Supă cu Găluşte: Chicken Soup with Semolina Dumplings
This is something you will regularly find in every Romanian home – good old chicken soup with semolina dumplings. It is served as a first course and it’s a favorite among kids.
For the chicken stock, you can use a whole chicken or pretty much any part of it, though it always tastes better when using the whole. If you don’t fancy making such a huge quantity of stock, you can cut down on the ingredients listed below and make a smaller batches.
Enjoy this traditional recipe for Supă cu Găluşte.
Supă cu Găluşte: Chicken Soup with Semolina Dumplings
This is a tasty traditional Romanian soup that is a favorite among kids.
Ingredients
For the chicken broth – Makes about 2-3 liters ( about 2- 3 quarts) after reducing:
- 1 whole chicken
- 300 gr celery root
- 100 gr parsley roots (or parsnip)
- 2 carrots
- salt
For the dumplings – Makes about 16 dumplings:
- 2 eggs
- 7-8 tablespoons semolina flour
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- a couple of pinches of salt
For garnish:
- salt and pepper
- parsley
Instructions
How to Make the Chicken Broth:
- Wash the chicken inside and out and put it, whole, into a deep stock pot and cover with water, probably about 4-5 liters (4 -5 quarts). Put the pot on a low heat.
- Peel and roughly chop the celery, parsley root, and carrots and add to the broth along with two teaspoons of salt. Leave in on a low heat until the broth starts to simmer. The theory is that if you bring it rapidly to the boil, you won’t end up with a nice clear broth.
- Skim the top of the broth with a slotted spoon to remove the froth and scum that rises. Do this regularly until it produces no more froth (maybe an hour) and then wipe any scum off the inside edge of the pot with a damp piece of kitchen roll.
- Once it has finished producing scum, pop the lid on to stop it reducing too much and leave for about another two hours.
- When it is finished, strain the soup through a fine sieve into a clean pot.
Notes:
- For the chicken dumpling soup we only need the broth, so you can use the chicken meat and the cooked vegetables for a delicious Romanian boeuf salad (replacing the beef with chicken).
- If you make this broth using a whole chicken, you should end up with about 2-3 liters of liquid. For the dumpling soup, you might only want half of that (depending how many you’re cooking for) so any leftover broth can be reserved for a couple of days in the fridge to be used as stock for other recipes.
How to Make the Dumplings:
- Beat the eggs in a bowl with the oil and the salt.
- Sprinkle in the semolina flour one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly, until you reach the desired consistency. After adding each tablespoon, drag a fork through the mixture: it’s good to go when the fork marks remain visible. If they are too soft, and the dumplings will fall apart when added to the soup, too thick, and they’ll end up like cannonballs. It should be thicker than pancake batter, but not quite as thick as a dough. Leave to sit for 30 minutes.
- Put the broth on a low heat – don’t allow it to boil or it’ll break the dumplings up when you add them.
- Once the broth is up to temperature (hot, but not boiling), you can start to make the dumplings.
- Put a teaspoon into the hot broth for a few seconds to moisten it and make it hot, then take a spoonful of the dumpling mixture and lower it into the broth (don’t drop it from a height), allowing it to slide off. Repeat this until you have used up all the dumpling mixture.
- Put the lid on the pot and leave it on a low heat for another 5-10 minutes until the dumplings are cooked through and have expanded (they’ll double in size).
- Taste and adjust the seasoning, give it a twist of pepper, and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
Notes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Related: Most Popular Romanian Soups
Related: Ciorba de Perisoare (Romanian Meatball Soup)
Related: Ciorba Radauteana (Romanian Sour Chicken Soup)
Related: Homemade Chicken Stock
Related: Famous Romanian Foods
Related: Borș Moldovenesc (Sour Moldavian Soup)
