Ground Beef Hand Pies (Crimean Tatar Cantik)
Delicious ground beef hand pies made with a soft bread crust and filled with juicy beef. These hand pies are easy to make, taste authentic and are best served with natural yoghurt.
Equipment
- 40 cm (15-inch) round baking tray
Ingredients
The bread dough
- 800 g bread flour (or plain) 7 ½ cups
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 500-550 ml water 2 ¼ cups
- 25 g fresh yeast 1 tablespoon + 1 tsp
- 50 ml vegetable oil ¼ cup
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
The meat filling
- 800 g lean ground beef 1.7 lbs
- 1 large onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon fine ground pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoon oregano
- 50 ml water ¼ cup
- 50 ml vegetable oil ¼ cup
Extra
- 200 ml vegetable oil, for greasing & brushing 1 cup
Instructions
Making the bread dough crust
- In a large bowl, place the lukewarm water (around 37C) and the fresh yeast, mixing to dissolve it. Add the vinegar, flour and salt, mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands to combine.
- Once a dough forms, start adding the vegetable oil in 2-3 stages, kneading to incorporate it. Keep kneading the dough until it becomes smooth and supple and all the oil has been absorbed.
- Cover the dough with cling film and leave in a warm place to prove for 30 minutes.
The beef filling
- Finely chop the onion and use a garlic press or grater to finely crush the garlic.
- In a large bowl combine the meat, onion, garlic and spices. Mix them thoroughly using your hands, then add the water and vegetable oil. Continue mixing until a smooth paste forms.
Assembling the meat hand pies
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (or 360°F) with fan.
- Once the dough has proved enough, divide it into 35 small balls, each weighing roughly 40g (1.4 oz).
- Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface. Using a thin rolling pin roll out each dough ball into a circle, 10 cm (2-inches) in diameter.
- Add 1-2 tablespoon of the meat filling in the middle of the disc of dough.
- Take the opposite sides of the dough circle, and bring them to the middle. Pinch to seal the two sides together. Run your fingers over the lower seams, pinching to seal them shut. Continue pinching across the sides until the hand pie is fully sealed.
- Prepare a large round baking tray by greasing it well with oil. Dip the top of the hand pie into vegetable oil, then place it inside the tray, whilst tilting the tray at an angle. Keep stacking the hand pies on top of each other. Ensure all the pies are touching but are not too tightly fitted in the tray.
- Bake the hand pies for 40-45 minutes or until golden-brown in colour. Once baked, remove the tray from the oven, then cover it with aluminium foil. This will make the pie crust go softer and delicious.
- Serve whilst still warm with a side of Greek yoghurt or sour cream.
Notes
- I recommend using a kitchen scale in grams for more accuracy. The cups used for the conversion are standard US customary cups (1 cup flour = 136g). There are many different types of cups across the globe, which is why I strongly recommend using grams instead.
- This recipe calls for bread flour, however plain white flour can also be used. Self-rising flour is not suitable.
- Fresh yeast can be substituted with instant dry yeast. For 25g of fresh yeast, use 8g of instant dry (or quick) yeast.
- Baking time differs according to each oven, and can sometimes take longer. To ensure the meat hand pies are fully baked, they should have a golden-brown colour. The best test is to remove one of the hand pies and check the interior to see if fully baked.
Nutrition
Calories: 162kcal
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