Plum dumplings - Knedle sa šljivama
I just love eating plums!!
I mean in all shapes. colors, sweet and sour ones, they will always be one of the best fruit we have on Balkans. Maybe you are not aware that actually plum is a symbol of Serbia and it's also the main ingredient for making famous liquor Rakija "Šljivovica", that literary means plum schnapps. This is why it's very common in Balkan to make various desserts with plums, including my absolute favorite- Knedle sa šljivama a.k.a. Plum dumplings.
I remember how much my sister and I loved eating them, with two very different styles: she wasn't eating the plums, just the dumpling alone with bread crumbs. Yep, you've read right, so I had my dumplings coated with a lot of cinnamon + her plums!! What a joy that was! :))
Recently I've had a big nostalgia feeling and to comfort myself I wanted to make some dumplings - or Knodels as they are famous in German kitchen - with some plums that I've bought at the market in the morning.
I've always been making them following my grandma's recipe, the classical one with the long preparation, until one day I've read the message from my friend Snežana. Her instructions were so good and no time consuming that I wanted to prepare them right that instant!!
What was the difference? Well, the main change was using instant puree instead of boiled potatoes. I was astonished because they tasted the same as the traditional ones... without all the time you usually spend boiling and mashing the potatoes.
Thank you so much my dear for this amazing recipe!! It's now safe and sound in my recipe book. <3
Here are the ingredients:
- 120g of instant puree
- 400ml of water
- a pinch of salt
- 2 spoons of sunflower oil
- 1 egg
- 200g of flour
- 2,3 spoons of semolina
- plums as much as you have the dough
- a bit of sugar
- a bit of cinnamon
Preparation:
Put instant puree in a bowl, add water, salt, oil and start mixing the ingredients. After you've combined them you can add an egg, flour, semolina and then knead them all in a smooth, not sticky dough with your hands.
Make a small loaf from the dough and cut it in a circles 1cm thick. After you've took out the pit put the plum inside of the circle, add a bit of sugar and close it in a ball. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough until you've used all the plums.
Heat the pot with water, when it starts boiling start adding the dumplings into the pot and leave them to cook on a medium fire. When they raise up to the surface it means they are done. For just in case, leave them for another 2-3 minutes in a pot.
In the meantime start heating a pan with a drizzle of sunflower oil or a piece of margarine if you prefer it. When it's hot add bread crumbs and let them fry for a few minutes. They should change the color to golden, but take care not to burn them.
In the end take the dumpling out of the water and place them straight to the pan with bread crumbs. Roll them around and let them fry for a few minutes.
Finally sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon and enjoy!!
Ne znam za vas, ali ja mnogo volim da jedem šljive!! Jedva sam čekala da im bude sezona pa da mogu da uživam u njihovom slatko-kiselkastom ukusu. Šljiva je kao što znamo jedan od najboljih plodova koje imamo na Balkanu. Ja vrlo često pravim razne kolače sa šljivama, uključujući i moje apsolutno omiljene - Knedle sa šljivama. Ljubav na prvi zalogaj, iz detinjstva. :) Sećam se kako smo moja sestra i ja volele da ih jedemo, ali na dva potpuno različita načina, ako mogu tako da kažem: moja seka nije jela šljive, već samo testo pokriveno mrvicama. Da, dobro ste pročitali, dok sam ja zato jela svoje knedle preplavljene cimetom + njene šljive! Kakva je to radost bila, gre'ota je bila baciti! :)) Nedavno sam u naletu nostalgije poželela da napravim knedle sa šljivama koje sam tog jutra našla na pijaci. Bile su baš poput onih iz dekinog šljivika.
Do tog dana sam uvek pravila po klasičnom receptu tj. sa barenim pa propasiranim krompirima. Sve dok jednog dana nisam pročitala poruku od moje prijateljice Snežane. Njen recept je bio moderniji pristup ovom sjajnom specijalitetu, koji plus štedi vreme, da sam istog časa poželela da ih napravim! U čemu je razlika pitate se? Pa, razlika je bila u tome što je ova mešavina napravljena od instant pirea umesto kuvanog krompira. Da, baš tako, a ono šta je najbolji deo je da ima identičan ukus kao i knedle po tradicionalnom receptu. Ako ne verujete, napravite sami i uverite se! ;) Hvala od srca draga moja za ovaj neverovatan recept! Sada je siguran i zapisan u mojoj svesci recepata. <3 Evo sastojaka: - 120 g instant pirea - 400ml vode - prstohvat soli - 2 kašike suncokretovog ulja - 1 jaje - 200 g brašna - 2,3 kašike griza - šliva koliko god imate testa
- 1 vanil šećer
- po želji cimeta Priprema: Stavite instant pire u posudu, dodajte vodu, so, ulje i počnite mešati sastojke. Nakon što ih spojite možete dodati jaje, brašno, griz, pa ih povežite rukama u glatko testo koje se ne lepi za ruke. Napravite malu veknicu od testa i isecite je na krugove debljine 1cm. Nakon što ste izvadili košticu stavite šljivu unutar kruga, dodajte malo šećera i zatvorite je u lopticu. Ponovite isto sa ostatkom testa sve dok ne iskoristite sve šljive. Zagrejte šerpu sa vodom, kada počne da ključai, lagano spuštajte knedle i ostavite ih da se kuvaju na srednjoj vatri. Kada se podignu na površinu, to znači da su gotove. Za svaki slučaj ostavite ih još 2-3 minuta u šerpi. U međuvremenu započnite zagrevanje tiganja sa malo ulja od suncokreta ili komadom margarina ako želite, Kada je tiganj dovoljno vruć dodajte mrvice od hleba i pustite da se lepo proprže, tj. dok ne dobiju zlatnu boju, samo pazite da ne zagore. Na kraju, izvadite knedle iz vode i stavite ih direktno u vreo tiganj sa mrvicama. Ostavite ih da se proprže nekoliko minuta. Konačno na kraju pospite knedle šećerom i cimetom i uživajte!
