Piroshki /Pierogi / Potato pies

Piroshki or Pierogi are stuffed dumplings of unleavened dough and varying ingredients.  Their specific origins are unknown; though they have strong ties to Slavic culture, similar foods occur in many cultures across the Middle-East,Russia, Armenia, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland and Europe. They are usually stuffed with cheese, farmer's cheese, mashed or other forms of potato, sauerkraut, cabbage, onion, meat, mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, dry cottage cheese or any combination thereof, or with a fruit filling such as blueberry.(Courtesy:Wikipedia)

I happened to have this Piroshki in a nearby bakery and found it to be really delicious..I wanted to make it at home..I found various recipes prepared either by frying them or baking them..I adopted the recipe from Farida however I made my own variations to it..
They are indeed a perfect tea-time snack! It is much like our favorite samosas,yet baked..So it can be had without any guilt!

                   

Ingredients

Active dry yeast - 1 packet(1/4 oz / 7g)
Maida /All purpose flour - 3 cups
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Sugar - 3 tablespoons
Milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Eggs - 2

                    

For the filling

Potatoes - 2 medium sized
Salt to taste
Garam masala - 2 teaspoons
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - chopped 1/4 cup

Directions

Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water and 1 teaspoon sugar and leave it aside for about 10 minutes till it turns foamy..
Combine flour, salt and sugar and mix them thoroughly..
Fold in the yeast mixture, milk, eggs (1 egg+1 egg white) and oil and knead it for around 5 minutes till you get an elastic soft dough..
Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and leave it aside in a warm place until it doubles in size..This might take around one hour..

Meanwhile prepare the potato filling..
Boil the potato and peel them..Mash them well add the remaining ingredients and mix well..
When the dough is ready, make them into small balls like you do for chappathis.

                       

Roll them out into circles of about 7 inches diameter and keep two spoons of the potato filling and lift the edges from one side to the center and seal them with a little water..You can also press it using a fork to seal the edges..
Place them on a baking sheet and leave it aside for around 15 -20 minutes..

                       

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F and in the meantime brush the dough with the yolk of one egg..This gives the nice golden colour to the Piroshki..
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until they turn nice golden colour..

                      

Enjoy with a hot cup of tea..

Sending these to Monthly Mingle- Appetizers and Hors'Doeuvres started by Meeta and hosted this month by Mansi Desai..

                                    

Also sending this to AWED: Middle Eastern Cuisine hosted by Siri and Dhivya