Baursak
Kazakh puffed fried dough for the dastarkhan (bauyrsak)
No Kazakh dastarkhan, the cloth spread with food for guests, is complete without a heap of baursak: soft, hollow pillows of yeasted dough fried until they balloon. They are scattered over the table at weddings, at Nauryz in March and at funerals, where the smell of frying baursak is said to reach the departed. In Almaty families fry hundreds at a time and eat them through the evening with milk tea, butter, jam or honey. Kyrgyz and Turkmen households make almost identical versions. Chef's tip: roll the dough just 1 cm thick and keep the oil hot; thin dough in hot oil puffs into a hollow ball, thick dough stays bready.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Whisk 1 cup warm milk, ¼ oz instant dried yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in a bowl and leave 5 minutes until foamy.
5 minStep 2: Beat in 1 egg, 1 oz butter and 1 tsp salt, then add 16 oz plain flour gradually and knead for 7 minutes into a soft dough that just stops sticking to your hands.
7 minStep 3: Cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled and airy.
60 minStep 4: Knock back and roll out on a floured surface to 1 cm thick. Cut into 4–5 cm squares or diamonds (or rounds with a glass). Cover and rest for 15 minutes, until slightly puffy.
15 minStep 5: Heat 4 ¼ cups sunflower oil in a wide, deep pan to 350°F: a scrap of dough should rise at once and turn golden in about 1 minute.
Step 6: Fry 5–6 pieces at a time, spooning hot oil over the tops so they balloon. Turn after 1 minute and fry another minute, until both sides are deep golden and they sound hollow when tapped with a spoon. A common slip is overcrowding the pan; the oil cools and baursak soak up fat instead of puffing.
20 minStep 7: Drain on kitchen paper. Serve warm, piled high, with butter, jam or honey and Kazakh milk tea. Leftovers revive in a warm oven for 5 minutes.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 310 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does baursak take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of warm milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Paneer pudas
Pudas are thin savoury pancakes. These low-calorie ones are made from rice, maize and wheat flour mixed with crumbled paneer, spinach, fenugreek and coriander and a fresh paste of onion, chilli, mint, garlic and ginger. The moisture in the vegetables and paneer is enough to bind the dough, so no ghee, oil, yogurt or water goes into it. Cook on a griddle with just a little oil and serve with tea, or with plain yogurt and pickle.
Stuffed green paratha
Bright green parathas: the dough is kneaded with puréed spinach and lemon, then filled with a gently spiced stuffing of crushed peas, grated cauliflower and crumbled paneer and cooked on a hot griddle. Soft inside with crisp spots outside. Serve hot with yogurt and chutneys.
Brown soup rolls
Small, soft bread rolls made with half plain and half wholemeal flour, shaped long and baked until golden. They're best warm from the oven with a bowl of soup, and freeze well once cooled.