Ingredients
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300 g Flour
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300 ml Milk
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1 pcs Egg
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5 g dry yeast
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500 ml Sunflower Oil
Directions
Uštipci is a very popular dish in Serbian cuisine, especially in Vojvodina, in the northern part of Serbia. These are small balls of dough, shaped like a doughnut and fried in oil. Uštipci is so beloved that it can be served sweet or savoury, with or without sides, as an appetizer or a dessert. Sometimes it can even be the main course.
Very often you will find it served as an appetizer with cheese and cream. Uštipci is also popular as a treat, served with icing sugar sprinkled on top or with jam.
Besides Serbia, this dish is also known in other Balkan cuisines. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is sometimes referred to as peksimeti or locum. It is very similar to fritule in Croatia, but unlike uštipci, they are sweet and served as a dessert innhold. They are also popular in Macedonian, Montenegrin and Slovenian cuisine where it is better known as miške.
Uštipci Origin
The origin of uštipci is not well documented. In different countries, there are different types of fried doughs, more or less similar to uštipci. Let’s mention oliebollen from the Netherlands, zeppole from Italy, beignets from France and krapfen from Austria. Even Yoitao from Japan and Mexican churros are very similar.
According to one theory, uštipci originates from Dalmatian Zagora in Croatia. They were made here as a native version of the zeppole and from there spread throughout the Balkans.
The word itself comes from the verb uštinuti, which can be translated as nip, tweak or pinch. In fact, the dough it is made of is very similar to bread dough, just a bit diluted. It is assumed that small pieces of this dough were nipped and fried in oil, hence the name.
As is the case with many traditional dishes, and for uštipci there are countless variations of recipes. You will find somewhere that baking powder is used instead of yeast, and some use yogurt.
We have opted for a more traditional variant. We got this recipe for uštipci from a friend from Serbia. For generations, her family has been making them in this way.
Steps
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1
Done
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In a bowl mix the flour with the yeast. Add salt, oil, whisked egg and warm milk. Stir everything well (for 5-6 min) until you get a compact mass. Then proof the dough for 15 min. |
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2
Done
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You can use one or two spoons of brandy to avoid absorbing a large amount of oil. |
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3
Done
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Heat the oil in a deep pan and grab mixture with a spoon and place in the oil to fry for a few minutes until it turns golden yellow. |
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4
Done
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Put the uštipci on a kitchen paper with a spoon to absorb any excess oil. |
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5
Done
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Serve with cheese, cream, jam, icing sugar or whatever you like. |
2 Comments Hide Comments
My Son tried to surprise me and make ustipci as it was a child hood favourite that my Kuma always made. He followed your recipe and it was a disaster as the recipe says to add the oil to the dough/batter so my Son added 500ml of oil to it as he could not see any other amount of oil listed in the ingredients. Maybe it’s just our phones but we both cannot see where another amount of oil is listed which gets added to the mix. Just thought I’d mention it so other people don’t make the same mistake my Son did. God bless him for trying! I would love to try your recipe but can you please tell me how much oil to put into the mixture? 50ml maybe? Would love to give this recipe 5 stars after I’ve made it…
Hvala!
I don’t understand your comment to add oil to the mixture? 500 ml of the oil???