Pourekia with Anari Cheese

For the Dough

• 1 kg Village flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup seed oil (sunflower or corn oil)
• ½ small coffee cup rosewater
• 2 packets vanilla
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 2/3 cups room temperature water

For the Anari Filling

• 1 kg Anari cheese (Anthotyro or sweet Mizithra), unsalted
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 packets (10g) vanilla powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ small cup rosewater
• Plenty of seed oil (for frying)
• Icing sugar for dusting

First, prepare the dough:

1. In a bowl, place the flour and salt and mix. Add the lemon juice, rosewater, and vanilla and mix.
2. Make a well in the center of the flour, pour in the seed oil, and 'rub it in' (ryziázoume). That is, rub with your palms until coarse crumbs form.
3. Gradually add the water and knead until you achieve a soft dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

For the Anari filling:

4. In a bowl, place the Anari cheese and crumble it. Add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and rosewater. Mix well.
5. Divide the dough into 4-5 pieces. Roll them into balls. Flour the surface where you will roll out the dough and place the balls on top. Take one and roll it out with a rolling pin or with a pasta machine, depending on the size you want your 'pourekia' (small pies) to be. If you use the machine, take a piece of dough, roll it slightly with the rolling pin, and then run it through setting 2 of the machine and then setting 4. If you roll it out with a rolling pin, then roll out a large rectangle about 14 cm wide. Place 1 heaped teaspoon of the Anari filling at one end of the sheet, and the next ones about 7-8 cm apart.
6. Fold the sheet over and press lightly around the Anari filling to seal the edges of the dough. Cut with a knife or the special tool. If you wish, press the edges with a fork.
7. Pour enough seed oil into a pan to cover the pourekia halfway up their height, and when hot, fry the pourekia until golden brown on both sides.
8. If you like, you can store the pourekia in the freezer and when you need them, fry them directly from the freezer in hot oil.