Hungarian Langos

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• ⅛ liter milk
• 1 tsp powdered sugar or granulated sugar
• 40 g yeast, fresh
• 2 eggs
• ½ kg potatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 kg flour
• 5 cloves garlic
• ⅛ liter of oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 45 minutes

Boil, peel, and mash the potatoes (do not mash them, but mash them with a fork or masher!). Prepare the Dampfl (dough balls): Crumble the yeast into lukewarm, lightly sweetened milk, stir, and let it rise. Prepare the garlic oil: Press 5-7 (or more) garlic cloves into good vegetable oil with a press and let it steep. Mix the potatoes, Dampfl (dough balls), eggs, and salt with a wooden spoon. Gradually add the flour (about equal parts smooth and strong flour; all-purpose flour will also work). If the dough becomes too thick to stir, put the spoon down and use your hands! (You should put in the effort; it’s worth it!) Continue adding flour until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours. Then divide it into fist-sized balls, dust them with flour, and let it rise a little longer. Then, by hand (the dough should now almost melt on its own), shape them into pizza-like, flat, round patties. Fry the flatbreads on both sides in a non-stick (!), quite hot pan in very little (!) oil (no more than a tablespoon). Keep the langos warm in the oven until they are all done. IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Langos was originally bread dough stretched with potatoes to keep it moist longer. Langos (pronounced: langosh) is a main dish, but you can also serve it with meat in its juices (like goulash). The dough tolerates a lot of salt. Yeast dough should be worked, beaten, and punched with anger in your stomach. The entire preparation should be done in a warm environment. The ratio of potatoes to flour should be no more than 1:1, otherwise the whole thing will taste like potato pancakes (accordingly, the flour quantity is only a guideline). The flatbreads can be very thin before frying (so you can almost see through them) or a bit thicker (a matter of taste). It is best to prepare the garlic oil the day before. Brush the langos with garlic oil (and pieces of garlic) before eating, and perhaps add salt. Add beer, wine, or cola (if you must). It’s also possible without garlic, but it’s a bit of a stylistic slur.