Norwegian Potato-Ham Dumplings (Kumla, Kumle)

Joe's Norwegian ancestors came from the Bergen area of Norway in the 1800s. As they moved across the U.S. to establish the town of Roland, Iowa, they kept their heritage fairly intact. Today that whole area is settled with very tall fair complected people, and the name "Duea" is often seen in the town records.

My first Christmas with the family, I was introduced to these hearty, dense potato dumplings in ham broth. I think you might remember that ham and potatoes are two of my most favorite foods ever. The next day my future sister-in-law Chris sliced them and fried them in butter for breakfast. Yes, I love butter so much. It was love at first bite with kumla, obviously.

Thankfully, his family is not big on lutefisk, a powerfully-flavored dish of cod preserved in lye. I understand this is a meal for the strong-hearted and the brave, and I'm glad they didn't want to test my courage before allowing me into the family.

So back to kumla (KOOM-lah). I have since learned that people also call these potato balls klimpor, klubb, kompe, kumpe, potetball and raspeball - I guess these must be regional differences. Clearly this is not lean and light food, but it's a big satisfying meal in your belly during a midwestern winter, when the wind can tear across an entire state without hitting much that would slow it down.

On old farms, here and in snowy Scandinavia, settlers would often tie ropes from the house to the barn so that they wouldn't get lost in a blizzard while tending the animals a couple times a day. For weather like that, you need food that will fortify you.

If you make this for a holiday meal, I'd suggest a good snowball fight or a long walk in the woods to work it off afterwards. For me, food like this makes me appreciate the exuberance of a people who find winter life-affirming with the joy of an ample meal and a warm home filled with family and friends. I truly felt this warmth a few Christmases ago when Joe's brother Alan and sister Carolyn finally shared their family recipe with me. It's their wonderfully talented hands that are cooking in these photos.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I hardly ever cook without listening to music. When I was making this recipe last time, and writing it yesterday, I was listening to the movie soundtrack "We Bought a Zoo" on Spotify. The music is from Scandinavian singer Jonsi, frontman for the group Sigur Ros. It's wonderfully upbeat.

Ingredients

1 4-5 pound ham
10-12 cups water
5 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
About 4 cups white flour (some people use a mix of white, whole wheat, ground oatmeal, and/or rye flour)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp butter, melted

Instructions

Place the ham in a large stock pot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer into a rich broth, about 1 1/2- 2 hours. Remove the meat, slice it, cover it, and refrigerate until just about to serve.

Shred the raw potatoes by hand, or grind them in a food processor until crumbly. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the potatoes, flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder. The dough should be thick like bread dough, but still sticky.

Bring the remaining ham stock to a boil. Scoop out dough about the size of an egg or a plum, form it into a 2-inch ball, and drop it into the boiling stock. If you'd like, you can press a bit of the ham into the center of each dumpling.  Stir the broth often while dropping in the dumplings, so that they don't stick to each other or the bottom of the pot.

When all the dumplings are in the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 1 hour, then remove from the broth. Pile them on a platter, drizzle them with the melted butter, and serve with the hot ham on the side.

Makes 25-35 dumplings.

Hungry for more? Find more of these great recipes at Sons of Norway.