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Noodle with meat and potatoes in Ukrainian

Ukrainian Nudli with Meat and Potatoes

Never heard of nudli? Time to fix that — they're incredibly good! It turns out there are so many different ways to make this dish out there. I borrowed a little from one, a little from another, and ended up with this version...

maks

Recipe author

Noodle with meat and potatoes in Ukrainian

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Beef (any meat or poultry works)

500

Potatoes

Onion (medium)

Carrots (medium)

Kefir

0.5

Salt

Baking soda

0.25

Garlic

Dill

100

Flour (just enough for a soft, not stiff dough)

200

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 30 % 8 g

Fats 7 % 2 g

Carbohydrates 63 % 17 g

115 kcal

GI: 63 / 0 / 38

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make nudli? Start with the meat: rinse it well, trim off anything you don't want, pat it dry, and cut it into pieces. Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the diced onion and grated carrot and cook, stirring. Add the meat, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the meat changes color.
Step 2:

Pour boiled water into the pan. How much? Go by taste — however saucy you want the dish. Simmer the meat and vegetables until tender, stirring, and top up the water if it cooks down.
Step 3:

Pour the kefir into a deep bowl. Add the salt and baking soda and stir. The kefir will start to bubble and rise — that's normal.
Step 4:

Add the flour a little at a time, stirring. Go less by the exact amount of flour and more by how the dough looks and feels.
Step 5:

The dough should be soft, elastic, and not sticky. Let it rest, covered with a towel. While it rests, wash and peel the potatoes.
Step 6:

Cut the potatoes into cubes, batons, or thick strips. Fry them in vegetable oil in a clean skillet until done. Transfer the fried potatoes to a large, roomy saucepan with the cooked meat. Pour in boiling water until the potatoes are almost, but not fully, covered — though make the gravy as thick or thin as you like. Set over low heat and bring to a boil. (I used raw potatoes and simmered them until tender.)
Step 7:

Roll the rested dough out on a floured work surface into a thin rectangle. Brush it with vegetable oil. Scatter the minced garlic evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with chopped fresh dill (don't forget to wash and dry it first).
Step 8:

Roll the dough up into a neat log. Cut the log into pieces about 3/4 inch (1.5 cm) wide.
Step 9:

Set the nudli on top of the potatoes in the saucepan. Top up with water so the nudli are partly submerged. Salt to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes. The aroma will have everyone wandering into the kitchen to ask what's cooking!
Step 10:

And there you have it! The nudli have puffed up. Time to eat! With nudli like these, you won't even need bread — tasty and filling! You can sprinkle a little parsley on top, too.

Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying! Every oil is only good up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and forms harmful compounds, including carcinogens. Unrefined oils, with few exceptions, have a low smoke point; they're full of unfiltered organic particles that start to burn quickly. Refined oils handle heat better and have a higher smoke point. If you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, make sure you're using a high-smoke-point oil — the most common are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed.
You can swap the beef for any meat you like better. Just keep in mind that the cooking time, flavor, and calorie count will change. Pork and lamb are usually fattier than beef, while chicken or turkey are leaner — and the cooking time depends not just on the type of meat but on the cut and whether it's from a younger or older animal.