Kazakh shelpek - flatbread

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 1 hr

1. STEP 1

   

   How to fry Kazakh shelpek - flat cakes? Very simple and quick. First, prepare the necessary ingredients. Use premium flour. If you wish, you can add a little sugar to the dough. You can replace the soda with the same amount of baking powder. There is no need to extinguish it with vinegar. You can replace apple cider vinegar with regular table vinegar. You can also replace vinegar with lemon juice.

2. STEP 2

   

   Pour milk into a saucepan, add butter and heat everything together until the butter dissolves. The milk should be warm, but not hot.

3. STEP 3

   

   Sift about 350 g of flour along with salt into a bowl. Thanks to sifting, it will be saturated with oxygen, and the finished cakes will turn out more tender.

4. STEP 4

   

   Make a well in the flour. Pour baking soda into it, pour in vinegar and immediately stir quickly. We are used to extinguishing soda in a spoon and only then adding it to the dough. However, the reaction with the release of carbon dioxide takes place outside the dough, which means it does not loosen it. Therefore, it is better to carry out the reaction directly in the test. Make a well in the flour again.

5. STEP 5

   

   Pour warm milk and butter into the flour. If necessary, adding the remaining flour, knead a homogeneous elastic dough.

6. STEP 6

   

   Wrap the finished dough in a bag or cling film and leave to rest for 20 minutes. During this time, gluten will develop in the flour, and the finished dough will be more elastic and pliable.

7. STEP 7

   

   Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.

8. STEP 8

   

   Roll out each piece on a floured surface into thin cakes.

9. STEP 9

   

   It’s better to roll out all the cakes at once and stack them on top of each other, placing them with napkins so that they don’t stick together. It is better to shake off excess flour before frying, otherwise it will burn in the pan.

10. STEP 10

    

    Heat vegetable oil in a deep frying pan with a thick bottom. The oil should completely cover the bottom of the pan. Place the helpek and use a spatula to turn it clockwise for a few seconds until golden brown. Then turn over and continue frying until air bubbles appear.

11. STEP 11

    

    Place the finished milk-based shelpeks on paper napkins to absorb excess fat, then serve. Bon appetit!

Comments on the recipe

Margot

29.10.2023

4.6

The recipe will come in handy, thank you. I bake flatbreads using water according to this recipe.

Moderator Ksenia

29.10.2023

4.9

In addition to breakfast, I prepared Kazakh shelpek - flat cakes. I used premium grade flour. First I added 200 ml of water, as indicated in the recipe. But in my case this was not enough. So I started adding water to the dough, spoonful at a time, kneading it each time. In total, I added three more tablespoons and one teaspoon of water. The dough turns out to be steep, dense, and quite difficult to knead. I kneaded the dough for about 6 minutes, after which I set it aside for about half an hour. The settled dough became much softer, more elastic and tender. It didn’t stick at all to my hands, board, or rolling pin, so I didn’t have to sprinkle the work surface with additional flour. I divided the dough into seven parts, as advised in the recipe, and rolled each into a thin flat cake. I fried the flat cakes in a cast iron frying pan over medium heat for 15-20 seconds on each side. This time was really enough for the cakes to cook through. The flatbreads turned out very fragrant, quite dense, but soft and elastic. They fold perfectly in half and do not break. They have a fairly neutral taste, so I think they can be paired with any filling. Thank you very much for the recipe!

anvara

29.10.2023

4.6

Wow! Thanks for this recipe! I will treat my own! And you can try and do it my way