These flatbreads, called plachinda (placinta in Romanian), are traditionally shallow-fried, but if you prefer you can simply brush the breads with sunflower oil or butter and pop them under the broiler for three minutes on each side. You can also use raw egg instead of cheese—simply mix two eggs with all of the herbs.
Brick-like shop-bought bread in the USSR was scarce and pretty grim. So my mum’s mother, Lusia, used to make these breads instead. The fillings often included a salted fresh cheese, as well as spring onions and dill. Sometimes it would just be heaps of finely chopped herbs. I love to use all the green things I can put my hands on, including spring onions, herbs and sorrel, a beautiful sour leaf which adds extra zing to every bite.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 4
Ingredients
Kefir dough
Filling
To fry
Preparation
Step 1
Place the kefir, sunflower oil, vinegar, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix together well with a fork.
Step 2
Sift the flour with the baking soda, then sift again into the kefir mixture and mix in. The dough should be soft and pillowy. If it’s still slightly sticky, heavily flour your work surface and start kneading the dough, incorporating more flour into it. The dough should stop sticking to your hands when it’s ready but also remain soft.
Step 3
Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Flour the work surface really well and roll out each piece of dough, one by one, into a 20 cm (8 inch) diameter circle.
Step 4
For the filling, mix the feta, sorrel or spinach, spring onions and dill together, making sure that the feta is finely crumbled.
Step 5
Moisten the surface of one dough circle with 1 scant tablespoon of the sunflower oil and sprinkle one-quarter of the filling over the whole surface.
Step 6
Next, take one edge of the circle and fold it into the middle. Now bring the edge of the first fold into the middle and fold again. Repeat until you have created about 7 folds (fewer won’t seal the filling in properly). The dough should resemble a flattened moneybag.
Step 7
Make sure all the edges are firmly pinched together in the middle of the flatbread, flour the top lightly and gently flatten the moneybag with your rolling pin.
Step 8
Repeat with the remaining dough circles and filling.
Step 9
Heat the ¼ cup sunflower oil in a frying pan until hot and gently lower in each flatbread, one at a time. The first one will take about 3 minutes on each side, but as the oil heats up, the next ones will take about 2–2½ minutes on each side. You can alternatively brush them with oil and cook them under your broiler. The result will be somewhat different but still delicious.
Recipe notes
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