Chicken pelmeni with kefir dough

By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026

Pelmeni are Russia's small boiled dumplings: thin dough folded around a meat filling and pinched into a little ear shape. Here milk kefir goes into the dough with an egg yolk and a pinch of baking soda, making a soft wrapper that rolls out easily, while chicken, golden sautéed onion and parsley fill the inside.

Ear bread from the Urals and Siberia

The name pelmeni comes from the Komi or Udmurt languages and means ear bread. Where the dumplings began is still debated: some trace them to Chinese dumplings carried west by the Mongols, others to the Urals, and they are widely seen as Siberia's gift to Russian cooking. A census book from the Urals dated 1679 already lists surnames formed from the word, so the dish has been made there for centuries. In Siberian winters, pelmeni were frozen outdoors, and hunters carried sacks of them into the forest because they stayed frozen and cooked quickly.

A kefir dough that rolls with ease

The classic pelmeni dough is just flour and water, and kefir dough is a home variation with many versions. This one adds a yolk and baking soda, which reacts with the acid in kefir and releases carbon dioxide. Flour absorbs liquid differently from bag to bag, so add extra only when the dough sticks, then let it rest briefly. Too much flour makes the dough stiff and hard to roll.

When filling, pinch every edge firmly shut, because an open seam lets the filling escape in the pot. Overfilled dumplings can also burst while they cook.

Sour cream, butter or a hot pan

Sour cream with a little chopped dill or parsley is the most common way to serve pelmeni. Melted butter, mustard, horseradish or a splash of vinegar are also traditional. For a crisp finish, fry the boiled dumplings in a little butter until both sides are golden. A spoonful of thick, plain kefir works just as well as sour cream.