Traditional Karelian pies recipe from Finland

Name: Authentic Karelian pies/pasties recipe (Karjalanpiirakat)
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 20
Cuisine: Finnish
Ingredients: 1 cup water; 1 cup short grain rice; 4 cups whole milk; 1-2 teaspoons salt; 1 cup rye flour (add later when needed: +2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons); 3 tablespoons all purpose wheat flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 2/3 cup warm water; 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted

March 12, 2024

Karelian pies filled with potato mash and rice porridge together with egg butter

Only authentic Karelian pies can be called Karelian pies

Did you know that Karelian pies are registered in EU, on the Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) list? On the same list there are e.g. Mozzarella cheese from Italy, Falun sausage (Falukorv) from Sweden and Serrano ham (Jamón serrano) from Spain.

The TSG list means that you can't call your pies Karjalanpiirakka / Karelian pasty if they don't comply with the defined rules.Check here for the official Karjalanpiirakka definition in EU.

Most important rule is that minimum 50% of the flour used has to be rye flour.

Well, originally these are all-rye-flour.. so my authentic recipe for Karelian pies, from my Northern Karelian grandmom does fit the definition well.

Note: So, the name in English officially seems to be Karelian pasty and not pie. I still keep on using here the name Karelian pie, because Finnish word piirakka is a pie, and it applies to small and big ones, savoury and sweet pies included.

It just sounds better in my mouth 😋

Karelian pies ready for the oven

The history of Karelian pies

The Karelian pies / Karelian pasties have been enjoyed for a long time, first time they are mentioned already in 1686. Karelia is a part of Eastern Finland.

Karelian pies spread to whole Finland and even Sweden when many Karelians needed to move out of their homes in Karelia during the Second World War.

The first, original filling was a porridge made of barley.

This was time when even potatoes were not yet common in Finland.

Potatoes, originally from Germany got more common around 1750's and more popular in Finland after 1800's.

So, later mashed potatoes became also a popular filling for Karelian pies, and later also rice porridge became super popular. Now, I think rice porridge filling is the most typical one.

Karelian pies /Karelian pasties are one of the most loved dishes of Finland. This savoury snack gets us through the cold and dark winter! It is widely available to buy ready-made, so not so many make them at home anymore.

In my childhood hundreds of Karelian pies were always made for every Christmas, Midsummer, any festivity, party or anniversary.

Karelian pies are also one of most practical dishes for guests, as they do not contain many ingredients (many are intolerant or allergic of something), can be enjoyed hot or cold and most people love it.

Karelian pies with egg butter

Karelian pies with 2 fillings, mashed potatoes and rice porridge, accompanied with egg butter

Thank you for keeping the traditional Finnish dishes alive around the world!

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2 comments

My heritage through both of my parents are Karelian. I grew up making them with my mother and my grandmother In Helsinki where my family evacuated during Second World War. Now I live in US where I make them for our Family reunions and other family parties. I feel important that the traction and history of Karelia continues in my family so I teach my grandchildren and my husband’s family how to make Karelian pies and other traditional Karelian food. Thank you for telling the history of Karelian pies . That is very important to keep alive as well.

Ihania karjalanpiirakoita!

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Authentic Karelian pies/pasties recipe (Karjalanpiirakat)

Tuija

Rated 4.1 stars by 10 users

Cuisine

Finnish

Author:

Tuija

Servings

Prep Time

1 hour 5 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Wonderful, tasty and very original Finnish food that is still enjoyed by everyone in Finland on a daily basis? Yes, it's the Karelian pie. Great snack and breakfast, which keeps you going for a long time.

This authentic Karelian pies recipe is from my secret family archives. Me and my mom learned to make these right in the heart of Northern Karelia, Tohmajärvi in Eastern Finland.

That is the home town of my grandparents from my father's side and the place I spent all my summers in as a kid.

How to prepare Karelian pies/pasties?

Good tip for baking the Karelian pies is to prepare the fillings on the day before, because baking takes time.

Traditional fillings are rice porridge (salted!) and mashed potatoes. There are also other options (like carrot mash and barley porridge), but these two, rice porridge and potato mash are the most loved ones by Finns.

The process goes like this:

Make the crust dough.
Roll the dough to very thin circles.
Fill the circles with rice porridge and crease the edges, leaving the center open.
Bake in very hot oven.
After baking, brush the Karelian pies with or dip them into butter-milk mixture and cover to soften them.

Most traditionally Karelian pies are eaten with egg-butter (a mix of cooked eggs, butter and salt - delicious!) but they can be treated as open sandwiches like all bread in Finland, adding butter, cheese, ham etc. on top. They taste great also just with butter on top.

Ingredients

Rice porridge

1 cup water
1 cup short grain rice
4 cups whole milk
1-2 teaspoons salt

Karelian pie crust

1 cup rye flour (add later when needed: +2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons)
3 tablespoons all purpose wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon salted butter, melted

Directions

Make the rice porridge filling

Add water and rice to a teflon kettle (to keep it from burning..) and boil until water has disappeared.
Then add milk and gently boil the porridge for 30 min - 1 hour. Mix often so that it does not burn!
Add salt to taste (for filling the karelian pies porridge needs to be saltier)

Make the crust and make the pies

Mix the crust ingredients and roll the batter to thin circles about the size of your hand.
Fill the crusts with rice porridge and wrinkle the sides, keeping the pies open. (Check out the tips on my video below!)
Bake in very hot oven, minimum 480°F, 570 would be better, for 8-10 minutes.
After baking, dip the hot Karelian pies to milk and butter mix, cover the pies to keep them warm and make them softer. Don't skip this step, because without it, pies will be quite hard.

Recipe Video

Recipe Note

Enjoy with egg butter - Make the egg butter like this!

Take 3 cooked eggs, chop / mash them with a knife and mix them well with 3 tablespoons (about 40-50 g) of butter, add salt to taste.

Add egg butter on top of the karelian pies and enjoy!

Egg butter is very tasty on top of any bread.

Fill with potato mash

Another traditional filling is potato mash. Make it a bit saltier and add more butter than normally for potato mash, for extra flavor. This filling is my favorite!

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