[Russian] Olga's Haluski (halushki/helushki)

No baking on this one, but a really good Russian version of dumplings. This recipe includes all the stuff we serve it with; potatoes, kielbasa, onions. It's very simple, tastes really good, is very filling, and cheap. Russian poverty food, with some meat added.

Ingredients:

• Heluski


• 4 Cups AP flour
• 1.25 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon oil


• 3 medium potatoes
• Vinegar (serve with food)
• 1-2 pounds of kielbasa/sausage
• 3 medium onions
  • 1 stick of butter

Onions:
First, we need to cook the onions down, since this takes longer than the other steps. Peel and slice 3 medium onions into rings. Put in a pan, add one stick butter, cover, and cook on medium until clarified. Once this occurs, turn it to medium-high (not high but close to it) and let them fry and caramellize. You want to fry the onions. Once you get them nice and brown, turn to low. Yes, there will be an oil slick of butter; that's fine

Meat:
In another pan, cook kielbasa or a sausage. Cut into whatever size you desire (4-5 inch-long pieces work best). Cook and brown to taste, and once cooked set on low. This step can be done at the same time as the boiling, but doing it ahead of time will make it easier if you're not a whiz in the kitchen.


Haluski:
To make the Haluski itself, mix all 4 ingredients together and knead on a floured board. When I did it, it initially was very dry, but as it was kneaded it came together and absorbed all the flour. The consistency when done was not sticky, and texture was almost plasticine. Now, take a hunk of the dough and roll it with your hand into what looks like a snake - a round, long strip of dough about 1 inch thick. Once you have that, take a butter knife or regular non-sharp knife and cut off slices about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. It will deform as you do it; that's fine. The end result looks like this:

Potatoes:
Peel 2-3 Medium potatoes. Add to pot of water, with about 2tbl salt, and boil until about mostly done. At this point, add haluski, all at once (yes, this'll drop the temperature) and boil approximately 4-5 minutes. The haluski will float to the top when done; you can either fish out the potatoes & haluski, or drain.

Serving:
Get a large serving bowl. Pour the haluski and potatoes into it, pour the onions & butter over them, then take the sausage and place it on top.

Eating:
In our family, we use a serving spoon to grab mass quantities of potatoes/heluski, and a piece or two of kielbasa. Pour a splash of vinegar over the potatoes/onions/heluski - even my wife the Southerner agrees on that. Eat.