Oma’s Pumble and Knockle (Hungarian Paprika Potatoes with Bread and Nokedli)


Date Published: March 19th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 19th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: mains, easy, vegetarian
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 25 mins

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Years ago when I first started cooking, I asked my friend Alex what his favourite dish was. He said it was a traditional Hungarian dish that his Oma (grandmother) would often make for him called “Pumble and Knockle” (we’re not sure if this is actually how the name of the dish is spelt, but it was his closest guess). I asked him to get the recipe for me to expand my cooking repertoire, but like typical old school grandmas she doesn’t measure what she puts in the dish and does it all by feel. He eventually took some photos and notes of her making it and this is my attempt at deciphering her recipe. Some of the amounts aren’t exact so I had to guesstimate a little. I’ve never actually had this dish from her before and I have no idea how close I am to the real thing, but I must admit its pretty damn tasty.

This may not be the most mind-blowing dish you’ve ever had, but its humble, down to earth, and made with basic cheap ingredients that make it satisfying and filling. This pumble and knockle is made up of caramelized onions, paprika potatoes, simple nokedli (noodles), and buttery bread. The simple flavours make you just want to keep eating and eating.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Nokedli:
    • 1 egg
    • 1/4 tsp salt
    • 1/3 cup (80ml) water
    • ~1 cup (~150g) all-purpose flour (you may not need the whole cup)
  • 1 Tbsp + 50g of salted butter
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly into rectangles 2mm thick
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 slices of white bread, cut into 2cm squares

Directions:

Make the nokedli (noodles) dough: combine egg, salt and water in a bowl. Whisk until combined, then gradually add in the flour until you get a thick sticky dough (you may not need the whole cup of flour). Set aside.

For more comprehensive step-by-step instructions, follow the nokedli instructions here.

In a large pan or wok on MED-HIGH heat, sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon of butter until it starts to turn translucent (~5mins). Then add in the sliced potatoes, paprika and salt. Continue cooking until the potatoes are cooked and the onion is caramelized (~15mins). When finished cooking, remove from the pan and set aside.

While the onion and potatoes are cooking, cook the nokedli by bringing a small pot of water to a boil and tear off 2cm pieces of the nokedli dough and drop it into the boiling water or use a spoon to drop the dough into the water to make it less messey. The dough will be ready when it floats to the top. Taste to see if they’re cooked (3-5 mins). Once they’re ready, remove them from the pot and strain them. Set aside.

In a pan (you can use the same pan as before, just give it a quick wipe-down) on medium heat, melt the butter and add the bread pieces to it. Stir for a few minutes until the bread soaks up the butter and becomes lightly toasted. Then add in the cooked nokedli and cooked potato/onion mixture. Mix it all together and cook for another few minutes until everything is warmed through. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve!

Original photos of Oma making Pumble and Knockle: an homage

Summarized Recipe:

Oma’s Pumble and Knockle (Hungarian Paprika Potatoes with Bread and Nokedli)

Date Published: March 19th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 19th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: mains, easy, vegetarian
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

  • Nokedli:
    • 1 egg
    • 1/4 tsp salt
    • 1/3 cup (80ml) water
    • ~1 cup (~150g) all-purpose flour (you may not need the whole cup)
  • 1 Tbsp + 50g of salted butter
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly into rectangles 2mm thick
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 slices of white bread, cut into 2cm squares

Directions:

  1. Make the nokedli (noodles) dough: combine egg, salt and water in a bowl. Whisk until combined, then gradually add in the flour until you get a thick sticky dough (you may not need the whole cup of flour). Set aside.
  2. In a large pan or wok on MED-HIGH heat, sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon of butter until it starts to turn translucent (~5mins). Then add in the sliced potatoes, paprika and salt. Continue cooking until the potatoes are cooked and the onion is caramelized (~15mins). When finished cooking, remove from the pan and set aside.
  3. In a pan (you can use the same pan as before, just give it a quick wipe-down) on medium heat, melt the butter and add the bread pieces to it. Stir for a few minutes until the bread soaks up the butter and becomes lightly toasted. Then add in the cooked nokedli and cooked potato/onion mixture. Mix it all together and cook for another few minutes until everything is warmed through. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve!

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Nokedli (Hungarian ‘Dumplings’)


Date Published: March 19th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 19th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: basics, easy, < 30mins, sides
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 5 mins

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Get ready to make the quickest and easiest “pasta” you’ve ever made. Nokedli is a Hungarian “dumpling” which I can best describe as a gnocchi but slightly squishier and fluffy. It’s made with only 4 ingredients and takes 15 minutes to whip up and a few minutes to cook. It’s so easy and versatile, you may never want to buy pasta again. They may not be the most beautiful, but you just can’t beat the texture of a fresh pasta at such minimal effort. You can make them as big or as small as you like. It’s fantastic sautéed in a dish or tossed in something saucy to soak up the flavour. My new favourite way to have it is mixed in a rich creamy mushroom sauce. This recipe makes 2 servings but if you’re tossing it in a dish with lots of other ingredients such as meat or veggies, it will easily bulk it up to 4 portions.

As an Asian person, the term “dumpling” has always been known to me as pockets of meat wrapped in a thin dough so it confused me greatly when I learned that the European definition of “dumpling” is generally an overarching term for a dough without any filling. European dumplings can vary greatly in ingredients and textures and can be vastly different between different regions and countries. I was actually low-key disappointed when Toby first told me he was going to make Czech dumplings and it ended up being a bread dough 😂. I still find it weird to use the term ‘dumpling’ for anything else but Asian-style dumplings but I’m sure I’ll adjust.

I first came across the idea of making nokedli through my friend’s oma’s recipe for Pumble and Knockle which is a simple hearty Hungarian dish of paprika potatoes cooked in buttery bread. She made hers without any egg which I thought was a bit dense so I went hunting for more traditional nokedli recipes and put this one together (food.com and venturists.net had a couple good ones that I based this one off of).

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup (80ml) water
  • ~1 cup (~150g) all-purpose flour (you may not need the whole cup)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl beat together the egg, salt and 1/3 cup water.

Add in the flour gradually to the bowl, mixing with a fork, until you get a thick sticky dough – it should be roughly thicker than cake batter (you may not need to use the entire cup of flour). Set aside to rest for 10 mins.

While the dough is resting, boil a medium pot of water with 1-2 teaspoons of salt. When the dough has rested, mix it around one more time and drop half a teaspoon of dough into the boiling water at a time. (Tip: lower the spoon into the boiling water for the dough to release from the spoon). When the dough floats to the top, it’s ready (2-3 minutes). Strain and ready to use!

Note: you may want to cook your nokedli in batches to not overcook them or get someone to help you spoon the dough into the pot so they all go into the pot faster.

If you’re not using them right away, rinse them in cold water to prevent them from sticking together. Otherwise if you’re serving it in a sauce, you can add them directly in the finished sauce and serve.

Nokedli served in Pumble and Knockle (Hungarian paprika potatoes with buttery bread)
Nokedli tossed in a creamy mushroom sauce 🙂 mmmm

Summarized Recipe:

Nokedli (Hungarian ‘Dumplings’)

Date Published: March 19th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 19th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: basics, easy, < 30mins, sides
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup (80ml) water
  • ~1 cup (~150g) all-purpose flour (you may not need the whole cup)

Directions:

  1. In a mixing bowl beat together the egg, salt and 1/3 cup water.
  2. Add in the flour gradually to the bowl, mixing with a fork, until you get a thick sticky dough – it should be roughly thicker than cake batter (you may not need to use the entire cup of flour). Set aside to rest for 10 mins.
  3. While the dough is resting, boil a medium pot of water with 1-2 teaspoons of salt. When the dough has rested, mix it around one more time and drop half a teaspoon of dough into the boiling water at a time. (Tip: lower the spoon into the boiling water for the dough to release from the spoon). When the dough floats to the top, it’s ready (2-3 minutes). Strain and ready to use!
    • Note: you may want to cook your nokedli in batches to not overcook them or get someone to help you spoon the dough into the pot so they all go into the pot faster.
    • If you’re not using them right away, rinse them in cold water to prevent them from sticking together. Otherwise if you’re serving it in a sauce, you can add them directly in the finished sauce and serve.

Abby2 Comments