Cooks pour a splash of broth through a small hole in the top only after baking — the raw meat and potato filling is meant to steam inside its own sealed dough shell, not swim in stock beforehand.
Echpochmak is a triangular hand pie of yeasted or short pastry stuffed with diced meat, potato, and onion, baked until the crust turns deep golden and the filling steams inside its sealed shell. Bakeries around Kazan sell them warm, wrapped in paper, as a grab-and-go lunch.