Pieroti!

Pierogy, pirogi, pyrizhky, variniki...fabulous little dumplings from the east of Europe. When I think of perogies, I think of my dear friend Leigh-Ann, 7 months pregnant and seated at a kitchen table at a cottage somewhere on Lake Winnipeg, clapping her hands and chanting "Pi-Ro-Hee! Pi-Ro-Hee!". I think of the freezer bags of no-name potato & cheddar perogies, 2 for a dollar, that my brother used to boil up for him and me late-night after our respective dance class & swim practice. And I think of a Ukranian granny in a farmhouse east of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, a circle of silky dough in one hand and a spoon full hot mashed potatoes in the other, standing over a giant boiling pot of water. Good images!

Roti brings other pictures to mind - breakfast with my mom in the hot sun outside a laundromat in Port of Spain; dinners to stay at the front table at Caribbean Roti Palace; eating steaming paratha from a white paper bag at Ali's West Indian Roti Shop; the looks on the faces of the two little white-bread girls my parents were minding when my dad decided to take us all out for goat roti, bone in. Another happy food. The hot, doughy packages, oozing spicy gravy, are one of the greatest comfort foods I know.

Curry potato is the most common and basic filling for roti, and easy to substitute for the usual bland potato/cheese stuff that goes inside perogies. It was a little odd to bite into an innocent-looking boiled flour dumpling and find spicy-hot curry inside - but it was a good surprise. Me and the bass-playing bear found it confusing but good. Good-confusing.

The verdict: pieroti is pretty labour intensive but massively delightful. Tasty enough to eat 3 nights in a row.


RECIPE

Pieroti
Makes about 4 dozen pieroti.

Dough
2 eggs
0.5 c vegetable oil
1.5 c warm water
1 tbsp salt
5 c all-purpose flour

1. Beat eggs and oil in a large bowl; add water and salt and blend well.
2. Gradually add flour to make a soft dough.
3. Knead on a floured counter for about 5 minutes.
4. Cover in a bowl and let stand for 15 minutes.
5. Roll out on a floured counter until very thin, and cut out with a 3" round.

Filling
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tbsp curry powder
1 lb potatoes (about 4 small), chopped
1 tomato, chopped
Salt and hot pepper sauce to taste

1. Heat oil in a large pot; saute garlic and onion for 1 minute.
2. Add curry powder mixed with 1/4 c water and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add potatoes and stir to coat.
4. Add tomato, salt and pepper sauce and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add about 3/4 c water, cover, and cook at low heat until potatoes are tender.
6. Mash well.

To make the pieroti:
Place 1 tsp filling on each circle. Fold in half and pinch edges together to seal. Drop 1/2 dozen at a time into a pot of boiling salted water. Boil for about 5 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Place in a bowl with a little oil.

Serve with fried onions and bacon, which are delicious everywhere, and sour cream. And pepper sauce. Obviously.