Carelian pies

Ingredients (24 pcs)

(Day 1)

Rice porridge

5 x 1/3 cup water
5 x 1/3 cup brow porridge rice (special rice type for porridge)
8 cups oat milk
1 tsp Himalayan salt

Let the water boil. When water is boiling, add rice and boil until the rice has absorbed all the water.

Add the oat milk. Let to boil. When boiling, boil on low heat around 40 min or until thickens (I left the porridge on the stove after turning it off). Season with salt.

To divide the time in smaller pieces, I recommend to boil the rice porridge already the day before you have planned to do the pies. (This is also good that you won’t burn your fingers when you are filling the pies.)

(Day 2)

Cover 3 trays with baking sheet (check that the sheet can handle 250 degrees Celsius)

Tape parchment paper on the table where you will bake your pies.

Make two towels wet under the water. Crumble the towels so that they are just a little bit moist.

Place everything ready for the baking.

The Dough

4 cups whole grain rye flour
3 tsp Himalaya salt
2 cups cold water

On top
about 1/4 cups of oat milk

Mix together salt and rye flour. Add water and mix well, first with a wooden fork and when it gets difficult change to your hands.

Sprinkle some rye flour on top of parchment paper.

Make the dough a long loaf. Devide in four pieces.

Take one piece and make it a long loaf which diameter is approximately 3 cm (~1 inch). Devide the long piece into 6 circles.

Repeat earlier step for the rest three pieces.

Put all circles back in the bowl where you baked the dough. Cover the bowl with one of the moist towels.

Take one dough circle. Place it over the parchment paper (coated with rye flour). Push the circle more flat and start to roll the dough with a special rolling pin called pulikka (you will  success also with a normal one, the shape is just little different). Roll the dough until you have round a hand sized oval.

Pulikka

When you are ready with rolling, place the oval inside another moist towel.

Repeat rolling for all circles. Place the ovals in 2-3 stacks inside the moist towel.

It is crucial that the ovals do NOT dry at any time point.

When you start to roll a couple of the last ovals, turn on an oven and heat it 250 degrees Celsius (~480 degrees Fahrenheit).

While oven heats up you can start to fill the pies.

Take one oval on the baking sheet covered tray. Place 2-3 tbs rice porridge in the center of the oval. Spread it so that there is around 1 cm (1/3 of an inch) empty space for the edge of the dough and the thickness of the porridge is 1 cm (1/3 of an inch).

Start to form pies: Place the lower edge of the oval on top of the porridge. Start turn dough over the porridge so that at the same time you make some wrinkles with your forefinger and thumb. Repeat until you have handled the whole edge. Repeat until there is one tray full.

Repeat until you have handled the whole edge. Repeat until there is one tray full.

Bake the pies in the oven until the surface of the porridge starts to get brown colour. (It takes around 19 min in my oven.)

While one tray is in the oven continue filling the rest of the pies. Continue until you run out the ovals.

When pies are ready from the oven, spread right away some oat milk over them with some brush. Watch out your fingers! The tray and the pies are HOT! (If needed, spread another layer of oat milk over the pies. This way you will get softer crust.)

Transfer pies away from the tray. If you want a crisp crust, do not cover the pies. But if you want a softer crust, cover the pies with one of the moist towels and let them cool.

 

This is a big batch because it takes so much time to bake these. I like to Place these in a freezer and then I have back up when I am in hurry 😀
If you have leftover porridge you can heat up portions in microwave and serve them with oat milk, cinnamon, dried bloms and almonds (by the way, that is traditional christmas food in Finland) 😀