As far as I know there  is no special reason to eat knaidlach on Succos.  Knaidlach which are also called matzo balls actually belong to Passover though, amazingly some Hassidic Jews won’t eat them then because they are made from matzos which have come into contact with water.

On Succos we don’t have any such rules. On this holiday, we change our dwelling place, moving from our homes into temporary huts call sukkas  but our diets remain the same. Succos is Zman Simchaseinu, the season of our joy. It’s a mitzvah to be happy on Succos.  That is enough reason for these knaidlach. They are light and savory and yummy enough to make anyone happy.

They have an interesting lineage brought down by one of our “cousins’ chef Sami Tamimi, in the new cookbook Jerusalem. Tamimi is a Palestinian from East Jerusalem who is reputed to  make the meanest knaidl in all of London. Here is Sami’s  recipe.

Yields 30 and freezes well

4 large eggs

80 grams of margarine (one tablespoon less than one American stick)

1 and 1/2 cups matzo meal

1/2 cup seltzer

1 t salt

1/8 t black pepper

Combine in a standing mixer using paddle attachment

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Then boil up a wide mouthed pot of salted water

Roll knaidlach into walnut sized balls and plunge them into the boiling water Lowe the flame.

Knaidlach should simmer for a 30 minutes

Remove with a slotted spoon. Place on baking sheet to dry and then refrigerate, freeze or serve into hot soup.

Yum.