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Kumla Norwegian dumplings

Kumla Norwegian Dumplings Recipe

This Norwegian kumla recipe is made with potatoes stuffed with salt pork and ham, cooked in a flavorful broth and served with mounds of butter.

Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Norway, Norwegian, Sweden
Keyword comla, dumplings, ham, klubb, komle, kompe, krub, kumla, potato dumpling, potet ball, raspeballer, salt pork
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • Water for a 6-quart Dutch oven and for potatoes
  • 3 pound ham (I used this to flavor the water and diced some to add for dumpling filling)
  • 1 pound salt pork diced
  • 4 pounds russet potatoes
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • butter (lots of butter for serving)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped green onions for garnish (not traditional so this ingredient is optional)

Instructions

  1. Prepare Water

    Place ham in Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer for approximately one-hour or while preparing the kumla.

  2. Process Potatoes

    Peel and grate potatoes to make a paste. Or to save time, peel and shred potatoes with this Breville food processor using the smaller shredder. Place shredded potatoes in a pan of cold water until all potatoes have been shredded. Then once all potatoes have been shredded place them in a strainer to remove excess water. Now, using the processing blade place half of the shredded potatoes back into the food processor and blend on high until semi smooth making a potato paste. Then pour blended potatoes in a large bowl and continue to process the rest of the potatoes. Gradually add flour to make a potato dough and stir until well combined.

  3. Make Kumla Dumplings

    With wet hands, take a handful of the potato dough and make a divot. Add diced salt pork and/or ham into divot and carefully fold the dough over to make a ball, the potato dumpling.

  4. Boil Dumplings

    Using a slotted wooden spoon, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and gently place the potato dumpling into the hot water with the ham. TIP: It’s best to keep the dumpling and the spoon in the water until you are ready to add the next dumpling. This actually keeps the dumplings from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue to make potato dumplings as noted above. Once all dumplings are made and in the pot of hot water turn heat to medium, slightly cover with a lid, and continue cooking for one-hour. If there is any remaining salt pork just throw it into the water too. If there is not enough room for all the kumla dumplings it’s okay to remove the ham and set aside. Go ahead and slice the ham to serve with the cooked kumla.

  5. Serve Kumla

    Carefully remove kumla with the slotted spoon. Initially serve 2 dumplings per person and leave the remainder in the hot pot until ready for seconds. Serve with cold butter, sliced ham and salt and pepper to taste. Some people serve with sour cream and garnish with chopped green onion if desired. I just added the green onion for garnish to add a little bit of color.