Kalduny

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Kalduny or kolduny (Belarusian: Калдуны́, Russian: Кoлдуны́) is a Belarusian dish, and also Lithuanian and Polish, of stuffed dumplings. In Slavic languages the word means ‘magicians’, ‘sorcerers’, however it is unclear how the word became assiciated with the dish (in medieval Latin calduna meant “still warm bowels of just killed animal”, derived from calidus – “warm)”.

Some people maintain it came from the West (Germany or Czech Crown) in the fifteenth century. But Belarusian Tatars who settled in the country in the fourteenth - fifteenth centuries, insist that Kalduny is the descendant of a similar Tatar dish kundumy. As with other dishes, Belarusians disagree with Poles and Lithuanians about who introduced kalduny into the cuisine of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One account is that of Kalduny a-la Count Tyshkevich invented in the fourteenth century by the old aristocratic Belarusian Tyshkevich (Tyszkiewicz) family, this lends credence to the Belarusians claim for heritage.

Kalduny, dough dumplings with meat, mushroom or other stuffing are related to similar dishes both in the West and in the East, from Italian ravioli to Russian pelmeni and Uzbek manty. Kalduny made with smoked ham & mushroom stuffing were long considered the country’s ‘visiting card’ – although decades of Soviet-time rule almost erased their trace from the public memory, and now they are only served in a few local restaurants. Currently Russian pelmeni and, Ukrainian vareniki are served in more restaurants.

Large kalduny are prepared for the major Muslem feasts, with lavishly spiced mutton or veal stuffing and are eaten by spoon so that the dough wrapping is not torn and the juice from inside lost. Traditional Tartar kundumy were deep fried in melted sheep fat.

The simplest dough for kalduny is made of flour mixed with tepid water and some salt. But numerous variations of dough exist: some add beaten eggs, some flax seed oil, some baking soda. It is maintained that the true dough for Kalduny should be mixed with onion juice, not water. Kalduny dough should be soft but elastic, easy to stretch and to seal. Like other pastry doughs it has to be wrapped and allowed to ‘rest’ for a period of time. When shaping kalduny, it is important to cover them so that they don’t dry out.

Kalduny may be both a main course and a dessert, depending on stuffing. For the former: meat, fish, or farmer cheese is used, for the latter dried fruit may be used. The sauce with which kalduny are served also depends on stuffing. For ‘Vilnia’ (Vilnius) stuffing melted butter is used, while for ‘Russian’ stuffing – thick sour cream, and fruit syrups. The most common types of kalduny are boiled in big shallow casseroles at low heat in well-salted water. But some varieties are baked or fried. Those in Polesian style, with stuffing of boiled river fish and hardboiled eggs are, for instance, deep-fried. The large amount of combinations of dough, stuffing and sauce provides great potential for variation.