poland

Sweet or Sour Polish Dumplings Recipe & Food Photos by Anna Sobecka

In Poland, we always eat dumplings served during Christmas time. It’s the most popular meal on Christmas Eve, together with beetroot soup. However, during the summertime, we prepare dumplings with sweet stuffing or cottage cheese. Preparing dumplings takes a while, and the most time-consuming part is folding dumplings. Every family has their own version of folding dumplings, sometimes you can use a special dumplings cutter, Dumplings are perfect for the idea of plate-sharing dinners - everyone is happy with different stuffing - sweet or sour!

INGREDIENTS • dough

300 g wheat flour

125 ml hot water

20 g butter a big pinch of salt

LINK TO EASY CONVERSION CHART

INGREDIENTS • sweet stuffing

4 big apples

50 g butter

20 g sugar (or less, depending how sweet apples are) a big pinch of cinnamon (or more!)

INGREDIENTS • sour stuffing

500 g cabbage

100 g dried mushrooms (penny buns are best) salt, pepper, caraway- to your taste

3-5 bay leaves- to your taste

3-5 allspices - to your taste method servings 4-6

Dumpling Dough

1. Pour the flour into a large bowl, add the salt

2. Put the butter in boiling water and melt, then gradually pour it into the flour, combining everything using your hands.

3. Knead into a smooth dough and turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 8 to10 minutes until the dough will be soft, flexible and fluffy.

4. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and leave for approx. 30 minutes.

Sweet Stuffing

5. Wash apples and dice them into small pieces.

6. Thoroughly preheat the pan with butter, then add sugar.

7. After a minute, add apples and fry for 5-10 minutes until they are tender.

8. Cool thoroughly.

Sour Stuffing

9. Rinse the dried mushrooms, cover them wit h cold water and set aside for at least 6 hours (sometimes I leave them overnight).

10. The next day, drain thoroughly and cut them into small pieces.

11. Drain the cabbage (if it is too sour you can rinse the cabbage, even twice) and cook in water until soft with salt, pepper, caraway, 3-5 bay leafs, and 3-5 allspice (approx. 20-30 minutes), drain thoroughly.

12. Finally, combine cabbage with mushrooms

13. Cool thoroughly.

14. Pour the stuffing into a chopping board and finely chop.

Now we’re ready to prepare dumplings!

15. Divide the dough into 4-5 equal parts.

16. Roll into thin parties one after the other.

17. Cut out circles with a small glass, put the stuffing in the middle, fold in half and seal the edges.

18. Boil water with 1 teaspoon of salt.

19. Throw a few dumplings into boiling water, and cook 3-4 minutes until soft.

20. Sweet: serve with butter, cream or sugar.

21. Sour: serve with finely diced onions and bacon glazed in butter.

Hi! I’m Anna, I come from Poland, in Central Europe. I’m an HR and Recruitment Manager for an international European company in the digital media industry. I derive high satisfaction from my job - working with people and for people gives me power every day. Privately a lovely wife, a reliable friend, a crazy sister and a supportive daughter. In my culture, being with family and close friends is the most important value. That’s why my cooking philosophy is mostly based on social meetings’ mood, it’s always a food o’clock here!