Dödölle, ganca, gánica, cinke – all these names refer to one dish that is known and cooked throughout Hungary, a cheap peasant food that was eaten on a daily basis a long time ago. Dödölle means potato dumplings fried with onions in lard. The list of the ingredients is short: potatoes, flour, salt, onions and lard – that’s all you need to make dödölle.

Potatoes are covered with water and cooked until soft. The cooking liquid isn’t discarded, potatoes are mashed in it. Mashed potates are combined with flour and salt, and cooked until the mass thickens. The mixture should be stable, but yet sticky. Dumplings are usually shaped with two tablespoons, and fried along with sautéed onions; not separately as some recipes advise falsely. Dödölle can be served as a side dish of roasts, or as a main dish; in the latter case you can top the dumplings with dollops of sour cream and/or clumps of sheep’s milk cheese.