Turkmenistan 2014 - Recipes

Serves 5

INGREDIENTS:
For the filling:
1 kg fresh spinach
8 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt

For the dough:
~250 ml (1 cup) warm water
1 teaspoon salt
500 g (3 1/3 cups) flour

To cook:
3 l (12 cups) water
1 tablespoon salt

To serve:
plain yogurt
dried mint

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Rinse the spinach well and shake off excess water. Add the spinach to the boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Drain the spinach in a colander and transfer to a bowl of cold water (to preserve its green color). Drain the spinach again and using a wooden spoon, crush the leaves and stems.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat. When the flour turns slightly brown, add water and give it a few stirs. Add the crushed spinach and salt. Stir well and turn off the heat.
3. For the dough, mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead until the dough is hard and elastic. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each of them into a ball. Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel and let them rest for 5 minutes.
4. Take one dough ball and roll it out on a floured surface to a thickness of 2 mm. Sprinkle with additional flour if the dough is too sticky. Once the dough has been rolled out, sprinkle more flour and spread it out evenly over the dough. Fold the dough sheet in half, then fold it back and forth onto itself two or three times and cut the sheet crosswise to form rectangles. Unfold the rectangles, lay them on top of each other and cut the stack crosswise into squares.
5. Place about a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square. Fold the dough in half and pinch the edges together. Arrange the dumplings on a lightly floured tray and keep them covered with a kitchen towel as you work with the other dough ball.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the dumplings and cook for 10-12 minutes. Remove the dumplings with a handled strainer.
7. To serve, spread some yogurt over a serving dish, transfer the drained dumplings to the dish, add more yogurt and give the plate a shake to mix it in. Sprinkle with dried mint (optional).

From: http://turkmenkitchen.com/en/2012/10/28/spinach-dumplings/