Making Kifeli
Baba’s Kifeli
Every time my mother would make njoki (gnocchi in proper Italian), we were hoping that she would save some of the potatoes and would make us Kifeli. (Sounds like ki-fell-ee) These kifeli are still the ultimate combination of both fried and sweet. So when my cousin called to ask for a recipe, and since baking and cooking at home is once again popular, I decided to share it with everyone!
Photos from Martina Parenzan
One of the few treats that were readily available — we would watch while a big bowl of these were being prepared by our mother. We would sit by the fire and wait until it was time to grab as many as we could! Kifeli, or “kifili” as you might see them on the internet are made in many different ways. They are made all around the Balkans, Austria, and in Italy. Ours were always made with potatoes but if you look at the many recipes you’ll see many of them do not use potatoes. It seems the unifying part of what makes something into kifeli is the shape which is usually like a crescent.
You can make them any shape you want, of course. That’s the beauty of our traditional cooking -- there is lots of space to improvise, but if you want someone to recognize them as kifeli make them into these crescents, like a moon.
This recipe is from our house to yours, with a couple of small changes or maybe you could call them “upgrades.” Back when we were tending our olives all we had was olive oil and almost no butter. Now, we have butter and it does make them a little bit softer. Both ways are delicious.
Kifeli in our house are made from riced potatoes, sugar, eggs, zest of a lemon, baking powder and flour.
1) Assemble your ingredients:
2 lb of potatoes – Idaho are best
5 TBS sugar
2 Large eggs
Zest of one lemon
Vanilla extract - optional
5 TBS butter
1 TBS baking powder
1 and 1/2 cup of flour – can vary depending on potatoes used
If you have your own eggs and lemons that’s the best. Otherwise get the best quality you can find.
2) Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water. While still warm, rice them to make sure there are no lumps.
3) Add the sugar, eggs softened butter lemon zest and/or vanilla and mix well until sugar has disolved.
4) Add flour and baking powder until you have a dough that is manageable and it does not stick to the board.
5) Take small portion of the dough, and roll it to create a rope about ¾ to 1” thickness, depending on preference.
6) Cut into about 6 inches long pieces and form a horseshoe shape. You can also attach the ends to make circles. Fry in moderately heated vegetable oil. Sprinkle with plain or cinnamon sugar. You can serve them with a little jelly on the side to dip into or drizzle a little honey over them. Use your imagination!
Main Course Kifeli:
Kifeli can be modified to make them as a part of the main course. Just omit the sugar, lemon, and vanilla and add pepper and other preferred ingredients like parsley, garlic etc. and fry in olive oil or bake in the oven on a buttered baking sheet or parchment paper. Serve warm in both cases!
