ISO a square potato knish recipe

[Mjx]

I have a huge craving for the sort of square potato knish that I've bought from New York City food carts, and in some delis.

But, I'm in Denmark, which is notable for its complete absence of knishes, so I thought I'd make my own: They seem to be simple things, pillows of mashed potato mixture, apparently fried. The surface suggests...breading..? Not actual dough, though I'm guessing, because it's been a while, and I've never paid much attention to their surface structure, because I've been focused on devouring these delicious things.

 

The internet has yielded nothing helpful, and even here, on eGullet, the recipes involve a far doughier exterior than what I crave.

 

Anyone have a recipe they're willing to share, or suggestions, or observations?

 

TIA🌟

[BeeZee]

Most of the square knishes around here (NJ) are made by Gabila’s, and are fried. I found this recipe which looks plausible, but I haven’t tried it: https://www.copymethat.com/r/p3LZOk5l/gabilas-style-potato-knish-developed-by-/?is_macua_ios=1

They do have a thin crust rather than crumbs.

[weinoo]

From what I can tell, the crusts are dough-like, for sure.  Here are a couple of ideas.

 

From Molly O'Neill's New York Cookbook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link):

 

 

And from Claudia Roden's  The Book of Jewish Food (eG-friendly Amazon.com link):

 

 

 

Now get cooking!

Edited 20 hours ago by weinoo (log)

[AlaMoi]

my method is utterly heretical . . . but they sure do disappear right quick...

 

make your filling - typically mashed potato, onion, (++++)

use phyllo dough - cut, rolled/wrapped around the filling.

 

bake or deep fried.

 

much less "doughy" - which is a plus or a minus - depending on personal experience/preference.

[BeeZee]

21 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

my method is utterly heretical . . . but they sure do disappear right quick...

 

make your filling - typically mashed potato, onion, (++++)

use phyllo dough - cut, rolled/wrapped around the filling.

 

That's a borek, not a knish - which is certainly delish in it's own way. But my Jewish Bubbie would smack you for suggesting it as being "knish like"😄

[AlaMoi]

yup / / / 

[weinoo]

6 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

my method is utterly heretical . . . but they sure do disappear right quick...

 

make your filling - typically mashed potato, onion, (++++)

use phyllo dough - cut, rolled/wrapped around the filling.

 

bake or deep fried.

 

much less "doughy" - which is a plus or a minus - depending on personal experience/preference.

 

And which isn't a knish.

[Mjx]

19 hours ago, BeeZee said:

Most of the square knishes around here (NJ) are made by Gabila’s, and are fried. I found this recipe which looks plausible, but I haven’t tried it: https://www.copymethat.com/r/p3LZOk5l/gabilas-style-potato-knish-developed-by-/?is_macua_ios=1

They do have a thin crust rather than crumbs.

 

18 hours ago, weinoo said:

From what I can tell, the crusts are dough-like, for sure.  Here are a couple of ideas.

 

From Molly O'Neill's New York Cookbook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link):

 

 

And from Claudia Roden's  The Book of Jewish Food (eG-friendly Amazon.com link):

 

 

 

Now get cooking!

 

Thank you! I'm planning on trying some combination of these techniques over the weekend.

I still have questions: What makes the crust seem so...un-dough-like? How come it never bubbles/separates from the filling? Can the result I'm looking for be achieved in an oven? Am I out of my mind to be toying with the idea of trying to coat the knish mixture in batter, if I don't get the result I'm seeking with a traditional approach?