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Poltava dumplings

Poltava Halushky (Ukrainian Dumplings)

The full flavor of Ukrainian cooking on your table! Simple, delicious, and filling! I'm originally from Ukraine — in fact, my parents studied and met in Poltava — so I just couldn't pass this dish by. Many people know there's even a monument to halushky in Poltava, which tells you there's something special about this dish. I'd tried it before, of course, but this was my first time making it. I aimed for the way ordinary Ukrainian families love it, and the way my own family does. As my husband put it: Ukrainian dumplings!

nasstin

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Kefir

0.5

Flour (you may need a little more, depending on the flour)

4.5

Table salt

Baking soda

Pork belly

200

Chicken (boiled)

300

Onion

200

Carrots

150

Garlic

Broth (meat or chicken)

250

Sour cream

Table salt

Ground black pepper

Fresh herbs (optional)

Butter (for tossing the dumplings)

Vegetable oil

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 18 % 7 g

Fats 32 % 12 g

Carbohydrates 50 % 19 g

210 kcal

GI: 15 / 0 / 85

Cooking method

Cooking time: 50 min

Step 1:

The ingredients for the dough.
Step 2:

Stir about two-thirds of the flour into the kefir.
Step 3:

Then add the baking soda and salt.
Step 4:

Add the rest of the flour, holding back about 1/2 cup for dusting the counter.
Step 5:

The dough should come out soft, slightly sticky, and not too stiff — workable, about the consistency of a kefir-pastry dough. Let it rest for 20 minutes so the gluten in the flour can relax.
Step 6:

After resting, generously flour the counter, take a piece of dough, and roll it into a rope about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick.
Step 7:

Cut the rope into pieces about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick.
Step 8:

Now cook the dumplings. You can do it two ways.
Step 9:

Steamed (I use a multicooker as a steamer, set to the right mode).
Step 10:

Once the water boils, set up the steamer rack greased with vegetable oil, and place the dumplings apart from one another, since they expand as they cook.
Step 11:

Steam for 7 minutes.
Step 12:

Or boil the dumplings in salted water for 5-7 minutes.
Step 13:

Scoop out the cooked dumplings with a slotted spoon.
Step 14:

Steamed dumplings are said to be fluffier. I compared them side by side: on the left, steamed; on the right, boiled. They seemed about the same to me, except the steamed one held a nicer shape — though maybe that's just my steamer. Try both ways and compare!
Step 15:

Add a small pat of butter to each cooked batch so the dumplings don't stick together, shaking the bowl now and then. I pile mine into a big clay pot and cover it, which keeps them warm and lets me bake them later in the oven if I like. You can eat them just like this, but they're far better served with the sauce.
Step 16:

For the sauce you'll need: a little boiled chicken, onion, carrot, garlic, and pork belly (or fatback with a meat streak, or fatty pork). I like the pork belly because it's leaner — somewhere between fatback and meat.
Step 17:

You'll also need the broth the chicken cooked in, plus a little sour cream.
Step 18:

Cut the pork belly into rough pieces.
Step 19:

Fry it in a skillet to render some of the fat.
Step 20:

Meanwhile, chop the onion and grate the carrot.
Step 21:

Salt the pork belly.
Step 22:

Add freshly ground black pepper.
Step 23:

Once the pork belly has browned a little, add the chopped onion.
Step 24:

Then add the grated carrot, stir, and simmer covered for 5-7 minutes.
Step 25:

Then press in the garlic. At this point the kitchen smells incredible — chances are the whole household has come running to see what's cooking!
Step 26:

Add the boiled chicken.
Step 27:

Pour in the broth.
Step 28:

Add the sour cream, and a little more salt to taste if needed.
Step 29:

Simmer covered for another 5 minutes, judging by the pork belly — it should be tender. There are many sauce options: ground meat + onion + carrot + garlic + broth + sour cream; chicken + onion + carrot + garlic + ...; fatback fried to cracklings + onion + ...; meat + onion + ... Pick your favorite!
Step 30:

Spoon the sauce over the dumplings and serve! You can take it further and bake them in that clay pot for another 20 minutes — but to me they're already incredibly good!
Step 31:

Enjoy!