Karjalanpiirakat

Ingredients

Rice filling
300ml water
2.5 cups short-grain rice, rinsed – I use porridge rice
1 litre milk
2 tbs butter
1 tsp salt

Rye crust
300ml water
250g rye flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp salt
Baste
50g butter
4 tsp milk

Egg topping
6 eggs, hard boiled
4 tbs butter

Method
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.
Bring the water and rice to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Add the milk and cook on a low simmer for 45 minutes.
Then stir in the butter and salt, and set the mixture aside to cool.
It is best to place it in the fridge once it is cool enough, as a warm filling on the rye base will make the dough soften, and impossible to work with.

For the rye bread crust: put the water into a large bowl, and sprinkle in the rye flour and salt; mix until a dough ball forms. Knead the dough into a smooth ball.
Divide the dough into a couple of easy-to-handle balls, and roll into sausages roughly the width of a standard rolling pin.
Divide the rolls into 2cm-wide sections. Flatten the rounds into discs, and keep covered with a towel to prevent them from drying out.
Roll out the discs until they are extremely thin. At this stage you will consume lots of rye flour for dusting your surface, as pure rye bread is notoriously sticky!
Roll out all of the discs, and lay them on top of each other with plenty of flour to prevent them from sticking to each other.
Place 1-2 tablespoons of rice filling into the centre of the rye base, and spread it out a little. Fold over the edges and crimp the edges by pinching the rye dough together.
Bake on a lined baking tray in a hot 220°c/425°f oven for 15 minutes, or until the crimped edges begin to brown.

Make the baste by melting the butter with the milk.
Once the pies are cooked and out of the oven, liberally brush the baste over each pie and then cover with a lined tea towel. This softens the sharp crimped edges.

Boil 6 eggs and mash them roughly with a fork. Add butter so that the mixture is easy to spread, and add a little salt.
Spread a little egg-butter over the Karjalanpiirakka and enjoy!

JAANA SIMOLA – FINLAND