Kalduny (Belarusian Meat-Filled Potato Dumplings)
Local name: Калдуны
In short: Oval potato dumplings stuffed with seasoned pork and onion, boiled until firm and served with crisp bacon, fried onion and sour cream. It takes about 1 h 50 min in total and makes 6 servings.
- Prep
- 1 h
- Cook
- 50 min
- Total
- 1 h 50 min
- Servings
- 6
- Difficulty
- Challenging
- Calories
- 490 kcal
Kalduny are potato dumplings with a savory meat center, a Sunday and holiday dish across Belarus. The dough is a mix of raw grated and mashed potato, which makes it chewy and sturdy enough to boil without falling apart. Inside sits a juicy filling of pork and onion. At the table they arrive topped with crisp bacon, onion and a spoonful of sour cream.
Instructions
- Cook the chopped filling onion in the oil for 5 minutes until soft. Cool slightly, then mix with the pork, garlic, water, salt and pepper until sticky. Chill until needed.
- Boil the 300 g of potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes until soft. Drain, mash until smooth and cool completely.
- Finely grate the 700 g of raw potatoes and squeeze them hard in a towel over a bowl to remove as much liquid as you can. Let the liquid stand for 2 minutes, then pour it off and keep the white starch from the bottom.
- Mix the squeezed potato, mashed potato, settled starch, potato starch and salt into a soft dough. With wet hands, divide it into 18 portions.
- Flatten each portion into a round in your palm, put a spoonful of filling in the center and close the dough around it into a smooth oval with no cracks.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Cook the dumplings in 2 batches for about 25 minutes each, until they float and feel firm and the filling reaches 71°C (160°F).
- Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a dry pan until crisp, then add the onion and cook until golden.
- Drain the dumplings and serve them topped with the bacon and onion and spoonfuls of sour cream.
Tips
- Dumplings that fall apart usually had too much liquid in the dough. Squeeze the raw potato very hard and test one dumpling in the water first.
- To bake instead, put boiled dumplings in a buttered dish, cover with fried mushrooms and sour cream and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes.
Questions and answers
Can I freeze kalduny?
Yes. Freeze the shaped raw dumplings on a tray, then bag them for up to 2 months. Drop them into boiling water from frozen and add about 10 minutes.
Are kalduny the same as Lithuanian cepelinai?
Both are potato dumplings with a meat filling, made in a similar way. In Belarus kalduny are usually served with sour cream and bacon, or baked in a pot with mushrooms.
Can I use another filling instead of pork?
Ground beef or a beef and pork mix works well. For a vegetarian version, fill them with fried mushrooms and onion.
How long does it take to make Kalduny (Belarusian Meat-Filled Potato Dumplings)?
About 1 h 50 min in total: 1 h of preparation and 50 min of cooking.
How many calories are in Kalduny (Belarusian Meat-Filled Potato Dumplings)?
About 490 kcal per serving, with 18 g of protein, 36 g of carbohydrates and 30 g of fat. These values are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 490 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 18 g |
| Carbohydrates | 36 g |
| Fat | 30 g |
| Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 3 g |
| Sodium | 870 mg |
Estimated values, calculated from the ingredients.
