Gubadiya: More Tatar Cuisine

Yesterday I said that had not been able to find Gubadiya anywhere, but today I ran across it at a local grocery store here in Tatarstan. It is a small pie -- a little larger than your hand -- that has melted "kort" on the top of it. Kort is a traditional Tatar dairy product made from tvorog and milk that is similar to sweet cottage cheese.

Not having had gubadiya before or knowing what to expect, I thought that perhaps it would be filled entirely with kort, like a Tatar version of a Russian pirizhok. However, when I bit into it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case. As you can see below, it was filled with a layer of kort at the bottom with a mixture of rice and raisons on top. According to one recipe I have seen, it also sometimes contains dried apricots, but this version had only raisins, rice, and kort. It was a delicious combination of sweet and salty flavors and makes for a filling and nutritious snack or small meal.