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Tatarstan · Dough and pastry
Tatar Echpochmak
Local name: Өчпочмак
A triangular Tatar pastry filled with beef, potato and onion, traditionally served with hot meat broth.
- Servings4
- Prep1 h 10 min
- Cooking55 min
- Total time2 h 5 min
- DifficultyMedium
Contains glutenContains dairyContains egg
About this dish
Echpochmak, whose Tatar name comes from the words for "three" and "corner" and so means "three corners", is one of the essential dishes of Tatar and Bashkir cuisine. It is a triangular turnover filled with chopped meat, onion and potatoes, usually eaten with broth or with tea.
Today it is usually made with a small steam hole on top; hot broth is often served in a separate bowl or poured in through the hole. Beef is the most common filling.
Ingredients
Tick the ingredients off like a shopping list.
Dough
Filling
Glaze and serving
Method
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the milk, sour cream, egg and softened butter and start to knead.
Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth, then cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
While it rests, cut the beef into small cubes of about 5-8 mm. Dice the potatoes to a similar size and finely chop the onions.
Combine the beef, potatoes and onions in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, water and the pieces of butter and mix with your hands; the filling should be quite moist.
Heat the oven to 200 °C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece out into a round about 3 mm thick and 16-18 cm across.
Put a mound of filling in the middle of each round. Lift the edge at three evenly spaced points toward the center, pinch the seams tightly and shape it into a triangle.
Place the triangles on the tray, brush with egg yolk and cut a small steam hole in the top of each.
Bake at 200 °C for about 50 minutes, covering loosely with foil after 25 minutes if they brown too quickly. Before serving, open one pastry and check that the beef is cooked through with no pink left and the potatoes are tender.
Brush with melted butter and rest for 5 minutes. Heat the ready-made broth and serve it in a separate bowl, or pour a few spoonfuls through the hole.
💡 Tips
- Do not chop the meat into mince; cubes of 5-8 mm cook through properly and keep the filling juicy.
- The filling should be moist, because the liquid cooks the potatoes and meat inside.
- Seal the edges very well, otherwise the juices leak out during baking.
- Cover with foil if the tops brown too fast so the meat can cook through inside.
- Brushing with butter after baking keeps the dough soft.
🛒 Can't find it abroad?
- Sour cream — Use the same amount of plain full-fat yogurt.
- Beef — Lamb, goose or duck can be used instead, diced to the same size.
This recipe was prepared with the help of AI, following the traditional home-style method; quantities, times and steps were checked automatically for consistency. Ovens and stoves differ, so check doneness by eye.
