Bramborove knedliky: Czech potato dumplings

My experience with potato dumplings

I learned to make these from an old neighbor when I lived in Prague. She laughed at me the first time because my dough turned into a wet, runny soup that stuck to my fingers. She told me the main trick is to work fast and use potatoes that were boiled the day before. If you try to make these with fresh, warm potatoes, you will have a bad time. They just absorb too much flour and turn heavy.

In Czech homes, people eat these with roast pork and sweet stewed cabbage. They are great for soaking up gravy. I make them almost every time we have leftovers from Sunday roast.

The kind of potatoes you need

Do not buy those fancy, thin-skinned baby potatoes for this. You need the cheap, dusty yellow ones from the big sack - the ones that feel dry and dusty when you peel them. Boil them in their jackets the night before. Just throw them in a pot with water, let them cook until a fork goes through easily, then leave them on the counter to dry out and cool down. Peeling cold potatoes is actually much easier anyway.

Mixing and shaping the logs

Once you grate the cold potatoes, you have to work fast. If you let the salted potato dough sit on the board for ten minutes while you search for a clean pot, it will start releasing water. It turns into a sticky mess that you cannot shape. Have your pot of salted water already boiling before you even touch the flour.