Blini are Russian pancakes, and there are a lot of varieties of them. Blini can be thick or thin, and with or without yeast. Thin blini can be stuffed with sweet of savoury stuffing.
Kefir blini are made with fermented dairy drink kefir, but you can substitute it with buttermilk or plain yoghurt. These blini are very good for weekend mornings, and they are not only delicious, but very filling.
The general technique, as with all kinds of pancakes in general, is following a few tips:
1. Make sure the frying pan is warm and oiled evenly with a paper towel to avoid excess oil. It’s not necessary to oil the pan after every pancakes, just every so often.
2. The key to success is the thickness of the batter. It should not be too runny, but rather flow slowly and graciously from the ladle into the pot.
3. The probe of the first pancake: The first pancake always serves as a probe to see if the ingredients are in the right proportion. If you couldn’t flip the pancake over, add some more flour into the batter, a few drop of olive oil, stir and go ahead again.
Savoury potato pancakes draniki are similar to hash browns and can be an excellent weekend breakfast or brunch. Adding some minced meat you can even upgrade them to a dinner solution.
Draniki are often served with smetana (Russian sour cream) or plain yoghurt dip. The recipe comes from Belarus where potatoes are loved dearly.
*** Option 2. – With minced meat
Mix the minced meat with salt and pepper. When frying the draniki, put a bit of the meat on top of the pancake. Flatten the meat and cover it up with another spoon of potato mixture. Fry both sides.
Syrniki are traditional Russian cottage cheese pancakes and an ideal breakfast solution: easy, quick, very tasty and good for you. Children will love it, and their parents too!
In the original recipe the Russian cottage cheese – “tvorog” – is used. You can substitute tvorog with some other cottage cheese, “farm cheese” or a product by Danone – Hüttenkäse.
Tip 1. SEMOLINAYou can substitute flour with the same amount of semolina – this variation is just as popular
Tip 2. FREEZING You can freeze the prepared pancakes and fry after defrosting – saves precious time in the mornings
Tip 3. BAKING Instead of frying, you can bake syrnki without any oil in silicone forms for 20-25 minutes, 180ºC (350 F)
Tip 4. SERVING SUGGESTION – Lingonberry jam and sea buckthorn jam – simply defrost and blitz these berries with sugar. Sea buckthorms will need sieving to get rid of the seeds. These jams are refreshing and sharp – nice kick to the sweetness of syrniki.
