Gomboți (Romanian plum dumplings)

Ingredients

For boiling the potatoes

• 2000 ml water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cinnamon sticks

For the filling

• 1 kg plums
• 4 tablespoons sugar

For the dough

• 1 kg potatoes
• 2 eggs
• 30 ml oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 350 g flour
• 16 g flour for adjustment

For the breadcrumbs

• 50 g butter
• 300 g breadcrumbs
• 250 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For boiling the dumplings

• 3500 ml water
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes and boil them for 20 minutes in 2000 ml water with 1 teaspoon salt and 3 cinnamon sticks, until a fork slides into them easily. Drain them and leave to cool for 20 minutes. 2. Wash the plums and carefully remove the stones without separating the halves completely. Toss them with 4 tablespoons sugar and set aside. 3. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and toast for 5 minutes, stirring continuously, until they turn a deep golden colour. Stir in the sugar and ground cinnamon, then take the pan off the heat and keep stirring. Leave the breadcrumbs to cool for 10 minutes. 4. Mash the cooled potatoes as you would for mashed potatoes. Add the eggs, oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and flour, then knead until you have a fairly firm, slightly sticky dough. If it is too soft, work in up to 16 g more flour. Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes. 5. Tear off pieces of dough, flatten them and place a plum in the middle of each. Bring the dough up around each plum, covering the fruit completely. 6. Bring 3500 ml water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil. Boil the dumplings in 4 batches for 5 minutes each, timing from when they rise to the surface; leave space between them so they do not stick together. 7. Remove the dumplings and immediately roll them in the prepared breadcrumbs.