In a large mixing bowl, use a clean wet hand to combine the flour, salt, water, and one tablespoon of vegetable oil until you have a ball of dough.

Sprinkle your kitchen bench with flour and knead for a few minutes until you have a smooth ball of dough; if the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour, or if too dry, add a little more water, but it should be just right. Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and leave to rest for an hour.

Meanwhile, begin to make the savoury minced beef filling by frying the chopped onion in a tablespoon of vegetable oil until soft and translucent, then transfer to a cold dish and set aside to cool down.

Once the onions are cool, transfer them to a clean mixing bowl, and combine well with the fatty ground beef, salt, peppers, cumin, garlic powder, and fresh dill, to ensure all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Sprinkle the kitchen surface liberally with more flour and rub a rolling pin with flour, then use the rolling pin to roll out each ball of dough quite thinly into the shape of a large circle.

Spread the savoury beef minced mixture evenly on one side of the circle, ensuring there’s a border of 15mm around the rim of the circle.

Press the edges down with your fingers until completely sealed. You shouldn’t need water to seal due to the texture of the dough, but if you find you do, just add a little water to a small dish and dip a finger in and rub it along the rim on one side of the circle only.

Once sealed, press a fork onto the rim of the cheburek to form a continuous pattern, but take care not to press too hard so as not to create holes in the pastries.

In a medium-sized frying pan or skillet that’s large enough to hold a single pastry and turn it over with ease, pour in about 1cm-deep vegetable oil to shallow-fry your pastries, so that the oil reaches halfway up the side of the pastry when it’s touching the pan.

Heat the oil until hot – test it by dropping a tiny ball of dough into the oil; if it starts to spit and take on a golden colour, it’s ready – then use a fish slice to carefully transfer a cheburek to the pan; fry for a few minutes or so, lifting it slightly to check when it’s golden, then turn it over to fry the other side for a minute or two. Note: the second side cooks faster.

Remove the cheburek and transfer it to a rack covered with absorbent kitchen paper, taking the pan off the heat at the same time so the oil doesn’t smoke and burn. If needed, turn the heat down a little, then fry the next cheburek and repeat.

Note: if you need to add more oil to the frying pan, ensure it gets hot before sliding the cheburek in, otherwise your pastries will absorb the oil and be greasy.

When the last of the chebureki are done, serve immediately while piping hot, garnished with a little fresh fragrant dill and a dish of sour cream on the side.