Hello my lords, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Nick Saraf's Foodlog!
As we were travelling east, we have decided to travel to the farthest and eastest place in the Europe, Russia!
In Soviet Russia! You don't make breakfast; breakfast makes you!
So today we are going to be making two popular Russian breakfast recipes.
'Oladi' and 'Syrniki' along with some nice Redcurrent Jam.
We are going to start first with the redcurrent jam.
On a high flame, we put a saucepan of redcurrents..
..and a lot of sugar.
So redcurrents are quite sour in their tastes!
So we have added quite a good amount of sugar in there..
..and we will also be adding 1/3 amount the water as the sugar.
Now, before this boils, we take this off and we mash the redcurrents.
So unlike most of the jams we have done,..
..redcurrent seeds are not very nice to taste.
So it's best strained!
So, we are going to pass it through the strainer and mash it a bit more in there.
Put the pan back on high heat and pour the mixture that you have just strained.
Now we put in the sugar thermometer and wait till it reaches a 105 degrees.
And it's done!
And now we transfer it back into our glass container and let it cool down..
..and become little firm and thread consistency!
There we are! We get single thread between our fingers.
I mean, jam is perfect!
So, Oladi are pancakes made with a Russian ingredient called 'Kefir', which is a bit like milk.
It's made by inoculating cow, goat or sheep milk with Kefir grains and it originated on the North Caucasus mountains.
Since we are far far far away from the North Caucasus mountains, we are using it's best substitute, Buttermilk!
But, we are going to be making our own Buttermilk today.
So, this is about a cup of yogurt in which I am going to add a cup of water.
And, with a churner let's churn away to glory!
Now, to this buttermilk we add 2 eggs.
Now we add sugar to your discretion.
Now, for 2 cups of buttermilk I have added about 4 tbsp of sugar.
This ought to make it sweet but not overtly sweet.
Mix it altogether.
And now, we add 1 cup of flour in it.
And a tsp of salt and a tsp of baking soda.
Unlike most of the pancakes that we have cooked in butter, these pancakes are going to be cooked in oil.
We put it on a medium flame and generously spread oil everywhere.
And unlike most pancakes where we have poured a heaping good amount of batter,..
..Russian pancakes are big as medallions!
So, we don't pour more than a tbsp of batter at a time. There we go.
That's about it!
That is the size of all the pancakes we are going to make.
Now, take them off on an absorbent cloth.
Now it's time to make 'Syrniki'.
Syrniki is actually a cheese patty that's been shallow fried on a pan.
And for this we have 500 grams of cottage cheese that I have grated.
In this, I am going to put 2 eggs, sugar and I have put in about 4 tbsp and mix it.
Now we add a tsp of vanilla essence and mix again.
To this, I am going to add about 2 tbsp and may be half a tbsp more of flour.
We have to be very careful not to add too much flour to this..
..or else it ends up being really starchy and that's not very nice in taste.
And, a tsp of salt.
Now, we take a bit of this sticky dough.
Roll it into sphere.
Roll it into some flour.
And then, tap it slightly to make a patty.
These are extremely delicate.
On medium heat, generous amounts of oil.
Place the patty and cook till it browns on one side.
And they are done!
So there you have it! A Russian breakfast.
Oladi and Syrniki.
I love saying it "Syrniki!"
With some Redcurrent Jam.
So, Prijatnovo appetita!