Romanian Plum Dumplings (Galuste cu Prune)
Plum dumplings is a beloved Romanian dish from the region of Transylvania. This dish was traditionally made to celebrate the arrival of autumn: tangy, juicy plums encased in a light potato dumpling and rolled in crunchy breadcrumbs. Who can say this is not a glorious treat?
There are several recipes for these plum dumplings, some sweeter than others. The recipe below is not as sweet as others, but if you like them sweeter you can either add sugar or pair them with your favorite (sweet) jam. They can also be enjoyed with a drizzle of cream, sour cream or Greek yogurt on top.
I’ve eaten plum dumplings many times, but I’ve never had any that were better than my mom’s ❤ The dumplings she makes have a secret ingredient that I’m ready to reveal now, with my mom’s permission, of course, and because I want you all to experience the best plum dumplings you’ll ever eat.
The secret ingredient is wheat grits. Not only does it bind the ingredients together, but it makes the dumplings extremely fluffy, and they simply melt in your mouth.
For perfect dumplings, make sure:
- The plums you use are fresh, pulpy and ripe. The riper the plums, the sweeter the inside of the dumplings.
- To shape the dumplings, use only a small amount of flour to coat your hands. Excess flour can alter the consistency of the dumplings.
- Boil the dumplings one at a time in a large amount of water. Too little water will cause the dumplings to stick together or even to the bottom of the pot. We don’t want that 🙂
- Heat the butter over low to medium heat. Butter burns easily and gets a bitter taste, so we’ll avoid that. Also, brown the breadcrumbs over medium heat and add the sugar only after the breadcrumbs are brown to avoid caramelization.
Use a skimmer to drain excess water and transfer the dumplings into the breadcrumbs.
Plum Dumplings
Ingredients
For the dumplings:
- 500 g white potatoes boiled in salted water potatoes are weighed boiled and peeled
- 2 large eggs
- 30 ml sunflower oil
- 50 g wheat grits (semolina)
- 1 tsp salt
- 325 g white flour
- 20-25 small pitted plums if you have large plums, use only half a plum per dumpling
For the assembly:
- 50 g butter
- 100 g breadcrumbs
- 100 g sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes with skin in salted water.
- Allow the boiled potatoes to cool completely, then peel and grate them on the side of the grater intended for fine grating.
- Add the eggs, salt and oil and mix the ingredients with a spoon.
- Add the solid ingredients (flour and semolina) and knead the dough by hand. The dough will be sticky and you will be tempted to add flour. Don’t! 😊
- Take a ball of dough, flatten it in your palms and place a pitted plum in the middle. If the plum is large, put only half a plum. Shape the dumplings with your hands and place them on a floured surface.
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil. When the water starts to boil, add two teaspoons of salt and the plum dumplings. Boil the dumplings in two or three batches. Avoid putting in too many dumplings at once so they don’t stick together. Boil the dumplings for 12 minutes.
- While the dumplings are boiling, melt butter in a pan, add the breadcrumbs and let them brown. Finally add sugar and cinnamon.
- Take the dumplings out of the water with a skimmer and put them over the breadcrumbs.
- Coat them with breadcrumbs all over.
- Serve the dumplings hot! I must warn you though, they are also delicious when cold 🙂
Notes
