Gombovtsi (ґомбовці, plum-stuffed steamed dumplings)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Potato ricer or sturdy masher
• •Wide steamer basket or bamboo steamer
• •Wide pan for toasted breadcrumbs
• •Slotted spoon or small offset spatula

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the potatoes

   Put the potatoes in their skins into salted water and cook until a knife slides through without a fight. Drain them well, then let them sit uncovered until the surface looks dry and chalky. Wet potatoes make heavy dough, and no amount of scolding fixes that later.

   Bake the potatoes instead if your kitchen is patient. Drier flesh means a lighter dumpling and less flour.
2. 2

   Mash and cool

   Peel the potatoes while warm and push them through a ricer or mash them very smooth. Spread the mash out on a tray until it loses its heat. Add the egg too early and you get paste; wait until the potatoes are just warm to the hand.

3. 3

   Make the dough

   Gather the cooled potato with the egg, salt, semolina or starch, and most of the flour. Bring it together with light hands, adding only enough flour so it stops clinging to your fingers. It should feel soft and slightly tacky, like a cheek, not tight like bread dough.

   This is the step that decides the dish. Too much flour makes the dumplings tough; dry potato and gentle hands let the plum stay the main event.
4. 4

   Fill the plums

   Cut each plum along its seam, just enough to ease out the stone, keeping the fruit hinged together. Tuck in a sugar cube, or a small spoon of cinnamon sugar, then close it again. The plum should look whole. That little hidden sugar melts into syrup while the dumpling cooks.

5. 5

   Shape the dumplings

   Dust the table lightly. Divide the dough into 16 pieces and pat each one into a round, then wrap it around a plum and pinch the edges closed. Roll it gently between your palms until no seam shows. My Aunt Nadia would write only, "close it properly," which is annoying until one leaks and teaches you.

6. 6

   Toast the crumbs

   Melt the butter in a wide pan and add the breadcrumbs. Stir over medium heat until they turn golden and smell like nuts and warm biscuits. Pull them off before they go dark; they keep coloring in the pan. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon.

   The crumbs should be buttery enough to cling. If they look dusty, add another knob of butter and don't apologize.
7. 7

   Steam until tender

   Set the dumplings in a lightly buttered steamer basket with space between them. Steam over a lively simmer until they puff slightly, the dough looks set and satin-matte, and a skewer meets soft fruit at the center. Listen too: the lid will start with a hard rattle, then settle into a softer knock as the dough relaxes.

8. 8

   Roll and serve

   Lift the dumplings straight into the warm crumbs and roll them until every side is coated. Serve them warm, crowded on a platter, with extra cinnamon sugar and smetana if you like that cool sourness against the plum syrup. Cut one open at the table. The purple middle does all the talking.

Chef Tips

• •Use floury potatoes, not waxy salad potatoes. You want dry, fluffy mash that takes only enough flour to hold together.
• •Italian prune plums are ideal because they are small, oval, tart-sweet, and the stones slip out neatly. Big round plums work, but cut them in halves and make smaller dumplings.
• •Steam rather than boil if your dough is very tender. Boiling is traditional in many kitchens too, but steaming protects a soft seam and keeps the plum syrup inside.
• •The dough forgives gentle patching. If you see a thin spot, pinch on a small scrap of dough before steaming.
• •Toast the crumbs fresh if you can. The dumplings can be made ahead, but the smell of buttered breadcrumbs changing in the pan is half the welcome.

Advance Preparation

• •The potatoes can be cooked, riced, and chilled a day ahead. Bring them back to cool room temperature before mixing the dough.
• •Shaped uncooked dumplings can wait on a floured tray in the fridge for up to 6 hours, loosely covered.
• •Cooked dumplings keep for 2 days. Rewarm gently in a covered pan with a spoon of butter, then roll in freshly warmed crumbs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 245g)