National Dish Serbia: Sour Potatoes with Yeast Pancakes (Recipe)
In this article
Sour potatoes and freshly fried yeast flatbreads on one table: this is Danube Swabian cooking without meat. For Sour Potatoes with Yeast Pancakes, diced potatoes simmer in a light roux soured with vinegar. Eggs are poached in the sauce until the whites are set and the yolks still soft. The yeast pancakes come to the table straight from the hot fat.
About Sour Potatoes with Yeast Pancakes
Sour Potatoes with Yeast Pancakes, known locally as Saure Grumbiere, is a meatless main dish of the Danube Swabians from the area around Batsch (Bač). Grumbiere simply means potatoes. The diced potatoes cook in a roux that is given a tangy flavour with paprika, bay leaf and vinegar. A pinch of sugar softens the sharpness. Eggs are cracked into the hot sauce and left to cook gently like poached eggs. A spoonful of sour cream rounds everything off. The pancakes are not egg pancakes but flat rounds of yeast dough fried in fat, much like Serbian Uštipci. They are eaten for mopping up the sauce.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- For the sour potatoes: 400 g waxy potatoes
- 25 g butter or lard
- 25 g plain wheat flour (Type 405)
- 1 small onion
- 600 ml water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 2 to 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 fresh eggs (medium)
- 80 g sour cream (20 % fat)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- For the pancakes: 150 g wheat flour (Type 550)
- 3.5 g dried yeast (half a sachet) or 10 g fresh yeast
- 90 ml lukewarm milk
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt
- 300 ml sunflower oil or 200 g lard for frying
Shopping for the ingredients
For the potatoes, choose a waxy variety that holds its shape in the sauce. The eggs should be very fresh, as only then will the whites stay together during poaching. Plain white wine vinegar or spirit vinegar works better than an aromatic balsamic. For the yeast dough, Type 550 wheat flour is a good choice, as it gives lighter flatbreads than Type 405. The Danube Swabians used pork lard for frying; today sunflower oil is more common and neutral in flavour.
Preparing the dish
Start with the yeast dough, because it needs 45 minutes to rise. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the lukewarm milk. In the meantime, peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm cubes, and chop the onion finely. Crack each of the two eggs for the potatoes into a small cup, so they slide into the sauce later without breaking. For more pancakes, double the quantity of dough.
Step-by-step instructions
- Knead the flour, yeast milk, egg yolk and salt for 5 minutes into a soft, smooth dough, cover it and leave it to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes until it has visibly grown.
- Melt the butter in a pan, sweat the onion for 3 minutes until translucent, dust the flour over it and stir for 3 minutes until the roux is pale yellow, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the paprika.
- Pour in the cold water while stirring vigorously, add the potatoes, bay leaf, sugar, 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp vinegar, cover and simmer for 15 to 18 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces and, with oiled fingers, stretch each one into a flatbread of about 12 cm that is thinner in the middle than at the edge.
- Heat the oil about 1.5 cm deep in a deep frying pan to 170 °C and fry the flatbreads for 1 to 2 minutes on each side until golden brown, then drain them on kitchen paper.
- Use a spoon to press two hollows into the gently simmering potatoes, slide the eggs in, cover and poach them over low heat for 5 to 6 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat, mix the sour cream with 3 tbsp of the sauce and carefully fold it in beside the eggs.
- Season with vinegar, salt and pepper and serve the sour potatoes with one egg each and the warm pancakes.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
For a gluten-free version, thicken the potato sauce with 20 g rice flour and make the pancakes from a gluten-free flour blend for yeast dough with 1 tsp psyllium husk. The flatbreads will be a little denser. To make the dish lactose-free, use lard or oil instead of butter, lactose-free milk in the dough and lactose-free sour cream.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
The dish is vegetarian if you use butter rather than lard. For a vegan version, leave out the eggs and lay 150 g firm tofu in thick slices in the sauce instead, seasoned with a pinch of kala namak (black salt), which tastes of egg. Replace the sour cream with soya yoghurt, and use oat milk and 1 tbsp oil instead of the egg yolk in the dough.
More tips and tricks
Do not stir the potatoes once the eggs are in, or the whites will tear. The oil must not smoke: above 180 °C the pancakes turn dark outside and stay raw inside. Test with a small piece of dough, which should rise at once and bubble. The sour potatoes without egg keep for two days in the fridge. The pancakes are best fresh; the next day, crisp them up briefly in the oven at 180 °C.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
If you like it sharper, add an extra spoonful of vinegar; for a milder flavour, add more sour cream. A few diced gherkins in the sauce are a popular addition. Instead of poached eggs, sliced hard-boiled eggs work well, much as with eggs in mustard sauce. The pancakes can be eaten savoury or sprinkled with a little sugar.
Ingredient substitutions
Cider vinegar is a good alternative to white wine vinegar. The bay leaf can be replaced with two juniper berries or a pinch of marjoram. If you would rather not fry yeast pancakes, serve fresh white bread. Sour cream can be swapped for Schmand or crème fraîche. Instead of dried yeast, use 10 g fresh yeast.
Drink pairing ideas
A cold apple juice or a glass of buttermilk goes well with the sour potatoes. To balance the acidity, try a mild fruit tea or a malt coffee. An elderflower spritzer also brings a fresh note. Children enjoy a glass of milk with the warm pancakes.
Serving and presentation ideas
Ladle the sour potatoes into deep plates and set the egg on top, so the soft yolk runs into the sauce when you cut into it. A dollop of sour cream and a few chives add colour. Stack the golden brown pancakes on a board or in a cloth-lined basket in the middle of the table.
A bit of history
The Danube Swabians are descendants of German settlers who moved in the 18th century, under Habsburg rule, to the Bačka, the Banat and other areas along the middle Danube. Today most of the Bačka lies in Serbia’s Vojvodina, and Batsch is called Bač in Serbian. Most Danube Swabians in Yugoslavia were Catholic, and on meatless days dishes like this one came in handy. In the Batsch recipe collection the dish is also called Grumbierensuppe, so there it is rather soupy. Sour potatoes in a roux are known in similar forms in southern Germany and Austria. Yeast flatbreads fried in fat are common throughout the region: in Serbia they are known as Uštipci, in Hungary as Lángos.
More recipe ideas
Looking for more ideas? Discover more Serbian recipes.
Summary: Sour Potatoes with Yeast Pancakes
Sour Potatoes with Yeast Pancakes brings together tangy potatoes in a light roux with poached eggs and freshly fried yeast flatbreads. The yeast dough needs a head start, and the rest comes together in half an hour. Slide the eggs in carefully and do not let the fat get too hot. A meatless dish that is truly filling.
