Boortsog, or traditional Mongolian fried bread, is the most common cookie made by Mongolians. It is eaten as a dessert and snacks. Upon entering a home here, boortsog will be the first thing a Mongolian family will treat you with, along with milk tea. Throughout Central-Asia, boortsog goes by similar names and is the most common cookie of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- Warm water – 250 ml
- Melted and unsalted butter – 2 oz
- Active dry yeast – 2tsp or 0.36 oz
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Salt – 1.5 tsp
- Vanilla sugar – 8 grams
- Sunflower, canola or any other oil to fry – 2 cups
PREPARATION
- In a large mixing bowl, add all flour and all dry ingredients and mix them well.
- Then add the melted butter and mix well until the butter is absorbed into all the flour
- Pour the warm water into the mix and the dough until it becomes stiff. It’s should be easy to knead and not sticky.
- Prepare a floured surface for rolling dough, and place the dough on this floured surface and form it into a ball.
- Sprinkle flour into the bowl and place the dough ball inside. Cover it and rest it for 1 hour in a warm place.
- Place the rested dough on a floured surface.
- Roll the dough to a thickness of 1cm and cut it to the desired shape; we recommend shapes 2-5 cm wide, or strips 5-10 cm long. Shapes can vary: ball-shaped, circles, triangles, knots, or twists.
- Place a deep frying pan on the stove and pour in all your sunflower oil. Set to medium-high heat.
- After heating the oil, fry the boortsog shapes a few at a time. Boortsog should be a golden color, not too dark or brownish. Remove from oil once cooked.
- Let the cookies cool down for few minutes.
- We recommend eating Boortsog with milk tea.
Enjoy!