Potato Dumplings (Halušky)
Ingredients: 750g potatoes (about 2 large ones), 2 cups flour, salt
Prep time: 25 minutes
Halušky are what really defines Slovak cuisine. The name is typically translated to English as potato dumplings, but this is not quite right. Halušky are just that, halušky (pronounced halushky). Potato dumplings, in Slovak, are zemiakové knedľe. Halušky are somewhat similar to German spätzle. You can top them with just about anything. Few years back, my dad had a restaurant near Banská Bystrica’s town square where he served mostly halušky. I don’t remember exactly how many varieties were on the menu, but it must have been at least 20! The most typical topping is bryndza, a special sheep cheese, and fried bacon bits. This combination gives you bryndzové halušky, the Slovak national dish. Another popular topping is cabbage. I also like them very much with a hard boiled egg. Often you will find these dumplings served with stews like goulash or paprikash.
Peel two large potatoes (zemiaky) and shred them using a fine food grater. Also salt water in a large pot and bring to boil.
Pour out as much water as you can without dumping out any of the potatoes. Add salt (soľ) and two cups of flour (múka). Mix well. I have good luck making them with just the regular all-purpose flour. You can experiment with different types if you would like to make the dumplings softer or harder.
Place the dough on a wooden board. Then using a knife, “toss” the halušky into boiling salted water. Smaller, the better. My grandma is really good at tossing the dumplings. She can go through a whole batch like this in a minute or two. It takes me closer to 10.
Boil for few more minutes and scoop out with a large perforated spoon. Top with bryndza or serve with chicken paprikash.
Update: March 24, 2010
Below you will find two videos showing my grandma making halušky. In the first, she uses the method outlined here. In the other one, she uses this nifty contraption called haluškár (halušky-maker). Note, she was making liver dumpligs (pečenové halušky) for soup, hence the pinkish color of the dough. But the process is exactly same as when making regular dough dumplings.
Mal by si doplnit do receptu na pripravu cesta aj vajce.
My dad says above that I should add an egg to the halušky dough. I haven’t tried making them with egg yet, but I definitely like how halušky taste in his restaurant.
my mother in law uses egg and no potato and also a tool that grates the dumplins in.
That’s another kind of halusky (when you don’t use potatoes) Those, made just from flour, milk and egg are more like a side dish. You can eat them with paprikash or goulash 🙂 or have them in the soup…
I would love to have your recipe for halusky because it sounds like what my mother used to make!
Thank you! This is exactly how I remember my
mother making them. Without the potato.
I just make them with egg, flour and salt, too. I place the mix on a flat plate and “cut” them into the boiling water with a spoon (just like my mother taught me ~_^). My children call them submarines.
That sure brings back memories!
with out potatoes what shes making are spaetzle
same cooking prep with slightly different ingredients
The flour ones my mother called drop dumplings. Her dad had made her a handled board for making them.
I just made these as a surprise for my Slovakian (heritage , 2nd gen. husband) and he likes them with shredded cheese. He said to make bigger chunks and use less cheese.
I have made some additions to my mother’s knedle recipe. I am 79 and have been making these forever.I do add an egg and a T of oil and a pinch of baking powder, makes them a bit lighter…yum. After seeing this I am going into the kitchen to make the. Love it with fried cabbage but fried onions work well.
Yes, my recipe calls for 1/3 tsp baking powder. I also know that adding an egg or not adding an egg depended on what region the recipe came from. The noodles with just flour and no potato are Hungarian. I had Slovak and Hungarian parents!
Yes my grandmother added an egg. I just made them last night and they were wonderful. What a great dish.
My grandmother made them the exact same way! No egg needed… fantastic
Lubos,
I grew up in Liptov and Halusky with bryndza is a big deal. We do not add egg to potato dough.I make it once a month, instead of bryndza I use feta cheese, because I can’t buy bryndza where I live.
When we are making halusky as a side dish for perkel, paprikas goulash, etc… we make dough without potatoes and we add egg. They are called also nokerliky, strapacky,(spaetzles or small dumplings, gnocchi)
You need: 2 eggs, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup water or milk, salt, black pepper. Proceed as potato halusky.
Thanks Kamila! That’s a great tip!
I was just trying to figure out because we only made what my Mom called halusky without potatos and with egg. Thanks for sharing that.
Hi Alaine,
some parts of Slovakia don’t use bryndza on “halusky” ,only sour cream and top it with bacon bits.Also – their ” halusky” is only co called “nochki or nokerle”, not made from potato.
I use egg in my potato dough since potatoes are very waterry and add the egg to keep it together, without using too much flour.
Slovak potatoes are great, tried to “sneak” a couple to Canada for growing purposes, but customs were efficient and did find them in my luggage.
You are right about potato – it taste really good there in Europe BUT potato grown here in Australia has NO TASTE !
It must be the same in Canada then !
Next time try to bring potato seed – much easier to sneak it trough
I was lucky with HORSE REDDISH ! Nearly impossible to find it here !
Good luck !
Peter
My grandmother make these alot; she called them ‘bullets’. She made something similar with the egg too. The dough was pretty stiff & she would shred them on the large holes of a box grater. We ate a lot of these with beef soup when I was growing up. She called them stee-donkey (phonetically, I never learned any Slovak). Does anyone recall something like this?
Hi Miike,
“struhanka”(something grated) would be the right word for what you are describing. It is still a popular home made pasta for soups (in which your spoon can stand upright)
Does this look familiar? I used to help my mother make these when young. Make the dough, let it dry some, grate and let dry for use the next day.
https://www.mimibazar.sk/recept/210/domace-struhane-cestovinky-do-polievky
adding this from noodles page:
Josephine says:
November 15, 2013 at 12:11 pm
They are “drobce” or “čipetky”.
http://varecha.pravda.sk/recepty/cipetky-fotorecept/13383-recept.html
Must be “struhanka” from a different Slovak region….
Thank! This looks exactly like what we used to eat. I don’t recall the drying part, but drying makes a lot of sense. It was a staple in my grandmother’s home. Can you help me to know how it is pronounced correctly?
Ja sice vajicko nedavam do haluskoveho cesta, ale moze top byt varianta ak chceme pevnejsie halusky 🙂
Otec ano, vymačkať sa malé množstvo voda
squeeze out some water and add egg
Lubos,
I didn’t realize that halusky have potatoes in them. What do you call halusky that are just flour and water… sometimes made with sour cream and/or an egg?
I think those would also be called halušky, but I am not 100% certain. I think that any small dumplings (that look like German Spätzle) are called halušky. The kind you are referring to is probably kysnuté (acidified) halušky.
Thanks for this wonderful web site! Here in Western Pennsylvania where we have lots of Americans of Slovak descent, most of them believe halusky are noodles and cabbage. My father, from eastern Slovakia near Humenne, always made “real” potato halusky for us and taught me. I make it about once a month (always with an egg) and now use my a handy haluskar to make it. That and a food processor make it very easy to make. I have had brynzove halusky only in Slovakia — it really is delicious.
Thanks Dennis! How does the haluškár work? Maybe you could share your food processor recipe. Do you basically just place potatoes and flour in a food processor and let it go?
Dennis,
My family, also Ragans, are from Kurimka. Some live in Cernina now. I visited them in July and they told me that I have cousins here in the US. Maybe we are related!
Sorry I wasn’t more specific. I only use the food processor to grate the potatoes. Saves my fingers and knuckles from the grater and is much quicker. Otherwise the recipe is actually no different. The haluskar is the small pan with holes in it and a handle, which I use to push the halusky dough through into the boiling water. Thanks for the wonderful web site!
Thanks Dennis I was looking for someone who did their potatoes in a food processor. Looking forward to trying it.
By the way, fried (caramelized?) butter is what really makes the style of halusky I like best so great. We slowly burn the butter until we can see some small black specs in it. Poured over halusky after very slightly rinsing the boiled halusky is what makes it tasty. I really enjoy bryndzove halusky also, but for me it is an entirely different tasting meal. Plus we can’t the right bryndza here in the Pittsburgh area.
I never tried it with Feta chees, I will try next time and we will see::)) thanks
Classic “Greco” Feta Cheese is made with pasteurized sheep and goat milk.
I paid $5.24 for a 7 Oz. package at Walmart.
as far as halusky goes. I love them and there is a sugeestion for us who live in the US. It’s difficult to get brynza, so you can improvize (as I do) mix feta cheese with butter and you are close to brynza. Try it, I do it all the time
as far as different “haluska” or dumpling goes, there are dumplings for a soup called “soft dumplings” where you just mix flour and eggs, but that’s totally different from “halusky”
I met a Slovak lady in the Pittsburgh area several months ago who says she uses a 50%/50% mixture of sour cream and cream cheese to approximate the taste of bryndza cheese.
This is also how I prepare imitation bryndza. A lot of readers have been recommending Feta cheese. I have not tried that yet, but I think that’s probably a better match. Feta has more or less the consistency of Bryndza.
When I’m cooking bryndzove halusky I use french Roquefort cheese, very similar to slovakian bryndza and I add a little of sour cream to.
Thanks, I have never heard of this cheese but I’ll keep an eye on it.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I’m living in France, therefrom my idea with Roquefort cheese, sorry…
I just wanted to say, thank you!! for this website. I’m from North Eastern PA, and was in Slovakia doing genealogy research in eastern Solvakia and had Bryndzové halušky in Presov. It was the best meal of the trip, and I wanted to find out how to make it. Thanks Again!!
You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by! I am glad you enjoyed bryndzove halusky. It’s also one of my favorite Slovak dishes along with kapustnica and plum dumplings. Please let your friends know and add the site to your favorite social bookmarking sites. It really helps…
Thank you so much. This website is such a find. Watched my grandmother, mother make this as a kid. It was one of my FAVORITE things to eat. Both gals are gone now and I’ve got a craving for some Slovak favorites. I was going to make a stab at the halusky just from memory, but now I’ve got the proportions, directions and we’ll give it a whirl Christmas eve.
Lubos: Unfortunately, when I’m gone, the traditions will go with me. Not too many family members left and those who are left don’t care one iota about the old traditions. Sad.
Oh come on, don’t say that. By the way, I am planning to add another section to the website dedicated to Slovak traditions and culture. If you email me your traditions, I’ll be more than happy to post them here and give you credit.
Unfortunately tis true. I’m the only one interested in family genealogy and my kid doesn’t even cook. When I get a chance, I’ll be happy to send some recollections of them to you. Best!
Thanks for your instructions. We have a foreign exchange student from Slovakia living with us in Peoria, Illinois.
He has been a little homesick lately so I am going to attempt this recipe.
That’s really nice of you! Let me know how they turn out. You can imitate bryndza by combing feta cheese and sour cream.
Lubos, on your “I am planning to add another section to the website dedicated to Slovak traditions and culture.”
I think it would be real great addition. When you are ready, I’ll send you some of my memories and traditions.
That would be great. Feel free to email me anytime and I’ll post it once that section is up. I’ll probably also add a section dedicated to travel. This one will start off as a dumping ground for the pictures I’ll be taking during my upcoming trip to Slovakia.
Kamila,
I am glad that you state original fact of our (Slovak) cooking. You are using proper names and for which dishes you need to use dough preparation. There is great rec. site “svet receptov – jedla starych mam” ( I AM SURE YOU ARE AWARE OF IT). Recepies are autenticaL.
Keep going, We are Slovaks and keeping traditions,
Tony
One of my professors told me that his family tried making these halusky, but they were not clear on how long they ought to be boiled. From personal experience, I don’t think that that you can over-cook the dumplings. I start off with boiling water, and keep tossing in the halusky until all the dough is gone. Then I let everything boil for few additional minutes. This means that the first pieces cook for about 15 minutes while the last ones cook for only 2 or 3. However, in the end they all seem to taste the same.
Also, when it comes to salting, I am usually not to particular. I give the water few shakes of the salt shaker and do the same with the dough. I think it’s better to start off with less salt and then season the final creation to taste.
The cooked “halusky” will float on the top of the boiling water. The floating ones are cooked and ready to take out. You can use this tip with all pasta or flour based dishes.
my grandmother told me to cook half at a time and cook them until they float to the top. Hope that helps.
I use baking potatoes, is there another type you would recommend using? Also there was a lot of liquid from the potatoes should I drain the water off? I was told the less flour you use the softer the dumpling.
Lubos:
Promised to let you know how the Halusky turned out. My DH and I had a huge pot for our Christmas Eve repast. It was so good and such a nostalgic dinner. I do need to reduce the proportions cause I had dough left over. Sure wish my parents were with us to share. My mom always used bacon and cabbage to sauce the dumplings, and I did the same.
Blessings, and have a very Merry Holiday season.
JBB
Thanks for halusky recepie Lubos!
Who would think that I will cook them first time in my life in South America?
They turned delicious, I served them with paprikas.
Obrigada! Maria
This sounds much like the recipe that my grandmother passed down to her grandchildren except she called it something pronounced like ” pooch-kee”. I would really like to spell the meal correctly when I pass it to my babies. It consisted of potato dumplings blended with crumbled bacon and chopped, steamed cabbage. As a topping, she simply used cottage cheese though. Could someone help me?
Hi my grandmother made halushky with fried cabbage
And bacon it was delicious, looking for potato sausage recipe? Thanks
Jenny Geller says:
This sounds much like the recipe that my grandmother passed down to her grandchildren except she called it something pronounced like ” pooch-kee”. I would really like to spell the meal correctly when I pass it to my babies. It consisted of potato dumplings blended with crumbled bacon and chopped, steamed cabbage. As a topping, she simply used cottage cheese though. Could someone help me?
….
Jenny, this is the best I can do, there is a wide variety of dishes made from potatoes. Slovakia was somehow poor country in the past and thus it was making potatoes in so many ways, and using cabbage as a source of vitamin C.
Yes, there is a brand of potato dumplings called “zemiakové púčky“. It may vary in how it’s prepared but “zemiakové púčky” is the right spelling.
I had to go and search Slovak sites to see how it’s made (as I remembered the name) and here is one variation of making “zemiakové púčky” … of course, it can be made so many different ways as everything in Slovak kitchen 😉
http://www.dobre-recepty.sk/detail/6254-kopaniciarske-zemiakove-pucky/
My grandmother made the halusky with browned butter and cheddar cheese-probably because she couldn’t get the bryndza here.Delicious.
Yes, Carolyn, my grandmother Anna Figura was from Slovakia, and I remember fondly how she would make the halusky, and top it with browned butter and grated cheddar cheese. One of the most comforting of recipes, and memories!
I’m from Thunder Bay , Ontario, Canada wich has a very large Slovak community.I’m third generation. The home-made flour noodles fried with cabbage was a favorite growing up. The Halusky was with melted cheese like the family above , I guess. Flour dumplings with chicken stock added were made for chicken gravy.
A favourite is what we term in our family called “Bubba” : potatoes grated with salt pepper and flour , spread thin about a 1/2 inch high on a cookie sheet or lasagna pan and cooked in saved bacon grease, sometimes with carraway seeds added, then cut in sqaures like pizza. It would be baked to be nice and crisp on the bottom.Mmmmmm.
Hey Phil,
I think you’ve described ”HARULA”. The way we prepare it is that we mix grated potatoes, bit of pressed garlic, grated onion, egg, flour and most important for taste is majoran. You can use oil on pan and spread it about 8mm-1cm.
Guys, what about bacon in halusky? I have never eaten halusky without bacon. They ar esimply great on their own but sometimes we pour sour cream on tom of them, that taste nice as well.
Our family makes halusky with and without potatoes. I use a haluskar that my dad made. Spraying the haluskar with “Pam” makes the job effortless and clean-up a breeze.
This dish can actually be both healthy and tasty by using dry curd cottage cheese and a moderate amount of browned butter with onion. It’s very good. It’s also nice with a couple spoonfuls of parmesan on top.
Time saving tip: There are prepackaged potato gnocci at the stores that can actually be used in a pinch, same ingredients.
And also by topping them with sauerkraut – high in vitamin C! Halušky s kapustou (with cabbage) are in my opinion even better than the traditional variety with bryndza. And yes, I have seen those packets. I have even used them, both for potato dumplings and for potato pancakes. They were not bad, but the taste was still little different. There is nothing like home cooking. All fresh ingredients, no preservatives, artificial flavors or food colors added. I often wonder what all these chemicals are doing to our bodies, so I try to keep away from prepackaged, dehydrated food items as much as possible.
Does anyone have a recipe for slatka kapusta? My mother made this dish with poatoes and cabbage.
Mary, I did something similar to Miro’s suggestion when preparing fasirka, the Slovak “fried hamburger” (see the link). The exception is that I used caraway seeds instead of cumin, and did not use any bacon (but you can never go wrong with bacon!). Although cumin looks very much like caraway, this seed is native to the Middle East and India and thus is not used in traditional Slovak cooking.
Hi Lubos,
slovak word ” kmin” is often translated wrongly as cumin. We found out very quickly in our first days of immigration to South Africa- it tasted nothing like “kmin”- carraway seed.
We laugh about it now but food stores were our first teachers of English…
Olga, of course you are right, I use cumin in some of my cooking (mostly Mediterranean meals) however when cooking slovak disges I always use caraway seeds. They are not so much different but cumin has a stronger and somehow sweeter taste.
I use cumin when making Greek lamb or some food using cuscus.
However when I use Slovak dishes with potatoes in them, or stews, and goulashes, I use caraway seeds.
Mary, I am not sure that there is a specific recipee for sweet cabage “sladka kapusta”. I assume it’s a fresh stewed cabage. I make it frequently as a side dish. There are many ways but the principle is the same.
Cut a green cabage into stripes, sauté some onion (you may do it in fried bacon or just in oil), add cabbage, salt, cumin seeds, SUGAR (about 2 table spoons or whatever you like) add some water (not much as cabbage will release some juices on its own) and stew it until cabbage is soft. Add some white vinegar to balance the sweetness or more sugar to your liking.
I made it just last weekend to go along with “St. Patrick’s meal”, briskets, cabbage, and potatoes.
Hi Miro / Maria,
yes,this is the basic recipe for a sweet cabbage soup too, except you use milk and whipping cream ( or heavy cream), thicken it slightly , …my husband does it instead of sour cabbage soup at Xmas time.It’s delicious.
Lubos said
“The exception is that I used caraway seeds instead of cumin”
WTH to me, I used caraway seeds as well, I rarely use cumin but have it at home when I was cooking some middle east recipe. Yep caraway seeds are what you use in Slovak cooking, I have no idea why I said cumin 🙂
Hey,
Thank you for the suggestions. I’m anxious to try
the recipe with caraway seeds!!
I find cooking Slovak recipes with north American ingredients quite challenging. Especially the flour. There is mainly all-purpose flour in Canadian stores and many Slovak cake recipes call for coarse flour. Also making knedla has been a challenge for me. I don’t usually boil it, instead I steam it. Only then it turnes out great. When it comes to bryndzove halusky: must be cooked from waxy potatoes not starchy-ones like Idaho. Many times I used baking potatoes and they fell apart when I boiled them in the water. Now I only use the red skin, or yellow fleshed potatoes. The dough must be quite hard though – your spoon must stand right up when you stick it into the dough! The bryndzove halusky dough requires only potatoes, flour and some salt. The halusky you make for gulas or perkelt are made from flour, egg, water and salt. I also use Feta and sour cream for substitution for bryndza. I found a really good brand of Feta, it’s made in Bulgaria and is more authentic than the average Greek feta.
Andrea, thank you for all your comments. Most of my cooking experience comes from the United States, so I guess for me cooking with the American ingredients seems quite natural. But if you grew up cooking with the wide variety of flour types available in Slovakia, I can see how this could be quite challenging. I also have a very easy-to-satisfy taste. Oh and when it comes to grits, I never expected this simple dish to result in such a wide discussion.
Do you have a haluskaren (dumpling maker)? I have, it’s easy to halusky.
Hi Melania, nope I don’t but my grandma showed me how to use it – and I just added the video. She doesn’t use it very often herself – in fact, she spent about half an hour searching through her pantry before she found it. It definitely makes making halusky much simpler but I guess she is just too used to using the board and knife. That way she has one less thing to wash. But they are definitely quite nifty.
Great site, I was supprised to learn that traditional huluski has potatoes in it, originally from NE Pa, now Jersey, can not find Slovak cuisine anywhere, we also make huluski like a noodle with flour, egg, water and garlic. spoon drops into boiling water and tada…huluskie noodles. Use in homemade chicken soup or make with cabage and onion. Still looking for my grandmothers potatoe and mushroom soup. It was to die for, I know it started out with a rue with flour but that is all I know. Tried to duplicate it but no luck! Do you know of such a soup? Maybe Polish as well I guess?
For all those people wishing they had bryndza, just come up for a day trip to Canada. You can find some here in European stores. It’s awesome. We also eat our halusky with a glass of buttermilk. Really good!
Started looking for Slovak music for my 92 year old mom and stumbled upon your site. The halusky video brought back childhood memories of my mom and aunt scratching the dumplings. I can’t wait to give it a try. My aunt used to make a “Slovak Pizza” with saurkraut, flour & bacon fat baked in the oven. Delicious! Thanks for the memories.
This is one of my favorite recipes mom and Baba made. I am fortunate to have grown up in a 100% Slovak family and to have their recipes. To this day I love making all the Slovak dishes. When I make Repne Halusky I always add one large egg, as my mom did. I never make them without an egg. Also, as I grate my potatoes, I put them in cold water to prevent them from turning gray. Then I drain the water, tip the bowl and squeeze the water out with the back of a wooden spoon. I fry a head of cabbage in 1-2 sticks of butter, add coarsely chopped cabbage and onions fry until slightly browned and incorporate the Halusky. Fantastic!!!! Small curd cottage cheese in place of the cabbage is delicious, also. I also serve Chicken Paprikash over Halusky.
Thanks for your tips. So what are “repné halusky”? I have never heard of this. This seems to imply the halusky are mixed with sugar cane, unless there is some other meaning…
Repna Halusky is “old slovak” from the Orava region for potato dumplings. My relatives laugh when we say that because it’s like we are a museum piece, speaking 1920s slovak. Thanks for this great site.
Secret to making Halusky in America: I have found that the secret to making halusky in America is the type of flour that is used. My sister-in-law, who lives in Ruzomberok, SK, uses a course flour like Gold Medal “Wondra”. When I make halusky with our all-purpose flour, the dumplings fall apart and make “potato soup”. Wondra is readily available in any grocery store in America. It comes in a 13.5 oz. canister. Sometimes I have found it in a 5 lb. bag. If you can’t find Wondra, you can add an egg to the all-purpose flour at the ratio of 1 egg to 2-2 1/2 cups regular flour. Dobru chut
Hi Sally, I haven’t yet had a problem with halusky falling apart. Granted, little pieces come off the edges, but the dumplings as whole stay together. Try using more flour and also try adding an egg to keep them together (not sure if you have heard the legend, but supposedly the Charles Bridge in Prague is held together by eggs mixed in with sand). I use standard all purpose flour. But you are right, the flour in Slovakia is much different from the kind available here. The Slovak flour comes in three varieties: hladká (fine), polohrubá (semi-coarse) and hrubá (coarse).
PS. Do not use red potatoes–They fall apart.
Hello Lubos, congratulations on improvements of your website. It looks great!!!
Just wantedt to suggest that repa should be sugar beet or just beet, not sugar cane. Keep up the good job! All the best.
Thanks Tess! I spend few hours almost every day tweaking the site. It still got little ways to go but it’s slowly getting there. Send me an email if there is a particular feature you would like to see or have other suggestions.
Hmm… my papa (grandfather) makes potato dumplings, but he makes mashed potatoes and cools them, then adds egg and flour. He forms them into balls (baseball size, maybe?) and cooks them in boiling water. Then serves drizzled with bacon grease (or drippings from whatever meat they are being served with) and sauerkraut. He learned how to make them from his grandmother who came here from Austria by way of Russia, but always said she was Czech. Have you heard of this?
Nope, can’t say I have. It sounds to me almost like the Matzah balls, but made from potato dough instead. Also, it may be related to knedla, the steamed dumpling. This dumpling is popular in both Slovakia and the Czech republic. It (or actually a little variation) makes one of the three components going to the Czech national meal, knedlo vepro zelo, for instance see http://www.schnitzelwich.com/menu.html and then click on Pork Roast on the right.
Hi Sherri, I got a suggestion from the people at the Oregon restaurant above that this may be something called chlupate knedliky or “shaggy dumplings”. Here is a link to Google image search. Do these look familiar?
yes,it is potato knedla, it’s great with sauces (spinach)or cabbage, knedlo/vepro/zelo…..as well fried next morning and pour an egg over it…
Hi Lubos, thank you for perfect site and great idea – with promoting slovak cuisine. I wish you wish you much success! 🙂
Jozef from Slovakia
Dakujem pekne, Jozo! A povedz prosim kamaratom o stranke.
Hi, I was born and raised in Slovakia. Now I live in Canada. We have always used eggs for the dough. For 4 people I use 2 eggs, for 2 people 1 egg is enough. Dobru chut!
First I’d just like to say that this is such a wonderful website, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it!
My grandmother passed this past February, and I have been trying to remember all the wonderful recipes she taught me, so I can make a cookbook honoring her and give it to my family members for Christmas.
As I recreate the recipes I remember, some details slip my mind, as well as techniques! The video of your grandmother made me cry, because that’s exactly how mine did it! SO FAST!
Anyway, thanks for this website and thanks for helping me piece together my Grandmother’s legacy!
P.S. She always taught me to make this adding cheddar cheese, fried onion, and generous amount of dill at the end! DELICIOUS!!!
Thank you for comment April! It’s all those years of training, don’t worry, after a year or two of making halusky, you’ll be making them as fast too 🙂
my boyfriend and his mom came to canada from slovakia. His mom taught me how ot make this for him ( only she uses an egg in it and adds dill to the sauce) She had a halusker to use, though( which she ofcourse brough over when they moved). I was wondering if anyone has found a place online that sells them? ive been searching but no luck so far.
i should add that ive tried with a cutting board… but i tend to mess it up half the time hahaha
Here’s a website where you can buy all kinds of things from Slovakia, including a haluskar:
http://www.egg-in-wrap.com/default.asp
It’s a company called Leemar enterprises. Look under the top pull down menu for “Kitchen” and then “Cooking Tools.”
Or you can go to Amazon.com and search for a Spaetzle maker. It is basically the same thing. You can also google for a spaetlze maker. Good luck!
Tim
When I was 12 I modernized making my halusky by grating my potatoes in a blender. I only add enough flour so the dough will follow itself while I stir. I saute purple onions in butter (very pretty presentation). My Grandma loved how soft they turned out. I drop 1/3 tsp. size into boiling water and low boil until they float. No egg needed, just potatoes, flour, salt, butter and onion. Use the water to make potato bread.
These were wonderful!!! I went to Target today and bought a fine grater (sooo much better than the dish towels and potato ricer I used last time!), and I went to a Russian deli to get their version of “bryndza.” Velmi dobre!!!
Good Day fellow food lovers. I have just read this thread. I read what bulharowski said about the food and tradition dying off. I’m a Canadian up here in Winnipeg, I’m 4th generation, i knew nothing about slovak anything. But I just tried making your Halusky and chicken paprikash. I enjoyed the meal very much. So because of this forum maybe your slovak food & tradition can spread to ALL PEOPLE. thanking you Brian
Hello, thanks for the recipe. I have a question though, my halušky is a little ‘tough’ or not as soft, is this bc I cooked too long in water? I followed the steps but did not know how long to cool in the water. Dakujem!
Hmm, I would suspect that there may be bit too much flour. Try them next time but use less flour. And how long did you cook them? I only cook them for few minutes, until they float up.
We are hosting a student from Slovakia this year. She has talked about this dumpling dish. I am glad you had the substitute for the cheese.
I want to make this for her, and glad I found how I can find something similar to use.
On step 2, how long do you let potatos boil after you shred them?
I would like to know this also. The recipe says to drain the potatoes, but I don’t see how long they are boiled.
I love to make very traditional dishes from all cultures and would like to make this bryndzové halušky. As with others I struggle to find bryndza cheese in the US. I have found a sheep’s milk cheese that I think may be very similar in texture and in taste? It is called ‘mitcana de oveja’, a Spanish sheep’s milk cheese sold in Whole Foods stores. Can someone who actually knows the Slovak bryndza perhaps try this cheese (they are always happy to give you small samples) and tell me if it is very close to the original?
Also, it seems that when making the halusky, the video shows them to be very uneven in shapes, almost like spaetzel, but perhaps not quite so thin as spaetzel? Can you estimate the size as about 1 cm x 2 cm?
Finally, thanks so much for the site and the updates. Great way to keep a tradition alive and well.
Jeff
Jeff, nech žijú halušky! Halušky nemajú predpísaný tvar alebo veľkosť. Tradične sa halušky hádžu do vody z doštičky /lopárik/. Vtedy sú hrubé a neforemné. Dnes cesto na halušky pretláčame cez sitko /haluškáreň/. Vhodná je na to plochá varecha, nie guľatá alebo lyžica. Halušky sú uvarené vtedy, keď vyplávajú hore.
SC note: Joyce says that halušky don’t have a prescribed shape or size. Traditionally they are tossed into the water from a cutting board. Then they’ll be thick and without a particular shape. These days people run the dough through a special spatula with holes in it, called haluškár. Halušky are done when they float to the top.
Examples of haluškár:
On heureka.cz
On e-shop.sk
On pomlenyi.cz
On mimibazar.cz
In the US you can buy them from slovakic.com and Slov Czech Var.
I’ll go and try the Whole Food brand (if they have it in this area) I just came back from Slovakia and brought some bryndza with me, but it won’t last long.
As far as size of halusky, it is based on who is making it. I make a bigger size, 1 x 2 cm would be about it, however my sister back in old country make it smaller (about half of my size) Smaller ones are more fine and cook faster. Bigger size may not be cooked throughly if you are not careful,
Thank you for responses Joyce and Miro. Miro, just to be clear, the store is called Whole Foods Market http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ It is a chain of healthy foods stores. The cheese is Mitacana de Oveja, it comes in a round log about 3 inches in diameter. You may be able to find the cheese at other stores as well. It looks like it might be very similar to brynza http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/1019359-cheese-in-with-miticana-de-oveja
Oh Jeff I know the whole food store well, Been shoping there a lot while living in Falls Church (it was around a corner from me)
I am in Woodbridge now, and I did not shoop at the Whole food much as there are some other stores that are pretty good. As I said, I’ll try to find out the brand of cheese you talk about … cheers
My granddaughter whose greatgrandparents came from Slovakia about 1930 visited Slovakia with her parents this past summer. While there she had Halusky and fell in love with it.Yesterday, to celebrate her 16th birthday,she and I pepared some in my kitchen and it was a great success – not a morsel left over! Ours consists of the bacon bits and very strong old white cheddar. It’s tasty too.
url from slovakia recipes
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I remember eagerly waiting each summer, on our vacation from the city (Chicago) to Phillips, Wisconsin. There was a large Czech-Slovak settlement of farmers. My grandparents settle there in the 40’s . My mom and I would sit in her little kitchen, and watch her mother make halusky ala Wisconsin. She would take the cooked halusky, fried it with the bacon in the bacon grease and add chedder cheese curds. Keep the family fed on cold winter nights. Hmmmmm…did I mention the fresh donuts rolled in sugar????
does anyone know where to get Slovak Bryndza in the US, I’ve tried Polish variety and several kinds of sheep feta but its not the same
It’s difficult. You can try to order it from http://www.slovczechvar.com/ but I wasn’t too happy with it. It was some export-variety that was too dry and too salty, presumably so it keeps better. I prefer that Trader Joes Israeli-style Feta, I think I tastes quite like bryndza in Slovakia.
In our family, we have these every year as part of our traditional Christmas Eve meatless dinner. They are delicious. My mom makes 2 varieties: one with grated cheddar and sauteed onion, the second with sauerkraut and a little onion.
Thanks for the website!
I love the potato dumplings , the favourite version is with the sheep cheese and the baked bacon bits, but the version with cabbage(mainly fried cabbage is also delicious) My grandma used to prepare them but it was very long time ago.
thank you for the recipe.
The recipe you use is just like the one I grew up with in a Slovak home in New York. There were no imports of Bryndza in the 50’s to 80’s, so we used pot cheese, or farmers cheese
(like cottage cheese but no cream), grated parmesan and bacon.
We also had well sauteed cabbage and bacon with halusky. My husband to be, not knowing they were separate, mixed all three toppings together and absolutlely loved it. We’ve been doing this for over 40 years now. Once a year my dear sister goes to a Slovak store in Long Islan City, NY and brings us some of the bryndza she buys there! Vyborne. I too, use an egg in the mixture when the potatoes are watery.
Ahoj vsetci!
I make halusky with milk with cream cheese, Feta and of bourse BACON!
So, happy to see this site.
D’akujem moc za zverejnenie tieto recepty!
Hi Lubos,
We have a foreign Exchange Student living with us. She is from Nove Zamky, and has been staying with us since December. Niki wanted to make us some of the food from her home. I happened across you site while looking for someplace to find Bryndza. Niki had her own recipe for the Halusky she got from a book. Hers didnt use the egg. I found the dough to be really sticky, and I think we used too much flour. For the Bryndza substitute we used equal parts cream cheese, and goat cheese crumbles. The goat cheese seems to be a little milder than the Feta. I put them in a bowl and stirred the cheeses together. I dont think we cooked the halusky log enough, it was kind of “doughy” still and rather soft. Niki wasnt sure about how to cut the dough. She said there’s a shredder they normally use for that. (I assume it’s the Haluskar). Next time we will try your recipe. The cheese turned out pretty good though. Not sure how authentic it tasted but Niki said it was pretty close.
Niki also made us a dish she called “French Potatos”. It is slices of cooked potato, smoked sausage(we used German North Country), and boiled egg, all layed in layers in a pan. Then the top is covered with sour cream, and then covered with grated cheese (she used cheddar). Cover the baking dish with foil. She baked it for about 30 minutes at 375, and took the foil off then baked for anout 10-15 minutes to brown the cheese. It was super good! Thanks for this site. You have good resipes on here.
Thanks Paul! The dough for halušky is quite soft, almost like pudding. I usually use roughly the same volume of potatoes and water but this is just a guess – I don’t actually measure it. And I am not familiar with that French Potatoes dish. But it sounds a bit like živánska.
on French Potatoes. Lubos, it’s interesting that you were not familiar with it. We used to make them frequently in your neighbor town Zvolen.
It has some ingredients and prep similar to zivanska and yet it’s very different. It’s more like a casserole (due to sour cream layer) and it uses a sausage (polska kielbasa is the best)
Short version:
Few potatoes semi boiled, a few hard boiled eggs about 1 lb of polska kelbasa, cup of sour cream, seasonings (salt, pepper, marjoram, and caraway seeds)
Slice potatoes, eggs, kielbasa.
Layer potatoes, eggs kielbasa, season every layer.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes in covered pan (pan covered with aluminum foil does good)
Season a sour cream with paprika, mix, and pour over the dish. Bake for additional 10-15 minutes.
Serve. Sliced dills go with it very well.
Thanks Miro. I guess I do vaguely remember my mom mentioning the name but I had no idea what goes into them. Thanks for the recipe.
I make the French potatoes, too. Love them, but I dot with butter and spread sour cream on each layer. Cover and bake. I don’t add the spices you use.
thanks for the instructions! I am going to use them to make hulusky for my class!
My grandparents came to America from Czechoslovakia, or as they always said, “the old country.” I learned how to make Holushki from my grandmother, who grew up near the mountains. She said they would eat this food for breakfast, a hearty dish that would help them survive the long time before they could eat again. I use just the same ingredients that she used once she came to America. My recipe is a little different than what I’ve read. First I grate Velveeta cheese (or cut it up into smaller chunks). Then I grate raw potatoes, and add salt, and flour, stirring until it is very “tick” (as Grandma used to say). I melt real butter in a frying pan, and fry cut up bacon in the pan. After the holushki is cooked in boiling salt water, I drain the dumplings. In a large bowl, I put the hot dumplings, add the Velveeta cheese, and dump in the butter and bacon. Mix it all up and serve! My family has a tradition to make this once a year when we all get together. The last time we did this, we made 20 pounds of potatoes, but had very little in the way of leftovers! It is a very big task, but everyone remembers our beloved Grandma as we enjoy this Slovak dish.
Can I make haluski with american cheese?
It wouldn’t taste the same. Basically halusky by themselves are quite tasteless. It’s the bryndza cheese that gives them their true flavor.
Does anyone know anything about the Slovak-American cook book? My mom got a copy as a shower gift when she got married in the 1950s (her copy is the “60th anniversary edition” from 1952). Every slovak bride (in Vancouver area) seemed to get a copy of this book –i remember attending a shower with my mom in the late 60s and the cookbook was still making the rounds. It was edited by the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union (National headquarters in Cleveland Ohio), and is an interesting mix of Slovak food meets 1950s American cooking — ie one page will have a recipe for halusky, and then there’ll be 3 pages of Jello salads. I wonder when the last edition was printed?
Jeanne, you can still buy them online from http://www.fcsla.org/cookbook.shtml. I got my copy about a year ago.
My grandmother made something that sounded like “slezghe” which was potato dumplings coated with farina browned in butter (to die for!!). I was told that she was from Czechoslovakia, but now I’m not sure she actually was. Can anybody shed some light on this dish and its origins?
Hello,
I think they are “slíže”. The word “slíže” is used in Slovakia and means noodles. I am embarrassed by the fact that it is a potato dumpling.
http://www.slovakcooking.com/2010/recipes/pasta/poppy-seed-noodles/
http://www.akosatorobi.sk/video/999/domace-makove-slize-recept-na-rezance-s-makom
http://varecha.pravda.sk/recepty/domace-makove-rezance-fotorecept/10429-recept.html
Farina was fried in oil until pink, lightly with salt, pour a little hot water and simmer. Add the cooked noodles into choking farina, mix, sugathe icing sugar.
Although I grew up in a Slovak/German household, I never heard of potatoes in Halusky. None of my family on either side used potatoes in halusky or spatzle. here is the recipe both my Grandmothers and Aunts used.
1 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
dried parsley (optional)
combine all ingredients
Drop small bits of batter into boiling salted water, cook 10 min or until they are floating!
drain and use the way they are with S/P butter, gravy or anyway you want!!
I have made these for years. A family favorite. When the potato noodle is done and drained, I add cottage cheese and cheddar cheese and BROWNED butter. The browned butter is a must and the dish is then served with making wells in each serving and topped with more browned butter. The browned butter is the key to fantastic flavor.
My Slovak mama who came her to NY in 1919 from near Poprad always served her haluski noodles with bacon bits, cooked potato chunks, melted butter and bacon fat (phew, but she lived to 93!) and either cooked cabbage or sauerkraut… never cheese, and I do not think she put potatoes into her haluski noodles, just flour and water and eggs
Thanks for these great tips for cooking halusky. We’ve just returned from a wonderful trip to Slovakia, and besides all the other great dishes we ate there, halusky became a family favourite. We first ate it in a Koliba in Poprad. I am going to try to replicate that here, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I will have to be creative about the cheese too!
That’s great, Helen. By the way, you probably don’t know, but my uncle used to work for the Czech Embassy in Addis Ababa. My mom and I went to visit him in 2002, http://www.iamlubos.com/travel/ethiopia/ethiopia.htm
Wow! What a small world!
By the way, when I tried the recipe it worked GREAT! It was a hit with my family 🙂
I pushed the dough through a colander/steamer basket, and that made it really easy to get tiny dumplings.
Dear Lubos,
I am looking for a recipe that my maternal grandmother made on for Easter as a side dish. She called it Peshka. What I remember she used cooked rice, cut up ham, whatever else I do not know. It was then baked. My Mother has passed on and I know she would have remembered and in her recipes it is missing.
Also, would like the cheese filling recipe for strudel
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I am about to do this version exciting! I made mines before with 1.5 cup flour ( gluten free all purpose and also Semolina too depending on people’s diets I am cooking for), 1 egg, pinch of baking soda…this time it is potato time!
Receipe came out great! Dobre Chut! Do as said and do prosim (please) watch out how much water in there (including the potato water when shredding)…otherwise may come out mushy! Like Farina with lumps! lol I did as stated in the protocol…however added an egg as suggested, little hot voda (water), pinch baking soda, little freshly granulated Himalayan pink crystal salt and freshly granulated black pepper to my shredded potatoes… I love learning from others …Djakeum peckna 🙂
I just tried making halusky last night (not your recipe unfortunately, lubos, which was my first mistake) and they all fell apart. Twice this happened last night.
I will go back to your recipe, which does not use an egg. It worked before. I am not sure why i decided to change last night of all nights when I really wanted halusky!
My grandmother was amazingly fast at flinging halusky with a knife, but it still takes me longer than I’d like. I’ve looked and looked for a haluskar with no luck. All of the food mills had holes that seemed too small for the size halusky we like. I was about to get the drill out…then one day I noticed the steamer insert that came with my rice steamer (that I never use and was considering throwing away) had the perfect size holes! It’s an Aroma brand rice steamer, and the insert fits perfectly in top of one of my pots. I paid $16 dollars for the steamer, and I gladly would have paid twice that for a haluskar had I been able to find one! I plop the dough in, push it through the holes with a spatula, and have perfect little dumplings in no time at all! I use my food processor to grate the potatoes as well. Between that and my “haluskar”, we have them a lot more often now. I even whip them out for a crowd of 50 or so at Christmas. I love trying variations from your website – so different from the Pittsburgh halusky w/fried cabbage I grew up with, but so good, too!
I like my noodles on the thicker side, and one day realized that my cookie press had plates with holes that suited me perfectly! My cookie press has plates to make the four suits in a deck of playing cards, and the one I use for noodles is the “clubs” disk. There is also one that makes a cookie in the shape of a wreath, with smaller holes in a circle, that I also use occasionally when I want thinner noodles. I typically make the “no potatoes” style recipe this way, and use the spoon method when doing the potato recipe.
Personally I call halusky “cooked walpaper paste” but it is good and my 3rd generation Slovakian husband makes it for the kids. I usually just clear out of the kitchen and it’s sort of “Slovakian Man Day”. After the boiling part and then draining of the liquid, where half of the mixure is lost (because there is no “binder substance” like an egg) he then mixes in Cheddar cheese. Some other Slovakians mix in cottage cheese. Anyway it tastes like “mac and cheese but with more of a “tooth to it” al dente. He makes this on big occassions as a Slovakian bonding cultural pride dish. As long as he does all the dishes when he prepares it, I’m all good with this food.
I don’t own a haluskar. Will a spaetzle maker work with this dough?
It should be essentially the same – the dough might be a little thick, though, so the board and knife/spoon method might work a little better….
Halusky is one of my wife’s favourite things, using a recipe from her grandmother, who was born in Zakarovce(I believe that is near Kosice) and came to the USA (Montana) soon after World War 1. My wife says that her grandmother insisted that you could have halusky with cheese (large-curd cottage cheese was the only real American choice at the time) OR you could have halusky with cabbage – NEVER BOTH! But we have it with both anyway, along with fried bacon and onions, too. 🙂 The cottage cheese is added right at the end, and stirred until it starts to get melty-creamy. I would like to try the feta/sour cream substitute for the bryndza and see how it is….
I have one procedural question and would like some input from those who might have tried it both ways. Our recipe is essentially the same as Lubos’s (with the egg added as his dad suggests), but my wife’s grandmother would boil cut-up potatoes, then mash them with a fork (just the potatoes – no butter or cream or whatever), then add the flour, salt and egg etc. The method described here is to grate the potatoes, then boil them, then add the flour, salt egg etc. Has anyone tried it both ways, and is there any substantial difference in the end result? At first glance, it would seem that they both achieve the same end. If grating the potatoes, how do you keep tehm from going all grey?
Thanks for the feedback, and dobru chut!
To stop the Halusky from falling apart there has to be enough flour in the mixture. Use a wooden spoon. The spoon should stand up when you let it go and just very very slowly start falling over. Don’t try to cook to many at once. One cup of mix at a time. Water should be at a gentle roll not fast boil. When Halusky float to top give it another minute a remove with sieve.
If you can get a halushkar the Halusky will be more uniform in size and you can make them faster than off a plate or board.
A low salt feta a good replacement for brindza. My grandparents came to Canada in the 1920s and our family atill carries on the Halusha Party Tradition today !!!!
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My Grandmother used to add farina to her halusky.
penny, I have to ask as I have no idea what “farina” is, can you eloborate/explain?
Miro – farina is a grain, such as oats and barley. It’s a very old grain, If I remember right. You most commonly see it in Malt-O-Meal and other breakfast-porridge-type products these days.
My Mother always made the one without the potatoes and I wanted to try your recipe with the potatoes. I made them today and I couldn’t add 2 cups of flour because the dough was so dry. Am I missing something? Did you add milk to the dough as I see milk in the picture? I am wondering where the liquid in your recipe is as the other kind the liquid comes from milk and the egg.
Thanks Slovak/Croation from Pittsburgh PA
Paulette, let me see if I can help.
First hre my be a problem with “two large poatoes” of course, all of us have a different vie what a large potato is. I thinks it’s betteer to talk about “how much in weight”.
Depending what potatoes are you using it may be two small potatoes (aka some small white or Russell potatoes, where two of them would be some 1/4 pound ) NO! that’s not what you want! and of course adding 2 cups of flour would make it dry (not a bad thing as you will boil it and that would make is soft and moist.
OK so here is a question. How do you make it moist?
Not through adding stuff like mile, water, etc. You add moisture through “boiling it!”
So what is appropriate ratio between shredded potatoes and flour. Difficult to say, Lubos are you there? 🙂
It also depends on what potatoes you use. New potatoes are more moist than old potatoes. New russet potatoes are more moist than new Yukon potatoes. Big baking Russet potatoes are more dry than new Russet potatoes.
Heck, if I used a pound of old white potatoes than I would use 2 cups of flour
There is no easy answer, however, don’t get discouraged if the mix is too dry. You may experiment, based on what potato you use, and I am sure it’ eventually come out great.
Sorry if I was not of any help. The thing is I was cooking halusky back home for some 20 years and now cooking it in the US for some 35 years. It’s different but you will get it! Just keep trying. I mean it – Miro
darn, I hope you culd read it. My keybord is dying and it skipps some letter. Need to buy the new keybord! Sorry …
OK, my recipe is 2 eggs per each cup of flour and a pinch of salt. To make potatoe dumplings my Mom used left over mashed potatoes along with previous ingredients. If dough is too dry, add a little water at a time until dough is sticky. I put finished dough on a round plate and use a teaspoon to scrap dough into pot of boiling salted water. This is my Hungarian/Czech version. Potatoe dumplings are best with pork roast or pork sausage and sauerkraut.
Thanks for the response. They turned out ok because I ate them all but next time I will take your advice about the size and age of the potatoes. I used Idaho potatoes and I think they are russet and they may have been in the fridge for awhile. I will try them again. I also know the recipe may differ slightly from region to region because I have seen ones made with milk and egg on other Slovak web sites.
My mother in law makes them and calls them “kilt-skees” She apparently got the recipe from HER mother in law who was of german descent. She makes them with sauerkraut and bacon drippings/ pieces. YUMMMMM
This is probably kilt cheese.Your name is garbled of English and German.We call “halušky” with sauerkraut and bacon “strapačky”.
http://varecha.pravda.sk/recepty/halusky-s-kyslou-kapustou-strapacky-fotorecep/41965-recept.html
My grandmother,Aunts and my siblings still make these several times a year.
The name phonetically sounded like “Ga neat za”
We boil the salted potatoes until fork tender, pour off most of the water, mash potatoes, keep mixing in flour until you can spoon off a somewhat stiff dumpling,
We would then gently brown lots of diced onion in shortening. We would then take 2 spoons and dip them into the browned onion mixture, coating the spoons with the melted shortening, picking up some onions on the spoon then dip into potatoe mixture and spoon off dumpling into a platter,
We would make a huge plate of these and then everyone would put some on their own plate and top with sour cream.
I’m now 57, still make them and hold a yearly Heritage Cooking/baking class with my many cousins and their children! Passing on the tradition!
Has anyone else made them this way?
I live in Australia and I love halusky-(halushky) with Bryndza which I cannot get here. I subtitute Feta, especially Danish type which has the sharpness but not the unfortunately not “gritty” texture. My family sent me a special pan with holes and handle so making halusky is much easier and quicker. Some people wonder when are the halusky ready when you cook them. They are ready when they rise up to the top. We use flour and potato etc. halusky for cabbage, saurkraut and bryndza, halusky with flour and egg etc for chicken paprika or Szegedin gulash etc, not sure about Hungerian spelling.
Getting hungry!
My grandmother made these with raw potatoes grated on a box grater, not shredded; eggs, flour and some salt. She said the more eggs the better.
3 large potatoes, 3 or 4 eggs, salt to taste and enough flour to make a thick, sticky batter that will drop into boiling water in a lump rather than a ribbon when pushed off a tablespoon with your finger. Serves 4 to 6.
Cook on a slow boil until they rise to the top, start checking by cutting one or two in half for doneness. Drain well, toss in pan of onions sauteed in butter.
I’m so glad I found this website! I’m Slovak, born in Kosice but have lived in Canada for most of my life. My mom was the best cook and I miss her cooking so much. She’s still with us but 90 years old so doesn’t cook any more. Looking at all of these recipes is making me drool lol. I can’t wait to try some of them and see how similar they are to my moms. Going to try making the dumplings this weekend to go with my goulash. Thanks for all these wonderful recipes and bringing up wonderful memories of Slovakia.
Just found your great website! Want to make halushky correctly (egg or no egg?). Guess either way’s okay. Thanks so much!
Anyway, I’m not Slovak, but was a nun in Slovak Community, Oxford, MI (1954-1960). Sisters came to MI fr/ Windber, PA, area. Motherhouse cooks, Srs Rosalyn (now in her 90’s)& Rita (dec.), made all sorts of tasty Slovak dishes, including halushky. Mixed it w/ bits of fried pork, onions & fresh chopped cabbage, or kraut. Other treats (sp?): piroghy, haloopky, kolachy, nut torte &, f/ Xmas, sauerkraut-onion-mushroom soup.
As organist at Motherhouse (when in the Novitiate), I played Slovak Xmas carols (sp?): “Domesta Bethlema”, “Dnesny Den”, etc.. Also loved the Xmas traditions.
Lss: It’s all in the book I wrote about the entire 6 yr experience. Not available yet (& I’m not gettin’ any younger!), but techie son, Ben, says “soon”.
I’ve had the real Bryndza cheese Haluski in Slovakia. At the Russian Market, I found Bryndza cheese from Greece, which tasted similar although, as I’ve read elsewhere, is not true Bryndza. I’ve also used Feta, which tastes similar and more readily available. Today, I made Haluski with red potatoes, egg, and flour and mixed in sour cream with dry cottage cheese, I caramelized some onions and it was delicious. I’m glad there are different ways to prepare this which all turn out pretty good.
My Baba made halusky with desnse handmade square-cut egg noodles (cross between dumpling and a rolled-out thin noodle) , bacon and sauerkraut. No cheese, no potato. Boil noodles then add to bacon cooking in its fat, with sauerkraut. She left Slovakia at 16 and lived the rest of her life in Western Pennsylvania.
We had 2 types of Halusky, fried cabbage & onions with egg noddles, & fried cabbage & onions with small potato rumblings, forgot the garlic. I can still see my mom with a small plate of grated potato mix with flour & water, scooping them off one at a time into a pot of boiling water. I make Halusky myself but I use potato gnocchi instead taste the same & are great.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all.
We still celebrate Christmas Jan. 7 th.
I at a restaurant in Trnava and I ordered halušky. The English translation said they used cottage cheese, it came with bacon and was delicious. Anyone else used cottage cheese before?
I always make mine with cottage cheese. I like everything in it, bacon, eggs, cottage cheese and finely cut up sauted cabbage.
Halusky is the favorite family dish of my grandmother who came to the U.S. in 1903. We put bacon bits, onion, half & half, and butter. Some family members would add other things after it was on the plate like cottage cheese or sauerkraut. My grandmother has long since passed but grandchildren and great grandchildren carry on the tradition. I had the privilege to visit Slovakia in 1997. A memorable moment was to see two young men preparing it outside a department store. I believe they were using a potato flour.
I love making kokosky(Czech)/halušky . I use a food processor to grate the potatoes and a special kitchen gadget from Slovakia to press the dough info the water. It looks like a small light metal pan with holes just big enough to make nice size halušky. The pan has a 2 inch rim so it holds lot of dough. I use a spoon on circular motion to press the dough through sieve. I use various toppings mentioned here already but my favorite is all of them mixed in : eggs, bacon, finely cut up and sauted cabbage, and cottage cheese. This can be frozen as well. Before the gadget days I used a spoon instead of the fork.
All,
I use a food processor to mix the egg, potato, and onion Mix enough flour to make a stiff batter. The amount of flour is based on the wetness of the potato onion mixture.
The rest is the same.
Thanks
Slavaka,
Sounds like you are making German spaetzli not potato dumpling
I cannot believe I never saw this before. Your dad worked/owned the pivnica in Banska Bystrica? We lived there from 1994-1998 and must have gone to that resturant two or more times a week. We always orederd Haluski and often the lentil soup which was wonderful . I’m making haluski for Christmas Eve and my grown kids are ecstatic! They grew up on haluski.
Any tips on how to keep any leftover halusky from turning dark overnight in the fridge? We ate most of them at dinner but I had a small bowl left and put in an airtight tupperware in the refrigerator but they turned greyish overnight. They still tasted great but just curious if anyone has any tips.
I grew up on halusky. My mom would split the cooked halusky in half and do one half with saurkraut and the other half with cottage cheese. She also added fried bacon(and the fat) to both. Yum. We ate both, what I call peasant style. Two bowls in the middle of the table, fork or spoon in hand and dig in. Gone in 3 minutes. My mom could scrape the halusky into the water in no time at all and they would be all the same size. I make them now that she is gone. So heavy, but so good.
Thank you for posting this recipe. My mother made this dish often, serving it with fried cabbage or cottage cheese. I could never get her to write down the ingredients and when she passed away, her sisters could never agree among themselves as to how it was made.
I followed your recipe “to the letter” and it yielded the exact same potato dumpling I remember from my youth.
Because you care about your culture, my children will learn how to make this and will benefit from your generous contribution to Slavic heritage cooking.
I have always made this the way my Grandma and my mom used to make it. I fry bacon and cabbage together until the cabbage is tender and add this to the dumplings and then mix in some cheddar cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted.