Russian Food #1: Dumplings, Buns, Pies

Some Russian Dishes

Dumplings

Close up of Anna'a pelmeni

Pelmeni  Russian: пельме́ни — plural, пельмень pelʼmenʼ — singular) are dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough. The Polish version is called pierogi - not to be confused with the Russian term pirog meaning pie (see below).

Anna's homemade pelmeni - ready for freezing

Varenyky (Ukrainian: варе́ники, singular "варе́ник") are stuffed dumplings of unleavened dough. The name varenyk means literally "a boiled thing". The word is cognate with the adjective "boiled" (Ukrainian: варений).   Varenyky are generally larger than pelmeni.

Galushki , Lazy varenyky (Ukrainian: книдлі, ліниві вареники, Russian: ленивые вареники) in Russian and Ukrainian cuisine are gnocchi-shaped dumplings made by mixing tvoroh (curd cheese) with egg and flour into quick dough. The cheese-based dough is formed into a long sausage about 2 cm thick, which is cut diagonally into gnocchi, called halushky in Ukrainian, galushki in Russian, and kopytka in Polish. 

Uszka,   Russian: ушки (úški)   (meaning "little ears" in Polish), are small dumplings (a very small and twisted version of Polish pierogi) usually filled with  wild forest mushrooms and/or minced meat. They are usually served with barszcz, though they can be eaten simply with melted butter and herbs (usually chives) sprinkled over. When vegetarian (filled only with mushrooms and/or onion) they are a part of traditional Christmas Eve dishes in Poland and Ukraine, and are either added in the soup, or eaten as a side dish.

Belarusian: вушкі (vúški) Ukrainian: вушка (vúška)

Kalduny or kolduny (Belarusian: калдуны́, Russian: кoлдуны́, Polish: kołduny, Lithuanian: koldūnai, used in plural only) are stuffed dumplings made of unleavened dough, filled with meat, mushrooms, etc,  in Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Polish cuisines, akin to the Russian pelmeni and the Ukrainian vareniki.   In Slavic languages the word means “magicians” or “sorcerers”, but it is unclear how the word became associated with the dish. 

Manti or Mantu (Turkish: mantı; Kazakh: мәнті; Uzbek: manti; Kyrgyz: мантуу; Pashto, Persian, Arabic: منتو‎; Armenian: մանթի) are dumplings filled with spicy meat. 

Buns and Pies

Pirog or pyrih (Russian: пиро́г), pl. pirogi пироги; Belarusian: пірог; Northern Sami: pirog; Ukrainian: пиріг, pl. pyrohy пироги) is a pie that can have either a sweet or savoury filling.

A coulibiac (Russian: кулебя́ка kulebyáka) is a type of Russian pie (pirog) usually filled with salmon or sturgeon, rice or buckwheat, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, onions, and dill.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulibiac

Kurnik, Russian savoury pirog with layers of blini, filled with chicken, mushrooms and rice

Pirozhki (plural form of pirozhok, Russian: пирожок, пирожки, which means a little pirog), sometimes transliterated as pyrizhky (plural from Ukrainian: пиріжок), is a generic word for individual-sized baked or fried buns stuffed with a variety of fillings.  The Russian plural of this word, pirogi (Russian: пироги, with the stress on the last syllable [pʲirɐˈɡʲi]), is not to be confused with pierogi (stress on "o" in Polish and English) in Polish cuisine, which are similar to the Russian pelmeni or Ukrainian varenyky.