Meat Kurnik with Potatoes

Sift the flour into a bowl. Take frozen margarine and grate it on a coarse grater, gradually mixing the shavings with flour.

Carefully rub the mixture with your fingers so that the margarine is evenly distributed in the flour.

Put baking soda in a spoon, pour vinegar and mix with warm kefir. The reaction will be vigorous — do this over a bowl with flour.

Stir the kefir until it rises slightly. Pour the kefir into the flour, add salt and knead the dough gently, without effort, until smooth.

Place the dough in a bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Cut the meat into narrow strips 3–4 centimeters long. Finely chop the onion. Peel the potatoes and cut them into narrow pieces so they match the meat.

Lightly fry the onion in vegetable oil, add the meat and fry over medium heat for a short time. When the juice is released, add some hot water to make a broth.

Keep the meat on the heat for another 5 minutes, salt and pepper it. Transfer the meat to a plate and pour the broth into a separate container — it will be needed for baking.

Remove the dough and knead it. Divide it into two parts — one larger and one smaller. Roll out the larger part into a circle of medium thickness.

Use a mold approximately 24 centimeters in diameter. Lay the circle of dough in the mold so that the edges extend beyond its borders.

Layer the filling: first potatoes, then meat. Roll out the remaining dough into a circle with a diameter 4 centimeters smaller than the form.

Place the circle on the filling. Connect the edges of the bottom dough with the top circle, as when making dumplings. Make a hole in the center of the top circle approximately 1.5 centimeters in diameter.

Place the chicken pie in the oven preheated to 200 degrees. After 10 minutes, when the dough sets, open the oven and pour 3-4 tablespoons of broth into the hole with a tablespoon.

Repeat the broth pour a couple more times during baking. Total cooking time is about 40 minutes until the dough is medium golden brown.