Uštipci

A fried-dough staple shared across the Western Balkans, with its own versions in Serbia (especially the northern Vojvodina region), Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Slovenia. The name comes from the verb uštinuti, 'to nip or pinch,' for the way pieces of dough are pinched off and dropped into hot oil; it goes by miške in Slovenia and peksimeti in parts of Bosnia, while Croatia's close cousin priganice takes its name from a word meaning 'to jump,' for the way the dough bobs in the oil. The exact origin is undocumented, but it has long been a home and breakfast fixture throughout the region.

Shatteringly crisp on the outside with a warm, fluffy, faintly tangy crumb inside from the yogurt. Plain they are gently savory, made for piling with salty kajmak and cheese, or dusted with sugar and jam for a doughnut-like sweet treat.

Yogurt or milk plus a leavening agent generates gas that puffs the dough, while the egg adds structure and richness. Deep frying flash-cooks the exterior into a crisp shell and rapidly expands the interior into a light, airy crumb before the inside can dry out.