Hungarian potato dumplings with poppy seed (Mákos nudli)

Hungarian rolled potato dumplings with poppy seeds (Mákos nudli)

It is a Hungarian dish of potato-based small dumplings, they are formed from a soft dough of cooked mashed potatoes, flour, salt, butter and egg; the dumplings are boiled and rolled in ground poppy seeds. It is one of my favorite sweet dishes. My Mom always made it as a main course after a light soup for lunch, we have never had it as a dessert. We usually used the leftover dough from making plum dumplings.
Total Time 1 hr 30 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine Hungarian
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • Rolling Pin
  • Bowl
  • Knife
  • Cutting board
  • Large pot
  • Slotted spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 17.6 ounces (500 grams) Potatoes
  • 1 cup all purpose flour plus extra for kneading
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 big pinch salt
  • 3 tbsp butter unsalted
  • 10 tbsp poppy seeds ground
  • 4 tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Peel and cube the potatoes, cook them in water until tender. Mash really well with no chunks left, let it cool completely.
  • Mix the potato mass with one egg, a pinch of salt, the flour and knead the dough until smooth. Add that much flour which makes the dough light and pliable, but not sticky.
  • Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
  • On a lightly-floured surface, take small portions of your dough at a time and roll them out into 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick ropes, then cut into 3-4 cm (1,5 inch) long pieces, called nudli. Roll the individual pieces gently (or vigorously, depending on their firmness) for even firmer and better shaped nudli.
  • Add the nudli pieces to the boiling water in batches – not to over-crowd them – and gently simmer until they float on the top, then cook for another 1-2 minutes.
  • Remove the dumplings from the water using a slotted spoon, drain and lightly roll them in melted butter so they do not stick together.
  • Roll them into the ground poppy seeds and sprinkle with powdered sugar.