Upper Silesia, the industrial southwest of Poland around Katowice, has a cuisine of its own, and its Sunday dinner is famous: rolada, a rolled beef roulade, with red cabbage and kluski śląskie, smooth round dumplings of mashed potato and potato starch. Each one is pressed with a thumb to make a dimple in the middle, which Silesians will tell you exists to hold the gravy. It is a sound engineering principle.

The dough has a clever rule of thumb rather than a measured recipe: the mashed potato is pressed flat in a bowl, a quarter is removed, and the hole is filled with potato starch. We give weights as well, but the trick works anywhere. Our gravy is made with mushrooms so the dumplings can star on their own; they are also excellent beside any roast.

The dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) floury potatoes such as russets
• about 1 cup (160 g) potato starch
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon fine salt

The mushroom gravy

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45 g) butter
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 12 oz (340 g) cremini mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 cups (480 ml) vegetable or beef stock
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) sour cream
• to taste salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley or dill

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