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Zalai dödölle
Dödölle: Zala potato and flour dumplings scooped into lumps and fried crisp with onion
Zala county, in the green hills of south-west Hungary, is so proud of dödölle that villages hold festivals for it. Potatoes are boiled, mashed with flour into a stiff dough right in their pot, then scooped into little lumps with a spoon dipped in hot fat and fried with plenty of onion until crisp and brown on the outside and soft inside. The old way is to fry them in lard; this version uses oil, so it is vegan, though a knob of butter is lovely if you eat dairy. Eat them as a side, or as a main with sauerkraut, cucumber salad or a mushroom stew. A common mistake is drying the dough out with too much flour, which makes heavy, gluey lumps; it should be thick but still a little sticky. Chef's tip: dip the spoon in the hot oil before every scoop, and the dödölle slide off smooth.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ lb floury potatoespeeled and cut into chunks
- 2 tsp salt
- 9 oz plain flour
- 6 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onionsfinely chopped
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp sweet paprika (optional)to finish
- 10 ½ oz cucumber salad (optional)to serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Put 2 ¼ lb floury potatoes in a pot, just cover with water, add 2 tsp salt and boil for 20 minutes, until very soft.
20 minStep 2: Ladle out and keep about 200 ml of the cooking water, leaving the rest in the pot. Mash the potatoes in their water until smooth.
3 minStep 3: Over a low heat, stir in 9 oz plain flour a little at a time with a wooden spoon, beating hard for 4–5 minutes, until you have a thick, smooth dough that pulls from the sides. Loosen with a little kept water if it gets too stiff.
5 minStep 4: Heat 6 tbsp sunflower oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry 2 onions for 5 minutes, until soft and starting to colour.
5 minStep 5: Dip a tablespoon in the hot oil, scoop walnut-sized lumps of dough and drop them into the pan. Dip the spoon again before each one.
5 minStep 6: Fry for 8–10 minutes, turning gently, until the dödölle are golden and crisp in patches and the onion is deep brown. Season with ½ tsp black pepper.
10 minStep 7: Sprinkle with ½ tsp sweet paprika and serve hot with 10 ½ oz cucumber salad.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 470 kcal
- Protein
- 10 g
- Carbs
- 79 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does zalai dödölle take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of floury potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
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