Potato pancakes are one of the most popular dishes of the Belarusian cuisine. It is fair to say that similar dishes of grated raw potatoes are prepared in other countries, although they are called differently. There are also many recipes for potato fritters, and they are all good in their own way. Even meatless potato pancakes are juicy and tender. Due to the presence of starch in potatoes, they retain their shape even without eggs.
Cooking Features
The recipes for Lenten potato pancakes are simple, but without some knowledge of the subtleties, it will not be easy to make them tasty and mouth-watering.
- It is best to make lean pancakes from potatoes of those varieties with a lot of starch. Such varieties are more commonly grown on Belarusian soil, but in other countries, farmers use starchy potato varieties.
- To keep the potatoes dark, you can add chopped onions. If you put it more, the pancakes will have a different taste.
- Garlic is often added to spicy potatoes. It does not need to put a lot, enough 1-2 cloves per kilogram of potatoes.
- According to the traditional technology, potato for pancakes is ground on the other side of the grater, where small holes with sharp torn edges, that is, potatoes, as it were, are torn. However, for cooking lean pancakes, you can use a grater with large holes. If a lot of juice is extracted from potatoes, it is recommended to squeeze it.
- If there is little starch in potatoes, the situation can be improved by adding flour or starch to the pancake mix.
- In order for the pancakes to turn out appetizing, not to burn and not to lose shape, you need to put them on a pre-heated frying pan. At the same time there should be a lot of oil in it. If you regret it, you can’t count on beautiful pancakes.
Pancakes are usually served with sour cream, but this product is not used during fasting. You can replace the sour cream with mayonnaise or other homemade sauce made from vegetable ingredients.
A simple recipe for Lenten potato pancakes
Composition:
- potatoes - 1 kg;
- onions - 100 g;
- wheat flour - 70-100 g;
- salt - 10 g;
- black ground pepper - a pinch;
- vegetable oil - how much will leave.
Method of preparation:
- Wash, peel potatoes and finely rub it.
- Salt, pepper, stir.
- Peel the onion and cut it into small pieces. It will be even better if you also rub the onion or chop it with the help of kitchen appliances: meat grinders, blender.
- Mix onion puree with potato.
- Pouring flour in small portions and stirring it well, achieve a sufficiently thick mass so that it does not spread very much on the pan.
- Pour oil into the pan and heat it.
- Spread a tablespoon of potato mass on a hot frying pan and fry on both sides until golden brown. You can turn the pancakes when their edges become red.
- Put the pancakes on a napkin so that it absorbs excess fat. Arrange on plates.
You can serve lean pancakes without a sauce, but if you are used to eating them with a sauce, you can use lean mayonnaise or a sauce based on it, adding a little chopped garlic and chopped greens.
Lenten pancakes with bean sauce
Composition:
- potatoes - 1 kg;
- wheat flour - 50 g;
- salt, black pepper - to taste;
- white beans (canned, in own juice) - 0, 42 l;
- garlic - 1 clove;
- vegetable oil - how much will leave.
Method of preparation:
- Peel potatoes, wash, dry and grate finely.
- Squeeze the mashed potatoes and mix it with flour, salted and seasoned beforehand.
- Heat the oil in the pan. Spoon the potato mass. Cover the pan with a lid. When the edges of the potato fritters become golden, turn them over to the other side and fry under the lid until done.
- Put the beans out of the jar in a blender and chop it to a puree.
- Add garlic passed through the press to the beans, dilute the juice from the jar in which it was originally.
Pancakes made according to this recipe are served with bean sauce, which is why they become not only tastier, but also healthier. If desired, you can add a little chopped nuts to the sauce, then it will get a pleasant nutty notes and there will be more pleasant Lenten pancakes.
Lenten potato pancakes with mushrooms
Composition:
- potatoes - 1 kg;
- carrots - 0, 2 kg;
- fresh mushrooms - 150 g;
- flour - how much will leave;
- salt, spices, herbs - to taste;
- vegetable oil - how much will leave.
Method of preparation:
- Wash and clean the vegetables, chop them on a fine grater with sharp edges. Salt, wait 10 minutes. Squeeze out extra juice.
- Mix carrot and vegetable puree, add flour in the amount of two tablespoons, stir.
- Wash, dry the mushrooms with a napkin, cut them into very small pieces, add to the vegetable mass, stir.
- Finely chop the greens and combine it with the prepared mass.
- From the vegetable mass with mushrooms and greens form balls and flatten between the palms. Roll in flour.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a pan, put the pancakes with mushrooms and fry over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side.
It is best to serve such pancakes with mushroom sauce. If you could not get one, cook it yourself. To do this you need flour and mushroom broth, as well as 50 g of boiled mushrooms. In a dry frying pan, fry a couple of spoons of flour, dilute it with broth, add the sliced mushrooms and cook until the sauce thickens.
Lenten potato pancakes are in no way inferior in color and appearance. So you can cook them even when you do not fast.
