Kalduny or
kolduny (
Belarusian ???????´,
Russian ?o?????´,
Polish kolduny,
Lithuanian koldunai, used in plural only) are stuffed
dumplings made of unleavened
dough in
Belarusian,
Lithuanian, and
Polish cuisines, akin to the
Russian pelmeni and the
Ukrainian vareniki. In
Slavic languages the word means “
magicians” or “
sorcerers”, but it is unclear how the word became associated with the dish. The origin of kalduny is uncertain they may have originated with equal likelihood in the West (
Germany or
Czech lands) or in the East (brought by the
Tatar-Mongols across
Siberia and the
Urals).
Kalduny, dumplings of unleavened dough filled with meat, mushrooms, or other stuffings, are related to similar dishes in the West and in the East alike, from Italian ravioli, Hungarian derelye, and Ashkenazi Jewish pirogen to Russian pelmeni and Central Asian manti or chuchvara. Kalduny made with a stuffing of smoked ham and mushrooms (Kalduny Count Tyshkevich,[1] named after a Belarusian noble family from Lahojsk near Minsk) were long considered Belarus’s “visiting card”, although decades of Soviet 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 Ukrainian vareniki are served in more restaurants.[citation needed]
The simplest dough for kalduny is made of flour mixed with tepid water, eggs, and some salt.[2] In some recipes the dough for kalduny is mixed with onion juice, not water.[3] 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.[4] 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 as kundumy (Russian ???????) is never boiled the mushroom-filled dumplings are baked in a crock pot in the oven or fried.[5][6]
Kalduny may be served as a main course or a dessert, depending on the stuffing. For the former, meat, mushrooms, farmer cheese, or fish is used; for the latter, fresh berries or sometimes dried fruits may be used. The sauce or topping for kalduny also depends on the stuffing. Kalduny with Vilnius stuffing (mushrooms and smoked pork, 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 or topped with fruit syrups. Kalduny are often served in a soup (beef broth or borsht),[4] similarly to Jewish kreplach. The numerous combinations of dough, stuffing, and sauce provide a great potential for variation.
