Gradually add another third of the water, continuing to combine until you have a texture that can be kneaded. If it’s not there yet, gradually add more water, but don’t add it all if it’s not needed. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour.

Transfer the dough to your work-space and knead for a few minutes – but don’t over-knead – and shape the dough into a ball. Return it to the bowl, cover with a clean damp cotton tea towel, and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make the dumpling filling by heating the cooking oil in a pan over medium until hot, then fry the diced onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, combine, and continue to fry until fragrant, taking care not to brown the onion or garlic. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

In a mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine half the onion and garlic with the raw ground pork and ground beef, salt, pepper, and paprika. Pop the bowl in the fridge while you make the dumpling casings.

Turn the oven onto 160°C / 320°F and slide in two lidded casserole pots so they heat as the oven heats.

To prepare your dumpling casings, sprinkle your kitchen workspace with a little flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to the surface. Also sprinkle some flour on a couple of large trays where you’ll place the finished dumplings.

Split your ball of dough into quarters and roll into four balls; keep one and return the rest to the bowl and cover with the damp tea towel.

Use a rolling pin to roll the ball of dough into a large oval shape to around 2mm thickness – do not turn it over; the exterior can be dusted in flour, but not the interior – then starting at the top edge of the sheet of dough, cut out discs by using a 7cm diameter cookie-cutter or rim of a glass turned upside down, twisting the glass a little to cut through the dough.

Repeat, working your way around the sheet of dough, leaving as little space as you can between discs, until you’ve finished. Once done, roll the leftover scraps of dough into a ball and pop it into the bowl.

Place a disc of dough – the dumpling casing – on the palm of your hand and use a teaspoon to scoop out some savoury ground meat mixture, measure it on your kitchen scales, aiming for around 7g per teaspoon, and place it at the centre of a casing. Do this for each casing to ensure they’re of equal size, working quickly so the dough doesn’t dry out.

Holding a casing in one hand, fold half the casing over the filling with your other hand, then, starting at one end, pinch the edges together to seal. If your dough has rested and is smooth, soft and elastic, it should seal easily. If it doesn’t, dip a finger into a dish of water and rub it along the interior edge to seal. The dumpling should be a half-moon shape. Bring the two ends together and press to seal them to form the shape pictured. Pop the finished dumpling on a flour-dusted tray.

Repeat until you’ve used all the casings to create dumplings, then repeat the four steps above until you’ve used up all your balls of dough and have trays full of dumplings.

Before you begin boiling the dumplings, add a tablespoon of butter to each of the casserole pots and distribute the remaining fried onion and garlic between the pots. Take one pot out of the oven and keep it beside the stove.

To an 11.5 litre stock/soup pot, add 8 litres of hot water, sea salt, bay leaves, pork/chicken bouillon/stock cubes (first dissolved in a little boiled water), freshly ground black pepper to taste, and a generous tablespoon of chopped fresh dill, bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to a gentle rolling boil, to reduce the risk of the dumpling casings tearing apart.

Slide a batch of 10 dumplings off the tray into the water then increase the heat to maintain the gentle rolling boil. When the dumplings rise to the surface, give them a minute or two, then use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a casserole pot. Gently shake the pot from side to side to ensure the pelmeni are covered in butter and return it to the oven to keep them warm.

Repeat the last two steps until you’ve boiled all the pelmeni, then drop another tablespoon of butter into each casserole pot, put the lids on and return the pots to the oven until you’re ready to serve. Slide the soup bowls into the oven to warm them.

Distribute the pelmeni between the bowls, ladle the soup onto each bowl, generously sprinkle more fresh dill on top, along with more freshly cracked pepper if you like, plop on some dollops of sour cream, and serve immediately with slices of sourdough or rye bread.