PLACHINDA

Plachinda image

This plachinda recipe-the Moldovan flatbreads filled with fresh cheese, spring onions, and dill-also includes tangy sorrel for extra flavor.

Provided by Olia Hercules

Yield Makes 4

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

1 cup kefir
½ Tbsp. sunflower oil
½ Tbsp. white wine vinegar
½ Tbsp. granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
350 g (11½ oz) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 scant tsp. baking soda
400 g (13 oz) feta cheese, crumbled
50 g (2 oz) sorrel or fresh spinach leaves, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped dill
Scant ¼ cup sunflower oil
¼ cup sunflower oil

Steps:

Place the kefir, sunflower oil, vinegar, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix together well with a fork.
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.
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.
For the filling, mix the feta, sorrel or spinach, spring onions and dill together, making sure that the feta is finely crumbled.
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.
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.
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.
Repeat with the remaining dough circles and filling.
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.