About Pelmeni dish

The introduction

Hello everyone, I hope, that you are all doing just fine!

In this article I want to tell you about this dish, which we call “Pelmeni” and it’s kind of like Khinkali, however, it’s smaller and it has its particular shape and its; a little different from Khinkali, if you want to know the truth. So, when you hear the word “Pelmeni” don’t think, that you will eat something similar to Khinkali, because it’s really not that simple, if you ask me.

Well, back in my childhood, we used to prepare Khinkali , of course, and I just loved it very much and I was always looking forward to having some Khinkali and eating them, you know, because it has something amazing in it, I don’t really know how to describe it, but when you eat it, you don’t want to stop eating it, however, it kind of has this nourishing taste, I mean, it’s pretty satietying when you eat the whole ones, however,there’s this another thing, that if you don’t eat this dough part, where it’s sealed, so that the filling of the meat won’t come out, you will be able to eat more Khinkali and that’s the main part of it, you know. Well, the best part of it is this filling of meat, that you should really eatand that part is loved by everyone, except for children, I guess, because children prefer eating that dough part and they just love it, when they are preparing Khinkali and the meat is finished and there are some dough parts still left and the children ask the parents to prepare some dough parts for them and they just put those dough pieces into the boiling water and kind of cook them and children just love eating them, you know.

Anyways, when we used to prepare khinkali, of course we wanted to help our parents in preparing them, because we found it so exciting and fascinating, however, they wouldn’t really let us, because they knew, that we would put all that flour everywhere and then they would get all angry and mad, of course, because no one likes, when there’s flour all over the room and all over them, of course, so that it was pretty clear about one of the reasons, why they didn’t want us to help them, because that wouldn’t be some help, but vice versa. The other reason of not letting us help them was, that they were afraid, that we wouldn’t prepare those Khinkali very well, I mean, sealing them would not be easy for us and we wouldn’t seal them properly and, hence, they would open up and the filling would come out while boiling and everything would be ruined. You know, the main thing here in Khinkali making is that sealing, I mean, the meat is put into a dough and then the dough is sealed, so that the meat won’t come out and that is the dish, or else, if the sealing doesn’t workand the meat comes out, then the idea of Khinkali is gone, you know, it’s not the dish anymore.

So, then, after some time, this gadget was introduced to us, which was called Pelmeni Maker and it was a pretty cool one, I mean, that way you didn’t have to seal the dough yourself, but this gadget would seal it for you, but, of course, you had to do the main job, such as, roll the dough out and put it on that gadget and put some meat in it, so that it would fit in that dough and then close the gadget, sto that the sealing would be done. Well, elders didn’t really like it, because it made small Khinkalis, I mean, they weren’t really Khinkalis, as they knew it, they were more like Pelmeni and that’s why they called it Pelmeni Maker, of course, however, that was a great thing to get us _ the children _ busy with something and it was like w were helping them in something and, at the same time, we didn’t really made anything worse, I mean, we could really do some good pelmenis with that gadget once we had put all our hands and forces to seal those pelmenis pretty well. Or, sometimes, we would just ask our parents or people preparing Khinkali to help us in that sealing part. However, we were both satisfied with that thing and now they could let us help them in something and that was the happiest moments in that Khinkali preparing for us, I guess. You now, those things were pretty awesome, too, I mean, we mostly liked eating them, I guess, however, they  wer not that plenty as there was Khinkali, because the main idea of them preparing something was to prepare khinkali and not some pelmenis, you know, because there was a small piece of meat in pelmeni, while it was two or three times that amount of meat in each khinkali , so , imagine, why would they want to have pelmeni with all that dough around that small piece of meat, while they could eat some great khinkali with that amount of meat in it, and, besides, they wouldn’t have to eat much dough comparing to eating pelmeni. But, of course, pelmmeni had its perks, too, however, when you want to eat khinkali, you just don’t want to eat something else, that’s the truth and that’s what most people do, I mean, when they are having some khinkali, they just have khinkali and nothing else, because when you are having khinkali, you just don’t need to eat some other dishes. You can just drink some wine or beer with it and that is just perfect. There’s nothing else you need to have at that time.

About different types of Pelmeni

So, what can I tell you about pelmeni. Well, they are pretty popular, because they are very light to eat and, the size of them is very rational, I mean, you can eat them in two bites or something like that and it’s really awesome, comparing to Khinkali, which you need to eat in some bites and it’s more juicy than the pelmeni actually, so that you really need to put some effort in eating khinkali than eating pelmeni. However, khinkali is more nourishing and when you want something with meat in it, you should definitely have some khinkali. Well, if you don’t have enough time for that or something else is not letting you have khinkali, then you should try pelmeni, because  , as I’ve already mentioned, they are quite like each other and you can always have pelmeni when you want to have meat.

Well, there are different types of pelmeni. Of course, the original one is the one with the meat filling, however, you can find some others, too, I mean, some of them have cheese filling and some of them have cottage cheese filling and they are quite good, too, actually. There are also pelmeni with potato pie filling and I don’t remember whether I have tasted it or not, but that couldn’t be any less delicious, than those meat and cheese ones, I guess.

There are also pelmeni, which have fruits in them, I mean, there’s this particular one, which is very popular and it has cherry filling in it. Well, usually it has the whole cherries in it without the seed, of course, and they are pretty good. And, especially those love the cherry pelmeni, who like something more sour than sweet, because, you know, cherries have their particular different taste and they are not very sweet and that’s what makes them be different and great in cooking and stuff like that. You know, when you bake a cake and have some cherries in it, it gets kind of lighter and very nice to be eaten. Well, to be honest, any fruit does that, I guess. They make the cake taste lighter and better. Though, I didn’t really like them back in my childhood and I couldn’t really eat them in any way, although I really loved eating cakes and I could just eat the whole one in a couple of minutes, I guess. Well, I didn’t even like those cherry pelmenis, if you want to know the truth, because I thought, that they were something different and I had this feeling of refusing them as a dessert or anything at all, I guess. And my mother used to love these things with cherries, such as the cakes and puddings and pies and everything. And my uncle just loves those cherry pelmeni and he even used to prepare them, and, I guess, he prepares them nowadays, too, and once I remember, when we were visiting him, he had these cherry pelmeni and his son wouldn’t really eat them, because he didn’t like them, or I don’t really know, and he suggested them to me, too, of course, and when I tasted them, they were pretty delicious, I mean, they were kind of sour and that taste gave the whole pelmeni a great taste and it was very light to eat and a really good something in the middle of meal and dessert, if you want to know the truth. So that, I really liked them, however, I didn’t eat much of them, as there were some other foods, too, and, you know, when you want to taste everything, you can’t just eat plenty of each of them, because it’s just impossible, I think.

Well, to tell you the truth, even in small bites, you can’t really taste everything that is on the table here in Georgia, because there are usually so many dishes, that the table is full of them and they even have some “second floors” on the table, because the dishes don’t have place to be put on the table. There’s something that people are proud of, when they have feasts and things like that, because it was considered a great thing to have many dishes during a feast and if you had so many dishes prepared, that you couldn’t find any place on the table, then you were “the woman” and you had done a great job! However, these habits and thoughts and everything kind of fades away little by little and it’s great, when people don’t see women as just cooks and washers and housekeepers, you know. It’s just not right and there shouldn’t be such thinking about them, well, about us. There are many things, that we are very good at and we are not this “weak gender” as people like to say and think and everything. That’s why there are many things to simplify our lives and don’t put that much energy in those cooking and washing and tidying up and things like that, because you only live once and you should live and not just exist, you know. You should embrace the good things in life and take all the advantages that you have and be happy and everything. Other things will just wait.

How to eat Pelmeni

Anyways, the most popular pelmeni is still with the meat filling and there are those dishes in restaurants and pubs and bars, which are called Pelmeni in a Pot and when you order it, they bring you this clay pot full of pelmenis and some sauce with garlic and some things in it, which I don’t’ really know what they are exactly, however, it’s pretty delicious, though I don’t really like garlic. And they also bring you some sour-cream with those pelmeni and it’s like a traditional thing to do to eat pelmeni with sour cream.

Well, some people like eating pelmeni with ground black pepper and , well, there’s always some pepper on the tables everywhere, as you know, so that you can use the black pepper with your pelmeni if you want. And, trust me, you won’t regret sprinkling black pepper on your pelmeni, because it’s  really delicious that way and if you love some things to have in spicy and hot way, then you should definitely use black pepper with the pelmeni.

The most popular thing while eating pelmeni is still the sour cream, I guess. I mean, when they prepare pelmeni, they just put them into a boiling water with salt in it and it’s ready in about 7-10  minutes already, you know, so that you can just take them out of the water and put them on a large plate or something like that and serve it like that, and they should not be put on each other, because that way they will stick on each other and then when you decide to take some of them, they will be stuck on each other and they will get torn and the whole filling fill come out and that way you won’t be able to eat them in the right way, if you want to know the truth. So, I guess, that’s why they use in to be in a pot in restaurants, when they serve you, so that they are in some kind of sauce and they don’t get stuck on each other and they stay hot for quite some time, too, and that’s really great, because when it’s out of the water, it gets cold pretty quickly because of its size, I mean, the pelmeni is pretty small comparing to khinkali, which can last hot for a longer time than pelmeni and when it’s cold, it doesn’t really taste that great, because the meat is cold and cold meat is not  that delicious as it is while being hot or warm, of course.

Anyways, when you take those pelmeni out of the water and put them on a plate, you shouldn’t forget having some sour cream with you to serve pelmeni with it. First of all, that way, it really looks like a dish and, secondly, it’s really delicious with that sour cream and you will just love it eating with sour cream. Besides, this sour cream can be a great decoration for the pelmeni and you can really amaze your guests with that decoration, if you ask me. What’s more, sour cream gives pelmeni some light topping thing, I mean, when eating pelmeni with sour cream, you don’t feel like eating something heavy or stuff like that. With the sour cream, the dish gets lighter and you eat it with more enthusiasm, then just pelmeni without anything else or even with some black pepper.

So, that’s how most of the people eat pelmeni, however, you can eat it with anything you like, of course, and it won’t be a problem, however, I still think, that eating pelmeni with sour cream is the best way of eating it. You know, sour cream with low fat really goes well with many dishes and it gives this light texture to those dishes and you don’t feel heavy in the stomach after eating some stuff, and, besides, eating sour cream gives you that feeling of satiety and you don’t eat much while eating sour cream, so that keep that in mind and consider that when you decide having some sour cream!

That was about pelmeni and how to eat them and some stuff like that, and I’m going to write some recipes of preparing pelmeni and everything in another article, so that don’t stop here and if you want to know about preparing some pelmeni, you can see my other articles and find it.

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