Czech dumplings knedlíky are related, like the word, to the German Knödel. Our own English “noodle” comes to us via German Nudel, which itself is probably derived from Knödel. You can see the similarity between a noodle and a dumpling: both are dough that cook in water (boiled or steamed). And you often serve both in soups, sauces and stews. The Slovak knedle are virtually the same thing, steamed dumplings that form an essential part of the national cuisine even if they are only “side dishes.” They make an excellent accompaniment to goulash or other saucy dishes.
There’s more than one way to make a knedlík. The version we are going to explore today I will call Knedlíky I. Later we will look at another method of making them. In making this version we will use stale bread plus flour and yeast; in the second version we will only use flour and yeast. I suspect the more traditional method used stale bread because it is a “waste not, want not” approach to cooking. As they did making kvass, or croutons and breadcrumbs for that matter, our forebears were very efficient in using what they had so nothing went to waste.
One of my readers requested this post. She was longing for the dumplings she had come to love during her time in the Czech Republic. I only spent a week there myself so I don’t recall eating them. Considering how much I love dumplings, I’m sure I must have had them. Here are a few pics from my trip to Prague in 2002.
The nitty gritty
Because there’s yeast involved this recipe will take a little time but it’s not particularly challenging, just somewhat unusual. People disagree about the type of flour that’s best for making knedlíky if you are outside the Czech region; we have no direct equivalent for the flour used there. The most common recommendation is to use quick-blending gravy flour sold under the brand name Wondra. The explanations for this are varied and sometimes contradictory: it’s “harder” than all-purpose flour, it’s “softer” than all-purpose flour…What’s really true is it’s a lot more expensive than all-purpose flour. Some recipes I saw required three canisters of it!
Harder or softer aren’t really helpful comparisons in this case. This quick-blending flour is lower in protein than a lot of all-purpose flour which means it wouldn’t make very good bread. That’s fine because we don’t want tough dumplings. But the main characteristic that attracts Czech ex-patriots to this flour is that it’s grittier than all-purpose flour. I reasoned a suitable alternative might be a combination of all-purpose flour and semolina flour, which has a similar grit. I haven’t tried it yet but I suspect rice flour would also do the trick here. None of these flours is particularly high in gluten-forming protein so you’ll end up with a tender dumpling with the right texture.
The recipe I created uses a blend of all-purpose flour and semolina flour but I think you could get away with using only all-purpose. Or even cake flour. Unless you are planning to serve these dumplings to your Czech or Slovak friends as a reminder of home, who’s really going to know if the texture’s exactly right? As you know I strive for authenticity on Feastern Europe so I will give you instructions to get the best result within reason. When cost or availability gets in the way of you trying something, I will suggest these compromises as alternatives.
Getting started
For this version of knedlíky you will need some stale bread. Fresh bread is fine, too, just let it sit out a few hours or lightly toast it to dehydrate it somewhat. Choose a rye or whole wheat bread or even a sturdy white bread. Just don’t use a squishy store-bought sandwich bread; it will not contribute either flavor or texture to your dumplings. I dried out a few slices (about 5 ounces) of un-seeded rye bread for this recipe.
I sliced and diced the bread then removed the crust. I wasn’t sure how the crust would be in the finished dumplings. (In the spirit of waste not, want not I saved the crusts for making kvass). While your bread is toasting, warm a cup of milk to 100°F. Stir in a packet of yeast and a teaspoon of sugar and set it aside.
Mixing the knedlíky dough
Outfit your stand mixer with a dough hook and put one cup of semolina flour, one cup of the other flour, salt and egg in the bowl. The other half cup of flour (all-purpose, Wondra, or whichever you decided to use) will be incorporated during the kneading. You could mix this dough by hand if needed but the mixer makes quick work of it. When the yeast mixture is bubbly, add it to the mixer and turn it on to a low setting. Add the dried bread cubes with the mixer running.
Knead the dough until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add a little bit of the reserved half cup flour until the dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl. Knead another minute or so until it is a coherent mass and cleans the side of the bowl.
Sprinkle any remaining flour onto a clean work surface (or dust with an additional small amount of flour). Turn out the dough onto this floured surface and knead by hand for a minute or two until the dough is soft and smooth. Spray a bowl with nonstick spray, place the dough ball into the bowl and turn it to coat or spray the top. Loosely cover the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rest for an hour. It should double in size as shown below.
Forming the dumplings Czech dumplings knedlíky
After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate it. Divide the dough into three equal pieces. I didn’t get mine quite equal. Oops.
Roll each piece into a log of about 2 inches in diameter. Work from the center of the piece, rolling it under your palms and moving your hands out to the ends in opposite directions. Roll it back and forth until smooth and evenly thick along the entire length. Do this with all three pieces. Loosely cover them with plastic wrap and let them rest while you prepare the water for cooking.
To boil or to steam knedlíky?
You have roughly two options for cooking these dumpling logs, both methods using boiling water. You can boil them directly in the water for about ten minutes on each side or you can steam them for about 20-30 minutes covered and undisturbed. I used both methods with the same batch of dough and got comparable results. I did not have a preference. If you steam them, the logs will be considerably drier so spray them or brush them with oil after cooking.
Now what? Czech dumplings knedlíky
If you are making the dumplings for a side dish to be eaten right away, you can slice them when warm and serve. A neat trick is to use a piece of thread or dental floss to make a nice clean cut through the logs without squishing them. If you are not using them right away, or at least not all of them, you can wrap them tightly and freeze for future use. I advise you to cut off only what you need now and wrap the whole log. It will keep better that way.
They look like pale slices of baguette but very soft and tender. Czech dumplings knedlíky make such a delicious accompaniment to any saucy dish like gulyás or anything with gravy.
Knedlíky I
Ingredients
- 4 slices rye, sturdy white or whole grain bread 5 oz before drying
- 1 cup milk
- 1 packet yeast instant or active dry
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1½ cups all-purpose or cake flour divided
- 1 cup semolina flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Lighlty toast or dehydrate 5 oz of bread.
- Warm milk on stovetop or microwave and cool to about 100°F. Stir in dry yeast and sugar to dissolve. Set aside while combining remaining ingredients.
- Put 1 cup all-purpose flour, semolina flour, salt and egg into bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook.
- When yeast mixture is bubbly, add to mixer bowl and turn on to low setting.
- Tear dried bread into small pieces and add to the dough in mixer.
- Knead the dough until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl if necessary. Add a little bit of the reserved half cup of flour until dough starts to come together and cleans side of mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle any remaining flour onto a clean, dry work surface and turn out the dough. Knead by hand a minute or so until dough is soft and supple.
- Spray the mixer bowl with nonstick spray, place the dough ball into the bowl and spray the top of the dough. Loosely cover the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and then cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Set in a warm place to rest and rise for about an hour.
- After the dough has nearly doubled in size, turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently deflate the dough and divide into three equal pieces.
- Roll each piece with the palms of your hands into a log of 2 inches in diameter. Working from the center of the piece towards the end, roll it back and forth until smooth and of even thickness along the length. Repeat with the other two pieces.
- Leave the logs to rest covered loosely with the plastic wrap while you bring a pot of water to boil. Use a pot large enough to accommodate your dumpling logs without bending them.
- When the water comes to a full boil, turn the heat down to a gentle boil and gently slip the dumpling logs into the water. Move them carefully to prevent sticking and let them slowly boil on one side for 10 minutes.
- Gently flip the dumpling logs onto the other side and boil and additional 10 minutes on the second side.
- Remove the logs from the water and let them cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
- To slice the logs, slip a piece of dental floss under the log about a half-inch from the end. Bring the ends of the floos up over the top, cross them as if you were going to make a bow and then pull quickly on each end in opposite directions. This will make a clean cut through the dough log. Repeat down the length of each log.
- Use your warm dumplings right away or wrap tightly and freeze for future use.
