only make the pie saucier, but also gather the meat juices.
The stuffing is layered raw. A smaller circle of dough is placed on top and sealed tightly around it. The dough forms a cauldron, a container where the meat can cook for a long time, getting fleshy and keeping its juiciness.
The peculiarity of kravets is to cook it for a long time on low heat. During 3-4 hours in the oven, the meat, onions and grits become tender and fragrant. In the olden days, it was customary to cover the dough with cabbage leaves so that it would not burn. During the time when the pie is baking in the oven, the dough becomes crispy but crumbly.
When ready, the top of the pie can be cut and then sliced into portions. The pie is eaten with a fork, and the top of the pie crust can be snacked on.
At weddings it was customary for the groom’s best man to cut the kravets into seven equal pieces, which actually is not so easy to do.
Ingredients for a 28 cm mold - 4-6 servings:
Dough:
- Flour - 300 g
- Eggs - 2 pcs
- Sour cream 30% - 100 g
- Butter - 50 g
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Powdered sugar - 2 tbsp
Filling:
- Rabbit fillet or chicken thigh - 350 g
- Onions - 2 pcs
- Millet grits - 60 g
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Bay leaf
Preparation:
1. Wash the millet and boil for 5 minutes in salted water. Drain, rinse under cold water and dry on a towel.
2. Place all the ingredients for the dough in a processor. Mix until smooth.
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured table; form a ball and leave for 20 minutes in plastic wrap.
4. Cut the meat into small pieces. The fatter the meat, the juicier the stuffing will be. Sometimes a cook will also add pieces of skin and whole pieces of meat on the bones. This is allowed because the pie is eaten with a fork, not chomped on.
5. Cut the onion into cubes.
6. Divide the ball into 2 unequal parts.
7. Roll out the larger part of the dough into a 5 mm thick layer.
8. Place the layer of dough in a mold. I did not grease the non-stick mold, but you can grease it with oil. The sides of the dough should hang over the edges.
9. Place the prepared millet groats on the dough.
10. Add onion, and salt to taste.
11. Next comes the meat; salt to taste.
12. Last layer, and again onion, pepper and bay leaf.
13. Roll out a small ball of dough.
14. Cover with a small layer.
15. Seal the edges.
16. I decided to try the old-fashioned way with cabbage leaves and used them to cover the pie.
17. The sheets began to dry quickly and left a mark on the pie. I replaced the cabbage leaves with foil.
For 20 minutes, place in an oven preheated to 200℃. At this time I replaced the leaves with foil.
18. Reduce the heat in the oven to 150℃ and bake for 3 - 3.5 hours. About 10 minutes before it was ready, I removed the foil and let the top of the pie brown.
19. I let the pie cool slightly.
20. Since it’s a tradition, I cut off the top of the pie.
21. The meat was tender, the onions were soft and translucent, and the grits were cooked and soaked in their juices.
22. Finally, serve the pie hot. Enjoy!
READ MORE: How to bake fluffy millet pancakes from Russia’s region of Mordovia (RECIPE)
