Dumplings - general principles and methods of preparation
Translated from German, the word "dumpling" means "lump." In fact, dumplings are lumps of dough that are prepared as an independent dish or filler for other dishes, usually soups. However, there is still no consensus on the origin of dumplings. This dish under one name or another is present in the cuisines of various nations.
It is prepared not only by Germans, but also by Poles, Czechs, Lithuanians, and the recipes for making dumplings are very different from each other. However, in terms of the main ingredients (flour, eggs, milk), the methods for preparing this dish in all kitchens are very similar. Some people make dumplings more fragrant with spices and herbs, and Germans and Hungarians, for example, add dumplings for dumplings with sausages and cracklings.
As we already said, flour, eggs and water are used to make dumplings, however, they are also prepared from semolina, potatoes and other products. In some recipes, dumplings are prepared with meat, adding it either to the dough, or as a filling.
Dumpling - food preparation
The main products for making dumplings are flour, milk and eggs. As in other cases, the taste and appearance of the finished dish to a large extent depend on the quality of the starting products.
Before preparing dough for dumplings, flour should be sifted, and more than once, to enrich it with oxygen and make the dough more airy. It must be remembered that the amount of flour in the recipe is always approximate, because the density of the dough obtained is determined not only by the amount of flour, but also by its quality, fat content and density of milk, etc. Therefore, the hostess should be prepared for the fact that the dumpling dough can go more or less flour compared to the amount indicated in the recipe.
For the preparation of dumplings, fresh eggs with a clean, shiny shell should be selected. Milk is usually taken fresh or pasteurized.
Dumplings - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Flour Dumplings
These dumplings are used in soups or as an independent dish. For cooking, you can take wheat or buckwheat flour, or you can use a mixture of rye, barley and buckwheat flour. The milk in the recipe can be replaced with water. In addition, since different types of flour and oil have different properties, the amount of liquid in the recipe can be varied to obtain the desired consistency of dumpling dough.
Ingredients:
6 tbsp. tablespoons of flour (without top);
100 gr. milk;
2 eggs;
30 gr butter (under the circumstances, you can use sunflower);
1 small onion;
0.5 teaspoon caraway seeds.
Cooking method:
1. Rub the butter and milk with egg yolks until white, then gradually add flour and water to this mass in small portions.
2. Salt the resulting dough and season it with spices, introduce egg whites, previously whipped, and grind it again. We get a dough with a consistency of porridge-spread.
3. From the resulting dough with a teaspoon, which we moisten in water, separate small pieces that we cook for about 5 minutes (after pre-stirring water). Dumplings can be considered ready when they begin to surface.
Recipe 2: Choux pastry dumplings
To prepare such dumplings, the flour is brewed. The recipe for custard dumplings involves slightly different proportions of flour and other components, unlike the previous recipe, so they turn out to taste slightly different.
Ingredients:
50 gr flour;
3 tbsp. tablespoons butter;
2 eggs;
100 gr. milk;
2 tsp chopped greens (parsley with dill),
on the tip of a salt knife.
Cooking method:
1. After boiling milk with butter, pour flour into them and, without removing it from the heat, quickly mix the mixture to get an elastic mass that will lag behind the walls.
2. Then remove the resulting choux dough from the heat and with continuous stirring, add salt and spices. After cooling the dough, mix it with pre-ground yolks and beat. Then gradually introduce whipped proteins, again thoroughly stir the dough.
3. Then, wetting a teaspoon in water, separate small pieces from the resulting dough and, lowering them into boiling salted water, cook over low heat until the dumplings are on the surface.
Recipe 3: semolina dumplings
Semolina dumplings are very delicate in taste, they can be used as an independent dish or as a filler for soup. Also, dumplings from semolina can be made sweet.
Ingredients:
10 tbsp. l semolina;
500 gr. milk;
20 gr. butter;
2 eggs.
Cooking method:
1. Bring the milk to a boil over low heat, then, with constant stirring, pour semolina into it with a thin stream. After adding sugar and salt, cook over low heat for about 3 minutes, then remove from heat and leave to cool under the lid.
2. Beat the eggs with a mixer, add them to the cooled semolina, then add the oil and beat the resulting mixture into a homogeneous, lush mass.
3. We take a pastry cone bag in which a metal tube is inserted, and fill it with three quarters of the porridge that we have prepared. We twist the wide free end of the bag, then, taking it in the left hand, squeeze the porridge over the dishes in which water boils. When the porridge is squeezed out of the pastry bag, we cut the dumplings into even pieces with a knife, which is dipped in water from time to time.
Recipe 4: Millet Dumplings
Even if you do not like millet porridge, be sure to try millet dumplings. They have a very special taste, nutritious and healthy.
Ingredients:
50 gr millet;
100 gr. milk;
2 tsp Sahara;
2 eggs;
50 gr sour cream;
1 tbsp. l flour;
40 gr butter.
Cooking method:
1. Cook viscous porridge from millet, sugar and milk, cool it to about 70 degrees, then mix the porridge with eggs, sour cream and wheat flour, mix everything well.
2. We form dumplings from the resulting mass and cook them in salted water. Serve with melted butter or sour cream.
Recipe 5: Potato Dumplings
In the kitchens of almost all peoples, potato dumplings occupy a special, honorable place. They are very tasty and nutritious, and cooking them is very simple. If you can cook mashed potatoes, then you can master potato dumplings without difficulty.
Ingredients:
5 potatoes;
100 gr. rye or wheat flour;
50 gr butter;
2 eggs;
1 onion;
1 tsp. salt and caraway seeds.
Cooking method:
1. Boil potatoes in salted water and mash it in mashed potatoes, add butter to it.
2. Finely chop the onion and fry it in vegetable oil, mix it with mashed potatoes, mashed yolks, flour (we introduce it gradually), as well as slightly whipped proteins. To the resulting mass, add caraway seeds, salt and mix everything thoroughly.
4. Boil dumplings in salted water, serve them with butter and fried onions.
Dumplings - tips from experienced chefs
Although milk can be replaced with water when making dumplings, you should not do this if possible, as dumplings on milk are softer and more delicious.
You should not neglect the advice of first whisking the yolks with butter, and only then, after mixing them with the dough, add whipped proteins there. Only in this case, the dumplings will be tender, airy and very tasty.
Comments
Sorry, I say, like a man who took out eggs from under hens in a village, that eggs with a clean and shiny shell are NOT fresh. The rougher and dull the shell, the fresher the egg. The freshest egg to the touch as if sprinkled with sand.
