People who have visited the ski resorts of the Caucasus often bring with them a recipe for khychins - thin flatbreads filled with cheese, potatoes, cottage cheese, and meat. This is one of the national dishes of Karachay-Balkar cuisine. Here, almost all housewives know how to bake these unique flatbreads; this dish is on the menu of almost every cafe. Not all tourists who return home with a treasured recipe manage to prepare delicious and beautiful khichins at home. In fact, for this it is not necessary to have perfect cooking skills; it is enough to know the intricacies of technology and not violate it while preparing Balkar flatbreads.
Cooking features
Khychins contain affordable products; their preparation does not take much time and effort, but is not rushed. In order to prepare delicious khychin at home, you need to know and take into account several points:
- There are few variations of the dough for khychins. The main ingredients are ayran, salt and flour. The fermented milk product can be replaced with any other similar product - yogurt, kefir. Sometimes a little soda or mineral water is added to the dough. There are no eggs, butter or similar ingredients in its composition.
- The consistency of the finished dough should resemble dumpling dough, but be a little softer. After kneading, it should be allowed to rest for 15–20 minutes before rolling out. To prevent it from weathering, cover it with a towel or cling film.
- The ingredients that make up the filling should be ready for use by the time they are combined with the dough or not require long-term heat treatment, since the flatbreads are fried quite quickly.
- The dough for khychin is divided into several parts, rolled into balls, and crushed to form a flat cake. Place the filling in the center. The edges of the dough are gathered from above, the filling appears to be closed in a bag. This “bag” is slightly flattened and rolled out without using force. If you press too hard on the rolling pin, the dough will break through and the food will be spoiled. At first the cake will roll out slowly, then softer and softer.
- Fry the flatbreads in a dry hot frying pan. They may puff up when baking. This is a sign that you did everything correctly, rolling the dough into a flat cake without tearing it. The swollen dough is pierced with a knife and it falls off.
- The finished khychins are brushed with melted butter. Savings in this case will be inappropriate.
Khychins are stacked, cut crosswise into 4 parts, sometimes cut like a cake into 6-8 parts. Khychins are served hot, although they remain tasty after cooling.
- kefir (preferably fatty) - 0.25 l;
- wheat flour - 0.4 kg;
- salt - a large pinch;
- baking powder for dough - 5 g;
- soft cheese (feta or similar) - 0.2 kg;
- fresh dill - 50 g;
- fresh cilantro or parsley - 50 g;
- butter - 60 g.
Cooking method:
- Crumble the cheese with a fork or knife.
- Wash the greens and let them dry. Finely chop with a knife and mix with cheese. If you have an unsalted variety, add salt to taste and stir again.
- Melt the butter over low heat or in the microwave.
- Sift the flour. Mix with baking powder.
- Add salt to kefir and stir.
- Add flour and knead the dough. First, you can knead with a spoon or fork (the latter option is more convenient), after which you will have to knead the dough by hand.
- Divide the finished dough into 6 approximately equal parts. Roll each part into a ball, wrap in cling film and leave for 20-30 minutes to allow the dough to rest.
- After the specified time, knead one of the pieces of dough, turning it into a flat cake the size of your palm. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center. Seal the edges of the dough over the filling.
- Roll out the dough with the filling into a thin flat cake with a diameter no larger than the size of the frying pan in which you plan to fry the khychin.
- Fry the tortilla on both sides until it is browned. Transfer to a plate.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the khychin with oil.
- Also form and fry the remaining khychins, generously covering them with oil.
When the khychins are soaked in oil, they will become softer and more tender. Then it will be time to take a sample from the food. Soft cheese in this recipe can be replaced with cottage cheese.
Khychiny with cheese and potatoes
- ayran - 0.25 l;
- flour - 0.35 kg;
- salt - a pinch;
- feta cheese - 0.2 kg;
- potatoes - 0.2 kg;
- fresh herbs - 50 g;
- butter - 50 g.
Cooking method:
- Add a pinch of salt to the ayran, add sifted flour, knead the dough, a little softer than dumplings. Divide into 8-10 parts, roll each into a ball.
- Boil the potatoes in their skins, cool, and peel. Turn through a meat grinder or chop on a grater.
- Finely grate the cheese and combine with the potatoes.
- Add finely chopped greens to the cheese and potato mixture and mix thoroughly. Form 8–10 balls from the resulting mixture - according to the number of pieces of dough. The filling balls will be slightly larger than the dough balls, but that's how it should be.
- Knead the ball of dough to form a flatbread. Place a ball of filling in the center. Pull the edges of the flatbread up and pinch, hiding the filling inside.
- Roll out the flatbread into a layer 3-4 mm thick, fry in a dry frying pan or greased with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Grease with oil.
- Roll out the remaining pieces of dough with filling in the same way, brown on both sides.
Khychiny with meat
- kefir - 0.5 kg;
- meat (pork, beef, chicken) - 0.7 kg;
- wheat flour - 0.7 kg;
- onions - 0.2 kg;
- fresh herbs - 100 g;
- garlic (optional) - 2 cloves;
- salt, ground black pepper - to taste;
- butter - how much will be needed.
Cooking method:
- Mix kefir with salt (half a teaspoon is enough salt). Add sifted flour to kefir and knead the dough to a consistency similar to dumplings. Roll into a ball, cover with a towel and leave for at least 30 minutes.
- Wash the meat. Dry with a napkin. Pass through a meat grinder twice.
- Peel the onion, cut into large slices, grind with a meat grinder, and combine with minced meat. Add finely chopped greens to it.
- Salt and pepper the minced meat, knead it and beat it.
- Separate a piece of dough the size of a medium onion. Roll into a small flat cake.
- Place the minced meat in the center of the flatbread, pinch the edges of the dough to form a ball with minced meat inside.
- Place stapled side down on a floured board. Roll out into a thin round shape.
- Place on a hot frying pan. Brown on one side without covering the pan with a lid.
- Reduce the flame intensity, turn the cake over, and cover the pan with a lid. Bake until done.
- Prepare the khychins in the same way from the remaining dough and minced meat.
Don't forget to lubricate the khychins with oil. If the minced meat was made from fatty meat, oil can be used in minimal quantities.
Khychiny on sour milk with liver
- sour milk - 0.25 l;
- flour - 0.3–0.35 kg;
- salt - to taste;
- veal liver - 0.3 kg;
- onions - 0.2 kg;
- ground paprika - to taste;
- butter - 30 g for frying onions, 50 g for greasing khychins.
Cooking method:
- Mix sour milk with a pinch of salt and, adding flour to it, knead the dough.
- Boil the beef liver for 15–20 minutes, cool, cut into small pieces and grind through a meat grinder.
- Remove the peel from the onion and cut it into small cubes.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the onion in it.
- Combine the onion with the liver, add paprika and salt to them, mix.
- Form 6 small cakes from the prepared dough. Spread the filling over them.
- After pinching the edges of the cakes, roll them into layers no more than 5 mm thick.
- Fry the tortillas in a dry or greased frying pan with a thin layer of oil.
Khychiny with Adyghe cheese and nuts
- matsoni - 0.2 l;
- mineral water - 100 ml;
- soda - 5 g;
- flour - 0.7 kg;
- walnut kernels - 50 g;
- cilantro - 50 g;
- Adyghe cheese - 0.35 kg;
- butter - 80 g.
Cooking method:
- Combine matsoni with mineral water, whisk until smooth.
- Add soda to the matsoni and stir.
- Sift the flour. Pour it into the matsoni in parts and stir, knead the dough. Set it aside for half an hour, cover with a towel, and start preparing the filling.
- Grind the nuts using a coffee grinder.
- After washing and drying the greens, finely chop them with a knife.
- Chop the cheese with a knife or grind with a fork until crumbly. Combine with nuts and herbs, mix well.
- Divide the dough into 6-8 parts, and from each part make a flat cake the size of your palm.
- Spread the curd and nut filling over the flatbreads.
- Seal the edges of the tortilla over the filling.
- Turn the resulting balls seam side down, press them with your palm, then roll them out.
- Fry the tortillas in a dry frying pan.
When transferring the fried khychin to a plate, grease them with oil. Serve with matsoni sauce with garlic and herbs.
Khychins are the national dish of the Karachay-Balkar peoples. They welcomed dear guests with them. Today the recipe for this dish is known far beyond the Caucasus. It’s easy to make these flatbreads stuffed with potatoes, cheese or meat at home if you know the specifics of preparing this dish.
Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not indicated
Quite often I spoil my family members with a delicious dish called khychyny with cheese and potatoes. I most often serve these with a sauce, to prepare which I simply combine mayonnaise, tomato paste and garlic. By the way, this is the sauce I use when I prepare homemade shawarma. What I like about khichins is that they are very filling. For example, you don’t have to worry at all and don’t come up with any additional dish; believe me, all family members will remain full. My simple step-by-step recipe with photos will help you bake these flatbreads very quickly and easily.
I always cook khichins with milk. In my opinion, this is the most successful dough. Although, in principle, you can safely use ingredients such as kefir, sour cream and even mayonnaise to knead the dough.
Ingredients:
- 1 glass of milk (or kefir),
- ½ teaspoon salt,
- 1 large potato,
- 50-100 grams of hard cheese,
- ½ teaspoon of soda,
- 2.5-3 cups flour
You can also use any greens, and if you want the khychin to be spicy in taste, then add garlic to the filling.
How to cook with photos step by step
So, first of all, prepare a deep bowl. Pour milk into it. 
Pour salt into it, and then soda. Due to the fact that milk is used for cooking, there is no need to extinguish the soda. 
Add flour. Then knead the dough very well. Cover the finished dough with film and leave it for 15-20 minutes. 
Prepare the filling. Boil the potatoes until tender. Grate it. Grate hard cheese onto it. If you want, you can also add chopped herbs. 
Divide the dough into pieces, roll each thinly.
Place the filling inside. Gather the edges into a ball. Then turn the ball over with the edges down and roll it into a layer with a rolling pin. I suggest you prepare very simple and quick ones. 
Heat the oil in a frying pan and then fry the khychin for a minute on each side over medium heat. 
A simple but tasty dish - khychyny with cheese and potatoes. It is equally popular among Karachais and Balkars. Previously, it belonged to ritual treats, but is now considered everyday. Outwardly, the food most closely resembles filled flatbreads, although some classify it as pies. The cooking methods of different nations are very different from each other.
Balkars prefer very thin products and bake them in a dry frying pan (alternately on both sides). The finished flatbreads are placed one on top of the other, brushing each of them with melted butter (like pancakes). After standing for a few minutes in a plate covered with a lid, they become soft and tender.
The Karachay recipe for dough and filling is almost the same as the Balkar one, but the flatbreads are made thicker. They are fried in a large amount of vegetable oil. But, unlike pies or pasties, one product completely occupies the entire surface of the frying pan.
The dough for the traditional dish is prepared without yeast, using sour milk, and in the classic version there is not even soda. It is served to the table only hot, and along with it - sour cream, yogurt or ayran, popular in the Caucasus.
For the dough, use kefir or yogurt. Fat kefir can be diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio. Some recipes also include butter, while others use it only for coating hot items.
To make six flatbreads from simple dough, you need to stock up on the following products:
- kefir - 250 ml;
- flour - 2.5 cups;
- soda - 0.5 tsp;
- salt - 1 tsp;
- cheese - 100-150 g;
- potatoes - 4 pcs. medium size;
- greens - a bunch;
- butter - 60 g (to grease finished products).
It is important not to overdo it with greens; only add the ones you like to the filling. If cilantro is not to your taste, you can limit yourself to dill or parsley. By the way, it is dill that retains its aroma very well when exposed to heat. It is best to take Ossetian or Adyghe cheese. But you can replace it with cheese or use a mixture of several types. There is a recipe that uses suluguni and even Dutch cheese, but it can hardly be called traditional, although in this case the dish turns out well.
The amount of salt is indicated for the dough only. It is assumed that there is quite enough of it in feta cheese and Adyghe cheese. But before using, be sure to try the filling and, if it turns out to be too bland, add salt to taste.
Preparing the dough and filling
Mix kefir, flour, salt and quick soda in a bowl or saucepan. The dough must be kneaded well. The recipe for its preparation does not prohibit the use of automation: a bread machine or food processor with the appropriate function.
But after this, the finished dough still needs to be kneaded in your hands for at least a few more minutes. Then it is covered with a towel and left to “rest” for 10-15 minutes. During this time, the gluten will have time to swell, so the dough will be smooth and soft. It will be convenient to roll it out.
The potatoes need to be boiled and mashed with a pestle until pureed. If possible, grate the cheese on a fine grater. It is more convenient to pass a product that is too crumbly and crumbles in your hands through a meat grinder. Some people roll potatoes along with cheese. The greens must be chopped very finely, and it is better to discard the tails immediately. Hard inclusions in the filling will complicate the preparation of the dish, since the thinly rolled dough can tear due to them.
Make 6 balls from the finished dough. The filling is also immediately divided into 6 parts, after which you can begin to form the products. To do this, you need to flatten the ball of dough with your palms, at the same time not forgetting to give the cake a rounded shape. Then the filling is placed on top, the edges of the dough are folded towards the middle and pinched.
The result should be a giant donut. Next, on a table sprinkled with flour, it is gradually pressed down with your hands so that it becomes like a flat cake. All seams formed when modeling the dough should smooth out and become almost invisible.
If the Balkar recipe is used, the flatbread is brought to the desired state using a rolling pin sprinkled with flour. There is no need to use force when rolling; touching the rolling pin should be gentle and careful. The ideal thickness of the flatbread is 3-5 mm, but during the rolling process it is advisable not to overdo it so that the filling does not break through the dough.
Another important condition is this: the diameter of the cake should not be larger than the diameter of the container in which it will be cooked.
There is no need to grease the frying pan. Khychins are baked over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned. The resulting bubbles can be pierced with some sharp object. Place the finished flatbreads on a plate and brush well with melted butter.
National Karachay dish
In addition to the products already mentioned, add 1-2 tbsp to the dough. spoons of vegetable oil. There is no need to add soda, but add enough flour to make the body hard. Caucasian cooks, while kneading the dough, from time to time squeeze it into a lump, which they hit with force on the table. To prevent it from becoming too tight, you can beat it properly with a rolling pin.
The thoroughly kneaded dough is left under a towel for 1-1.5 hours. Once it has settled, you can start forming round balls. On a table sprinkled with flour, they are flattened with your hands into palm-sized cakes. When using the Karachay recipe, you should not skimp on the filling, since the flatbreads are not too thin and do not tear as easily as the Balkar ones. To increase the mass of cheese, you need to take more (about 250 g).
On average, one product will require about 2 tbsp. l. masses with greens. It is molded in the form of a donut, that is, the edges of the dough are wrapped and pinched in the center.
After this, all that remains is to turn the donut into a cake with your palms and carefully smooth out all the unevenness from the seams with your fingers. This recipe does not require the use of a rolling pin, but it can be used to give the product a flat surface. The thickness of the cake is from 5 to 7 mm, and it should occupy almost the entire surface of the pan.
The products are fried on both sides in a large amount of preheated vegetable oil. It is not necessary to pierce the resulting swellings. Fried tortillas are stacked on a plate.
Despite the vegetable fat, each of them still needs to be greased with butter. It is recommended to serve the dish with sour cream. Before this, the khichins are cut into 4 pieces crosswise. Actually, this is where their name came from: the word “khych” means “cross”.
Is it possible to put yeast in the dough?
Over time, the classic dough recipe was improved, it included eggs, butter and something that is usually not included in bread products in the Caucasus (yeast). Nevertheless, this dish also became known as khychin. It has many admirers who are not too picky about the method of preparing traditional dishes. The formed cakes can be fried in a frying pan (with or without oil) or baked in the oven.
The basis is any recipe for unsweetened yeast dough, for example, the following. First you need to heat 1.5 cups of milk to 40-45°C. 25 g of mashed “live” yeast (a quarter of a small packet) are diluted in it with the addition of 1 tsp. Sahara. Cover the container with a napkin and do not forget that the volume of the mixture will soon increase 3 times.
After standing for 5-7 minutes, it will become covered with bubbles, and the yeast will completely dissolve, even if there were lumps in it before. The composition prepared in this way can already be used for the test. If there is no “live” yeast, they are replaced with dry yeast in the amount of 7 g (small bag). But it should be noted that some types of dry yeast rise very quickly, so you need to carefully monitor them.
Beat 1 egg into a bowl with the milk-yeast mixture, add 1 tsp. salt and flour (you will need about 2.5 cups, but you don’t need to add it all at once). First, you need to knead the dough a little, then add 30-40 g of butter (it can be replaced with the same amount of margarine or 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil) and knead again.
Only after this will it be possible to determine how much flour needs to be added to obtain a stiff dough. You need to knead it until it stops sticking to your hands, but you should not hit it on the table. Then cover the bowl with the dough and place it in a warm place for 1 hour.
How to cook khychyny from yeast dough?
The filling is prepared as follows: 6-7 boiled and peeled potatoes need to be minced in a meat grinder with 400 g of feta cheese or Adyghe cheese, add finely chopped herbs, add salt if necessary. Next, use the same recipe as before: put the filling on the dough, form a bun, flatten and roll out.
Very thin flatbreads are cooked in a dry frying pan and then greased with oil. Thicker ones are fried in vegetable oil (3-4 minutes on each side).
To bake a yeast version of khychi with cheese and potatoes in the oven, the dough is rolled out into a round layer no more than 2 mm thick and the diameter of a frying pan. The filling is placed on it, which is covered with a second similar layer. The edges of the dough circles are pinched to form a flat cake. It is carefully transferred to a preheated frying pan greased with margarine. A small cut is made in the middle of the cake.
Since this recipe is quite democratic, the product can also be shaped into a cheesecake. Then the top layer is not required, and the bottom layer is made a little thicker. To make the dish beautiful, you need to brush it with beaten egg before baking. All that remains is to put the frying pan in an oven heated to a temperature of 200-210° and hold it there for 10-12 minutes until the cake is browned.
Khychiny is one of the most honorable dishes of Kabardino-Balkarian and Karachay cuisine, without which not a single feast is complete. Khychins are thin flatbreads made with sour milk or kefir with various fillings. The filling most often used is pickled cheese and meat. It should be noted that the Balkars and Karachais have slightly different cooking methods, as well as the fillings. Karachay khychins are thicker and, unlike Balkar ones, are fried not in a dry frying pan, but in oil. Today we will cook Karachay Khychin with cheese and potatoes.
Ingredients for the dough:
- Kefir – 1 glass,
- Water – 0.5 cups,
- Sunflower oil – 3 tbsp. spoons,
- Salt – 1 teaspoon (without a slide),
- Soda – 1 teaspoon,
- Flour – 2-2.5 cups
For filling:
- Cheese cheese – 150-200 gr.,
- Fresh herbs - dill, cilantro or parsley,
- Mashed potatoes – 400 gr.
Khychiny with cheese and potatoes - recipe
Pour room temperature kefir into a deep bowl. Pour water and sunflower oil into it. Many Khychin recipes do not contain vegetable oil, but it makes the flatbreads softer and airier. Add salt and soda. Stir. Add flour in small portions.
Constantly stirring the dough with a fork. As soon as the dough becomes difficult to mix with a fork, add the remaining flour and knead it with your hands. The dough should be soft (not clogged) and elastic. Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel or napkin and leave in a warm room.
While it is rising, prepare the filling. Boil mashed potatoes in advance. Add cheese to it.
It can be cottage cheese, Adyghe cheese, feta cheese or any other pickled cheese. In this recipe I used feta cheese. In any case, the cheese must be crumbled by hand or grated. Wash the fresh herbs, then finely chop them with a knife.
You can use any greens that you like. Add it to the bowl with the potatoes and cheese.
Mix the filling with a spoon. Now she's ready.
Let's return to our test. Sprinkle the table with flour. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of 0.5 cm. Using a wide mug or bowl, cut out circles with a diameter of 15-18 cm. Place the filling on them.
Lift the edges of the dough. Pinch the top. These bags have come out.
Place the flatbread in hot vegetable oil.
Khychiny with cheese and potatoes. Photo
The recipe for khichina with potatoes and cheese is quite simple and can be mastered by any housewife. Khychins in the Caucasus are the same as pizza in Italy, the same ingenious culinary invention of the people, they eat Khychins always and everywhere, for any reason and without it. Anyone who has never tried this incredibly tasty and easy-to-prepare dish has lost a lot; they urgently need to correct the situation and learn how to cook khychin with this filling.
In addition to the fact that these flatbreads with potatoes and cheese are incredibly tasty, they are also a very practical dish; they are stored for a long time and do not lose their taste when heated. You can heat up the khychin either in the microwave or simply in a frying pan with or without oil, depending on the heating method you choose, the taste will be different, but you will lick your fingers in any case.
You can also bake khichina with potatoes and cheese in the oven according to the recipe.
We also recommend preparing chips at home, after which you will no longer need to buy them in the store.
Khychins are simply a godsend for fast food, they are tasty even when cold, American hamburgers cannot compete with them. Khychins with potatoes and cheese will forever be “registered” in your home as soon as you try them at least once, so that you can be convinced of this, we will describe in detail the entire cooking process.
The video we have attached will make it easier to prepare the recipe for khychins with potatoes and cheese.
How to cook khychin with potatoes and cheese
What ingredients do we need:
For the test:
- flour - 700 g,
- milk - 500 ml.,
- water - 250 ml,
- yeast, dry - 1 tsp,
- salt,
- sugar - 1 tbsp,
- egg,
- butter - 30 g.
For filling:
- potatoes - 1.5 kg,
- cheese, pickled varieties - 500 g,
- onion - 3 heads,
- vegetable oil - 1 tbsp.
To submit:
- butter.
Preparation:
It is definitely worth noting that the preparation of khychins does not fit into too strict frameworks and each housewife prepares them in her own way, adhering only to very general rules. For example, the dough for classic khichins is prepared with water, but most housewives use milk, only slightly diluted with water. The dough is also kneaded with kefir, the conclusion is that the preparation of yeast dough is at the discretion of the housewife, but in order to make up your mind and find “your path,” you must first follow the “beaten path” that we offer you.
The recipe for khychina with potatoes and cheese in Karachay style is prepared exclusively from home-cooked products, which makes the final dish excellent.
So, dilute the milk with water and heat it slightly, add salt, sugar and yeast, after the yeast has dissolved, pour the melted butter and beaten egg into the container, mix everything thoroughly. Sift the flour into a spacious container convenient for kneading dough, then pour in the prepared liquid ingredients and quickly knead in the usual way. Cover the soft, fluffy dough with a lid and leave for one and a half to two hours, after which it can be used to prepare khychin with potatoes and cheese.
Usually, as soon as the dough is put in, the filling is immediately prepared, for which the washed potatoes are peeled and boiled. In order to preserve the maximum amount of nutrients in the potatoes, they should be filled with boiling water rather than cold water. We boil the potatoes without adding salt, because the filling includes quite salty brine cheese, and its amount is proportional to the taste, i.e., the more cheese, the tastier the khychins are.
Immediately after the potatoes have been boiled to a crumbly state, we puree them using a special masher, so that the puree is free of lumps; the potatoes are mashed immediately after draining the excess water.
Add pre-fried onion and cheese, cut into small cubes or grated on a coarse grater, to the mashed potatoes, knead again and let cool. After the mashed potatoes have cooled, we form small potato balls from it, the diameter of which is approximately ten centimeters, plus or minus, at your discretion.
If the dough is ready, then cut it into small parts, roll each part into a flat cake and place a potato-cheese ball of filling in the center, pull the edges of the flat cake by hand and pinch. Form the resulting ball of dough with filling into a flatter one, and then roll it out with a rolling pin into the thinnest possible flat cake with filling. We bake all the flatbreads in a heated frying pan without oil, then you will get baked khychin with potatoes and cheese. If you fry the flatbreads in heated vegetable oil, you will get fried khichina, try both options, it’s hard to say which is the most delicious, they usually do both, so as not to be puzzled by the choice.