We have a friend who insists that the secret ingredient for her mother’s pelmeni is a bit of freshly fallen snow. Our own recipe for this Russian dumpling involves good fatty ground meat and lots of fresh dill as a topping. But for those who would prefer not to make these time-intensive tortellini-like nubbins from scratch, there are a handful of places around town that will save you the trouble. Down-town diners can choose between Russian Tea Time (77 E. Adams St.; 312-360-0000) and Russian Palace (24 E. Adams St.; 312-629-5353), which have been purveying pelmeni a mere block from each other for a few years now. Although we like the Tashkent carrot salad that comes with the pelmeni entree ($15) at Tea Time, we love the larger pelmeni that come with a cabbage salad and a smaller price tag ($7.50) at the Palace. At Zhivago (9925 Gross Point Rd.; 847-982-1400) in Skokie, we found a pleasing plate of butter- and parsley-covered pelmeni that came with borsht and salad for $8.95. But we found perhaps the best deal at two delis on Devon Avenue. At the Kashtan Deli (2740 W. Devon Ave.; 773-338-9080) and Three Sisters Deli (2854 W. Devon Ave.; 773-973-1919) you can buy a bag of 50 frozen pelmeni filled with chicken, pork or beef for $4 to $5.
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Pelmeni
Various locations
Thank you in Russian: Spasibo (spah-SEE-bah)