Polish Potato Babka

Polish Potato Babka – potato cake is official regional dish of Podlasie: Northeastern part of Poland. It is filling and delicious, if you want less calories- skip bacon:)

I found out from my readers that Polish Potato Babka is called differently in different regions of Poland. I made notes and I’m sharing here:

  • Babka ziemniaczana – universal, all over Poland
  • Kartoflak, Blin – Podlasie: Białystok, Suwałki – there is several kinds, eg with buckwheat
  • Kugel, Kugiel, Ciulim- Jewish
  • Szadar – Pomerania: Bory Tucholskie
  • Rejbak – Kurpie
  • Baba Ziemniaczana, Pyrczok – Kraków
  • Tarciuch, Bulbynek – Lublin
  • Bryndos, Pirzok – Kujawy
  • Bugaj, Nagus, Blaszak – Warsaw, Mazovian
  • Kartoflarz – Łódź
  • Pyrczok, Kućmok, Kubusz

This is top five of my favorite Polish cuisine. Polish comfort food. Yum!

Polish cuisine is full of potato dishes, which are cheap and easy to store. Try more delicious potato recipes from Polish cuisine: http://cookinpolish.com/tag/potato/.

Polish Potato Pie served

Ingredients

  • 2 kg/ 4,4 lb potatoes
  • 4 onions
  • 0,2 kg/ 0,45 lb bacon
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbs potato starch
  • 3 tbs thick yogurt
  • marjoram, salt, pepper, nutmeg

Peel and grate potatoes on grater with tiny mesh. Add fried diced onions, eggs, starch, yogurt and seasoning.

Place bacon slices on a bottom of a baking dish. Fill with potato dough and again cover the top with bacon slices.

Bake in 360 F/ 180 C for 60-75 minutes, until the top is nicely baked.

If you have some Polish Potato Babka left for next day, fry it on the pan, some may say it is even better this way:)

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Polish Potato Pie served

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35 thoughts on “Polish Potato Babka”

  1. Bobka, one of my favorite recipes, so happy someone responded. I make it differently, however, is must still be good. I could eat the whole pan with sourcream.

    1. Yes, it is tempting to eat the whole;) 🙂 How do you make it? I am curious about different family recipes, as each family can have their own likes and customs.

      1. This is how my babcia, born in 1891 in Podlaskie made potato babka.
        Get out the size cast iron frying pan you want to use. Overfill it a little with potatoes to determine the amount needed and set them aside. Lightly grease the pan with bacon fat from the fridge. ( I use PAM spray now)
        Combine in a bowl:
        2 finely chopped onions
        We don’t sautee, but you can if you want. If you sautee use 2 T or so of bacon fat from the fridge and then add cooked onion including the fat to the bowl.
        If using uncooked onion, add 2 T bacon fat*
        3/4 teaspoon salt
        pepper
        1 T or so of flour
        1 egg
        Next, wash and peel the potatoes putting them in cold water until they are ready to grate. Finely grate by hand on a metal grater and squeeze out the extra liquid. Add to the onion mixture. Put 4 or 5 bacon strips across the bottom of the pan, pour the mixture on top and cook at 375 for around an hour until the sides and top are golden brown.
        Serve with sour cream on the side.
        Note- 2 keys to good flavor are enough onions and enough salt. Adjust for the amount of potatoes.
        * If you don’t have any bacon fat, cook the strips of bacon you will use on the bottom of the pan and use that fat in the recipe.
        I think some babka recipes from NE Podlaskie may be more influenced by Lithuanian Kugelis recipes and add more milk and eggs.

        1. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! You can be right, this is the way my Grandma was making Babka, she was born on the previous Belarus area, after 2nd World War she moved with her family to Masuria district.
          I will try your recipe, thanks!

          1. You can buy potato starch (similar to corn starch but from potatoes). Alternatively, you can grate potatoes and squeeze out liquid with a cheese cloth into a bowl. Let the liquid sit and the starch will settle to the bottom. Then gently pour off the liquid leaving the starch behind. Use it in your recipe to offset the amount of flour you need to bind the potato dish you are making.

          1. You can buy potato starch (similar to corn starch but from potatoes). Alternatively, you can grate potatoes and squeeze out liquid with a cheese cloth into a bowl. Let the liquid sit and the starch will settle to the bottom. Then gently pour off the liquid leaving the starch behind. Use it in your recipe to offset the amount of flour you need to bind the potato dish you are making.

          1. I don’t use milk but I use eggs lots of bacon and bacon fat salt and pepper Yum

      1. Susan Cuzzort

        This almost sound like the “American” Breakfast Casserole. We use shredded potatoes, milk, eggs, and bacon or ham, onions are optional. We also use Colby Monterey Jack Shredded Cheese on the top added at the last 15 min.
        My husband likes to ruin his with Ketchup.

          1. For the first time I would recommend cooking with no cheese,
            of course you can experiment with cheese, but the dish is already a bit heavy and its a real comfort food the way it is:)

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  4. I just finished making my family’s version of potato babki!
    It’s been passed down for generations in my family. I’m generation #6 to be making it (from the relatives whose names we know)
    Have 2 9dm pie plates
    Put salt pork in there and bake the fat out while you’re prepping the rest.
    Grind 5lbs of potatoes
    1 onion
    1/2 cup of flour
    And 2 eggs, well beaten.
    Remove salt pork, pour in babki and bake at 350°for an hour. East with as much sour cream as you’d like. Lol.
    I can’t wait to see what other recipes you have! I am having trouble making Naleshniki. We go super Polish for Easter. (My first year doing Easter myself! )

    1. Hi Mary, thanks for sharing your cherished recipe! I will try it out, sounds so great!
      I hope you will check other recipes from my site:) I would be happy to know how you liked it and your pictures:)
      If you have questions about Naleśniki – don’t hesitate to ask here or on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cookinpolish
      Happy Easter to you and your family, I am sure your Polish easter dishes are great <3
      Aleksandra CookINPolish

  5. what kind of food processor do you have? I noticed the tiny mesh on the grater for the potato pie or kugel recipe

    1. It was Bosch, but the more important is I think the tiny grater, that you can see on the first small picture.

  6. My father’s aunt Paulina used to live in Karola Boromeusza street, just in front of Bródno cemetery and every year cooked Baba (= Kartoflak) serving this hot and delicious meal for family that visited her after visiting graves in November 2nd. All kinds of porc, including bacon and sausages inside. Laurel, Jamaican pepper, onions, salt …It was even better when fried afterwards .God save her memory!

  7. I wish the recipe had said to peel the potatoes, and had the measurements for the spices. My family and I enjoy a wide variety of food, but we did not like this dish unfortunately.

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