Kurnik — Russian Layered Chicken and Mushroom Wedding Pie

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Rub the cold, cubed butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles damp sand; do not let the warmth of your hands melt the butter. Add the sour cream and egg and mix just until the dough comes together, without kneading. Divide it into two pieces, one two-thirds and the other one-third of the total, and wrap them in plastic wrap.

Put the chicken thighs in 1.2 liters of water with the bay leaf and one 4 ml measure of salt. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, and simmer for 25 minutes. Check the thickest piece with a thermometer; it should reach 74°C / 165°F. Remove the chicken and shred it. Reserve 100 ml of the broth.

Cook the rinsed rice in 300 ml of boiling salted water, covered, for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Once cool, mix it with the finely chopped hard-boiled egg and half the chopped dill.

Soften the finely chopped onion in butter for 6 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid and it evaporates completely; after 10–12 minutes, no liquid should remain in the pan. Season with salt and black pepper, then stir in the remaining dill.

Whisk the milk, eggs, flour, oil, and salt until smooth. Pour a small ladleful at a time into a greased 22 cm skillet and cook 6 thin crepes. Flip each one when the underside is spotted golden.

Roll the larger piece of dough to 3 mm thick and 34 cm in diameter, then lay it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place one crepe in the center, leaving a 5 cm border. Layer the fillings in this order: rice, crepe, chicken with three 15 ml measures of the reserved broth, crepe, mushrooms, crepe, chicken, and crepe. Make each layer slightly smaller than the one below to form a dome. Roll out the smaller piece of dough and cover the dome. Fold and seal the edges with the bottom crust, cut a finger-sized steam vent at the top, and brush the surface with egg yolk mixed with milk.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C / 355°F for 50 minutes, until the dome is deep golden. If it browns too much after the first 30 minutes, cover it with foil. Insert a thermometer through the steam vent into the center; the filling should reach 74°C / 165°F.

Let the kurnik rest, then slice it like a cake with a sharp knife. Each slice should show four colored layers separated by thin crepe lines.