Today
on in the Mega Marathon which has been christened as “Around the World in 30
Days” let us visit Russia!
If
you are about my age you will remember the Span and the “Adventures of Misha.”
How I used to wait to see what she came up with next.
Apeksha,
my elder daughter has been always after me for pancakes. And as I was
researching Russia for some reason she borrowed the laptop, the rest is history
this was the page that I was on. If that was not enough after that she was
trying to convince me to do crêpes as a Sub-category in street food….
On
the day I made these Blintzes it was pouring and we had a lot of guests. The
idea was to remake the dish for better pics. Never got down to it. Hope to
remake these delicious Blintzes again soon!
According
to Wikipedia,
“A blin (pl. blini), blintchik (pl. blintchiki)
or blintz is a type of thin pancake. Blintzes are thin pancakes that
typically lack a leavening
agent and are similar to crêpes,
whereas blini are typically thicker and include a leavening agent.”
Traditionally
Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then
diluted with cold or boiling water/ milk. When diluted with boiling water, they are referred
to as zavarniye blini and were baked in a Russian oven.
Though the blini are pan fried they are cooking of blini is still referred to
as baking in Russian.
French crêpes made from unyeasted batter
(usually made of flour, milk, and eggs) are also common in Russia. Flours
used for making blini range from wheat and buckwheat to oatmeal and millet,
although wheat is currently the most popular.
Blintzes
are made in Jewish cuisine too; blintzes that are stuffed with a cheese filling
and then fried in oil are served on holidays such as Chanukah (as
oil played a pivotal role in the miracle of the Chanukah story) and Shavuot (when dairy dishes are traditionally served
within the Ashkenazi minhag). Blintzes are called
"blinchiki" in Russian, and are ordinarily stuffed before frying a
second time. Fillings include chocolate, mushrooms, meat, rice, mashed
potatoes, and cheese.
Blintzes
are the traditional meal in Lithuania during Fat Tuesday.
Buckwheat
blini are part of traditional Russian cuisine. They are also widespread in Ukraine, where they are sometimes known as hrechanyky (Ukrainian: гречаники),
and Lithuania’s Dzūkija region, the only region in the country
where buckwheat is grown, where they are called Grikių blynai.”
Blintz
Recipe Source: Tony Avey
Ingredients:
- 2 cup Maida or APF
- 2 cup milk
- 2 tblspn sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tblspn oil
- 2 tblspn baking powder
Ingredients for the Filling:
- 1 cup fresh paneer, crumbled
- ¼ cup cream
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk (optional)
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Method:
- Blend all of the blintz ingredients together using a blender or electric hand mixer. You can blend with a fork too but remember that the batter should not have any lumps.
- Warm up a non-stick tava/skillet until hot.
- The tava/skillet is ready check the heat . Sprinkle a drop of water and if it sizzles on the surface of the of the tava , your tava is ready. If the water pops or jumps out of the pan, the skillet it too hot—let it cool slightly before starting.
- Grease the tava/skillet generously with cooking oil.
- Pour the pancake batter using a 1/3 cup into the pan.
- Tilt the pan in a circular motion till the batter coats the entire bottom of the pan in a large, thin circular shape.
- Cook for 60-75 seconds until the edges of the blintz brown and the bottom of the blintz is lightly golden. The pancake is done when the centre of the pancake's surface is dry and slightly tacky to the touch.
- Remove the pancake with a spatula and place it on a plate.
- Keep the blintzes separated by pieces of butter paper or paper towels to prevent the blintzes from sticking together.
- Similarly cook all the blintzes.
- Put all of the filling ingredients into a chutney bowl of the blender and pulse it. The filling should not be smooth. But should be well blended.
- Now let’s assemble the blintzes
- Put about 3 tblspn of filling on the lower part of the blintz, about an inch from the edge.
- Now fold the lower edge of the blintz covering up the filling, say about till the centre.
- Now fold the sides of the blintz inward, as though you’re folding an envelope.
- Roll the blintz up and over the filling like a burrito, tucking the edges in as you roll.
- Finish them all. Then let’s fry them…
- Heat about ¼ cup of oil in a non-stick pan over medium until hot.
- Cook the blintzes in batches see that you have enough space to turn them easily in the pan. Gently lay the flapside down in the oil (take care the oil is hot).
- The oil will sizzle after 1 ½ to 2 minutes flip carefully the blintzes. They will be brown and crispy.
- Fry the flipped side again for a 1 ½ - 2 minutes till they are browned evenly.
- Serve blintzes warm as they are or topped with fruit topping, sour cream, applesauce, whipped cream or maple syrup.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44
Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!
Sounds delicious and look a lovely golden brown.
ReplyDeleteyummy one with a filling, this will top my list of to do after mega marathon is over...
ReplyDeleteBlintzes looks absolutely fantabulous, especially the filling sounds too good for me..
ReplyDeleteVery interesting recipe there..ya I too wish you had better pics, never mind you can work on it later. I like that plate you have used, looks fantastic
ReplyDeleteVery lovely looking dish from Russai Archana..so fluffy!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. So many of you were Misha readers! Nice to know.
ReplyDeletewow wonderfully made blintzers :) they look fantastic and paneer stuffing with vanilla essence in it is something interesting !! tempting one!!
ReplyDeleteYummy blintzes. I made the other pancakes, oladi for Russia.
ReplyDeleteThese sound so yumm, Archana.
ReplyDeleteYummy looking blintzes. These were also on my to-make list, but never got around to make them. Will try your version soon.
ReplyDeleteI love the way the blintzes look. I thought they are just like crepes, but stuffing and frying them would make it so addictive..
ReplyDeleteYummy blintzes.. Looks very delicious.
ReplyDeleteI used to make these every weekend as part of our brunch menu at a restaurant I worked at. You are reminding me of them as now I have not made them in several years
ReplyDeleteInteresting recipe Archana. Its in my to-do list as well.God knows when I will make them...
ReplyDeleteSounds so interesting . Good one from Russia
ReplyDelete