Mom's Curried Perogy (Pyrohy) Recipe

There a certain times in life that warrant making delicacies from scratch, and by certain times, I DON’T mean when you are a new mom. I may not have time to make my mom's specialty dish - The Curried Perogy - from scratch, but I have enough time to share this family recipe with you, as promised in my video PITCH IT WITH VIKRAM VIJ (which is a teaser to my 8-minute video portrait on the chef, coming next week).

 

PEROGY (PYROHY) DOUGH

In 1 bowl, add 3 cups flour and 1 tsp. salt. 

In another bowl, add 1 egg, 2 tsp. cooking oil, and 1 cup warm water.

Add the egg mixture to the flour and knead for about 10 minutes.  Let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.  

Working in small batches of dough to minimize drying out, pinch off dough and roll into 1 ½ inch balls on a lightly floured surface.  

POTATO & COTTAGE CHEESE FILLING 

Cook 4 potatoes. Mash. Set aside in a large bowl.

Sautee 1 onion in butter.  

Mash 1 ½ cup dry curd cottage cheese (run through food processor first to make very fine)

In a bowl, mix all filling ingredients. Add salt & pepper.

TO FILL & COOK PEROGIES

Add 1 tsp of filling to each perogy piece, but ensure clean edges. Fold dough over filling and pinch tightly to form crescent (perogy shape). Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then cover with tea towel. Ensure each pyrohy has ample room and is not touching.  Try to work to minimize drying out of dough. 

Boil perogies in batches for 3-5 minutes in boiling, salted water. Remove with slotted spoon. Toss the cooked perogies in melted butter to keep from sticking.  

CURRYING THE PEROGY

Sautee 1 onion in generous amount of oil (perogies stick!)

Add 5 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 tbsp. finely chopped ginger, 3 finely chopped green chilies

Add 1/2 tsp each: garam masala, chili powder, salt and pepper (another lazier but equally tasty option is to buy a bottled spice mix called “Kashmiri Masala”)

Add a handful of fresh, chopped cilantro

Add cooked pyrohies in batches, and fry in spices

Punam's touch: serve with generous dollops of sour cream and bacon bits!

(Wow, writing out a recipe is no small feat.  I have a whole new appreciation that Vij has published two cookbooks: Elegant & Inspired Indian Cuisine and Vij's At Home.)