The Hungarian street food consisting of fried dough topped with sour cream and cheese is lángos.
Lángos is a deep-fried flatbread made from a yeast dough of flour, water or milk, and salt. The classic topping is garlic, sour cream, and grated cheese, though versions may also include ham, sausage, yogurt, or mashed potatoes mixed into the dough.
Its name comes from the Hungarian word láng, meaning “flame.” Historically, lángos was made from leftover bread dough and baked near the flame of a brick or clay oven while the oven was heating for the day’s bread. Modern lángos is generally fried in oil rather than baked.
It is especially associated with markets, fairs, festivals, bus stations, and lakeside resorts in Hungary. Similar fried breads appear across Central and Eastern Europe, including langoš in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and langoș in Romania. Lángos is not goulash, a stew, or palacsinta, a Hungarian pancake.