Kalduny or kolduny ( be, калдуны́, pl, kołduny, lt, koldūnai) are stuffed

dumpling Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, ...

s made of unleavened

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavenin ...

in Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Polish cuisines, akin to the Polish

pierogi Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. They are often pan-fried before serving. Pierogi or their varieties are associated with the cuisines of Central, Ea ...

, Russian pelmeni and the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

vareniki Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. They are often pan-fried before serving. Pierogi or their varieties are associated with the cuisines of Central, East ...

. In

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...

the word means “ magicians” or “ sorcerers”, but it is unclear how the word became associated with the dish.

Description

Kalduny, dumplings of unleavened

filled with

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

s, or other stuffings, are related to similar dishes in the West and in the East alike, from

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

ravioli, Hungarian derelye, and

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

pirogen to Russian pelmeni and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

n manti or

chuchvara Joshpara is a kind of dumpling popular in Central Asia, South Caucasus and the Middle East. They are made of unleavened wheat dough squares filled with ground meat and condiments. In observance of the Islamic dietary rules, the meat filling is us ...

. Kalduny made with a stuffing of smoked ham and mushrooms (''Kalduny Count Tyshkevich'', named after a Belarusian noble family from Lahojsk near

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

) were long considered Belarus's “visiting card”, although decades of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

rule almost erased their trace from public memory and now they are only served in a few local restaurants. Currently the Russian pelmeni and the

are served in more restaurants. The simplest dough for kalduny is made of

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

mixed with tepid

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

, eggs, and some

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

. In some recipes the dough for kalduny is mixed with

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

juice, not water. Kalduny dough should be soft but elastic, easy to stretch and to seal into a pocket around a dollop of filling. Like other pastry doughs it has to be allowed to rest, covered with a dish towel or a cloth so as not to dry out. Kalduny are usually boiled in a big shallow casserole at low heat, in well-salted water. Instead of boiling in water, kalduny may be boiled directly in a soup, in which they are then served. Some varieties are baked or fried. Kalduny Polesie style, with a stuffing of boiled river fish and hard-boiled eggs, are fried. A variety known in

Russian cuisine Russian cuisine is a collection of the different dishes and cooking traditions of the Russian people as well as a list of culinary products popular in Russia, with most names being known since pre-Soviet times, coming from all kinds of social ...

as ''kundumy'' (russian: кундюмы) is never boiled: the mushroom-filled dumplings are baked in a crock pot in the oven or fried. Kalduny may be served as a

main course A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée ("entry") course. Typically, the main course is the meal that is the heaviest, heartiest, and most intricate or substantial ...

or a

dessert Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and most parts o ...

, depending on the stuffing. For the former, meat, mushrooms,

farmer cheese In the United States, farmer cheese (also farmer's cheese or farmers' cheese) is pressed curds, an unripened cheese made by adding rennet and bacterial starter to coagulate and acidify milk. Farmer cheese may be made from the milk of cows ...

, or

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

is used; for the latter, fresh

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, ras ...

or sometimes

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to th ...

s may be used. The sauce or topping for kalduny also depends on the stuffing. Kalduny with Vilnius stuffing (mushrooms and

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and '' lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked. In Europe, alder is the tra ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

, as in ''Kalduny Count Tyshkevich'') are topped with melted butter, while the Russian stuffing (farmer cheese or mashed potatoes) requires thick sour cream. Dessert kalduny are powdered with

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...

or topped with

fruit syrup Fruit syrups or fruit molasses are concentrated fruit juices used as sweeteners. Fruit syrups have been used in many cuisines: * in Arab cuisine, '' rub'', ''jallab''; * in Ancient Greek cuisine, ''epsima''; * in Greek cuisine, ''petimezi''; * ...

s. Kalduny are often served in a

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling soli ...

(beef

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...

or borsht),Kalduny boiled and served i
beef broth
o

. similarly to

kreplach. The numerous combinations of dough, stuffing, and sauce provide a great potential for variation. Large kalduny ( manti) are prepared for the major Muslim feasts, which are celebrated by the

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

population that has lived continuously in Belarus since the end of the 14th century.Belarusian Tatars
. This variety of kalduny are made with spiced

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

veal Veal is the meat of calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, however most veal comes from young male calves of dairy breeds which are not used for breeding. Generally, v ...

stuffing and are eaten by spoon, so that the

wrapping doesn't tear and the juice from inside is not lost.

Varieties of kalduny

Kalduny come with a variety of fillings:Varieties of kalduny in Belarusian cuisine
(go to section ''Колдуны и пирожки'') . *Meat (ground or chopped) *Mushrooms (fresh or dried) *Mushrooms and

pork, mixed in equal proportions (Vilnius stuffing, ''Kalduny Count Tyshkevich'') *White rice and hard-boiled eggs * Sauteed

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ...

with mushrooms *Fish (freshwater fish, such as pike or

pike-perch ''Sander'' (formerly known as ''Stizostedion'') is a genus of predatory ray-finned fish in the family Percidae, which also includes the perches, ruffes, and darters. They are also known as "pike-perch" because of their resemblance to fish in the ...

, boned and chopped, mixed with hard-boiled or fried eggs) *

Bilberry Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus '' Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is ''Vaccinium myrti ...

(whole) *

Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The n ...

(stoned)

References

External links

* Kalduny in Wiki Cookbook:Cuisine of Belarus.
Kalduny on Russian food site eda-server.ru
.

. * Szymanderska H. Encyclopedia polskiej sztuki kulinarnej. RRA, Warszawa, 2003. * Barbara Holub. Przy wilenskim stole. Warszawa, Ksiazka i Wiedza, 1992. {{Dumplings Belarusian cuisine Lithuanian cuisine Polish cuisine Dumplings

Description

Varieties of kalduny

See also

References

External links