Kibinai – Traditional Meat Pies From Old Europe

Kibinai – juicy meat pies

This is a traditional dish of the Karaims, who have lived in Lithuania since the 14th century. The recipe itself is over 200 years old, yet very simple.

In our project, the kibinai are prepared by my 9-year-old daughter.

If you’d like to see all the steps with the ingredients in more detail, here’s the video from our channel: 👉https://youtu.be/fTOeCPrWUUY. The video is in Russian, but don’t worry — there’s not much speech, and the cooking process doesn’t really need translation, right? 😉

Dough:

1. 4 cups all-purpose flour (500 g)
2. 7 tbsp unsalted butter (100 g)
3. ⅔ cup sour cream (150 g)
4. 2 eggs
5. ½ tsp salt

Filling:

1. 1 lb meat or poultry (450–500 g). In our video: chicken thigh meat + beef neck
2. 1 medium onion
3. Salt and black pepper — to taste
4. For beef: 3 tbsp water (about 50 ml)

Sift the flour

Cut the slightly softened butter into small cubes.

Add the butter to the flour and rub the mixture until it resembles fine crumbs.

Add the salt, sour cream, and 2 eggs. Reserve the third egg for brushing. Knead the dough by hand until smooth and uniform.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place it in a food storage bag. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Chop the onion into small pieces

Cut the meat into cubes. For this recipe, we used chicken thigh meat and veal.

Mix half of the onion with the veal for Filling 1, and the other half of the onion with the chicken for Filling 2.

Add a little salt and pepper, and for the veal, add a bit of water to keep the filling juicy.

Roll the dough thin, about 1/8 inch thick

Take a small plate. Its diameter will be the size of your pie. Place the plate on the dough and cut around it with a knife.

Place the filling onto the dough circles, as shown in the photo.

Now you need to pinch the edges of the pie, as shown in the photo. It’s best to place the prepared pies directly onto a baking sheet. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease it with sunflower oil. Place the pies at least one finger’s width apart from each other. Otherwise, they will stick together while baking.

Gather the leftover dough from cutting out the circles, form it into a ball, and roll it out again. Cut out more circles, add the filling, and shape the pies. Repeat this process until all the dough or filling is used up.

Take the third egg and crack it into a bowl. Mix the yolk and white together. Brush the pies with this egg. You can use a spoon, a brush like we did, or even your finger. :)

Place the baking sheet with the pies in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 200°C (392°F), but the time may vary depending on your oven. Use the pies’ appearance as a guide — they should be lightly browned, as shown in the photo. If you’re unsure whether the filling is cooked, take one pie, cut it open, and check the meat. If it’s not done, give the pies more time in the oven.

These pies are often served with meat broth, but of course, you can enjoy them without it. Bon appétit!