Purim with Kapusta. Part 1

The Jewish holiday of Purim is upon us so I am going to share a few recipes from my new cookbook KAPUSTA, that weaves the story of Ashkenazi Jews. For starter with have the classic Ashkenazi dumplings, the kreplach! Their shape and very nature imbued with the symbolism of the story of Queen Esther and the evil Haman.

Kreplach are pasta dumplings, filled with meat or vegetables and boiled in a broth. They are the Ashkenazi relatives of other types of Eastern European dumplings like the Ukrainian varenyky or the Polish pierogi. It is very likely that kreplach came to Central and Eastern Europe via the Italian Jews who began to resettle from the Sephardic communities to Eastern Europe via Germany starting in the 14th century. Some sources even suggest that kreplach were the original forefathers of Eastern European dumplings. Served on many Jewish holidays, they are a staple during the festival of Purim; some say the dumplings symbolise the revelation of Esther’s Jewish identity, which helped save her people. Here I am offering the most universal vegetarian version, which can be easily made vegan or indeed with meat. As for the shape, you can come across a myriad. To me the classic kreplach is a triangle shape, reminiscent of Haman’s hat, but you can pinch the triangles’ edges to make them look very similar to Italian tortellini to enhance their ancestral connection or opt for the half-moon shapes of their Ukrainian and Polish siblings.

Serves 4-6

For the simple soup

1 onion, peeled and diced 

1 large carrot, peeled and grated 

1/2 fennel, diced 

2 celery sticks, thinly sliced  

3-4 garlic cloves, minced  

1 tbsp mixed herbs

1/4 tsp turmeric 

1l water 

20g of fresh dill and parsley, finely chopped  

For the dumplings dough 

300g flour

2 tsp dried dill

1 tsp salt

3 eggs 

80g water 

For the dumplings filling 

1 large potato (around 100g), peeled and cubed 

1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced  

200g mushrooms, finely diced 

20g butter 

Let’s start with the soup. In a large pot, heat up some oil and fry all the vegetables, apart from the garlic, with a generous pinch of salt for 20 minutes, or until softened and slightly caramelised.

Add the garlic, the dry herbs and the turmeric, and cook for another 2 minutes. 

Pour in the water, with a generous pinch of salt, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. When the time is up, add the fresh herbs and take off the heat. Let the flavours infuse while you finish the rest.    

While the soup is simmering, you can prepare the dumplings.

To make the dough, mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. In a separate bowl beat the eggs with water and pour into the bowl of dry ingredients. Start my mixing with the fork, then gradually work with your hands. Knead the dough for 2 minutes, cover with cling film, and let it rest in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Place the potato into a pot with salted water and cook until soft.

Fry the onion in a little oil and some salt for 15 minutes or until caramelised.

Tip into a bowl. Add a little more oil to the same pan and fry the mushrooms for 10 minutes. Tip into the same bowl.

When the potato is ready, mash it with the butter using a fork (I used a dinner plate for this). Then add the mashed potato to the bowl with the onion and mushrooms, and mix well.  It might seem like very little, but this is exactly how much you’ll need for the filling.

Now the dough is ready.

Dust a clean surface with some flour and work the dough for a few minutes to wake it up.

Next, roll it out into a large rectangle. We are aiming for as thin a sheet as you possibly can produce.

Trim off the edges to make an even rectangle (reserve the dough in the cling film), then cut the rectangle into even squares. You will probably get 4 vertically and 7-8 horizontally. 

Have two lightly damp kitchen towels ready. Cover the squares with one, and reserve the other for finished dumplings. 

To shape the dumplings, pick up each square, fill it with a shy tsp of the filling and fold it into a triangle shape, pinching all edges closed. Place under the other towel, while you finish the rest. 

Bring a pot of water to boil (you can use the same where you cooked the potato), and boil the dumplings for 5 minutes. 

To serve, place around 6 dumplings into a soup bowl and top with a ladle of broth. Season with black pepper and tuck in while everything is steaming hot!