Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi)
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi)
Using yeast in batter is pretty common in Russian cuisine. They not only make batter fluffy but gives it a distinctive taste.
Yeast are very picky about temperature: if it is too cold yeast will not start fermenting and if it is too hot yeast will die. Temperature of mixture should be warm and stable.
That is why I usually set my plastic mixing bowl in a cooking pot filled with hot water and I make sure bowl doesn’t touch water so it isn’t too hot to ensure comfortable conditions for yeast to ferment.
Consistency of the oladi batter should be a bit more stiff than kefir. If you fry pancakes and they don’t rise upon frying that may mean the batter is too liquid, to fix it mix in a bit more flour and let batter rise for 10-15 mins before trying again.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of milk
- 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of dry active yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 2 tablespoons of oil for batter and more for frying
How to prepare, step-by-step:
-
Prepare ingredients: amount of flour the recipe calls for it approximate, depending on the qualities of the flour you may need to use a bit more or less:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 1 -
Warm up all milk so it is warm enough for yeast to activate, but not too hot to kill them, pour it to the mixing bowl:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 2 -
Add quarter of teaspoon of salt:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 3 -
All sugar:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 4 -
2 tablespoons of oil:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 5 -
Mix until salt and sugar dissolves completely and add active yeast:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 6 -
Let them soak for 5-8 mins, don’t stir mixture during this time:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 7 -
Mix in 1 cup of flour until homogeneous, cover with clean cloth and leave in warm place to initiate the fermentation process, for 15 mins approximately:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 8 -
When batter began bubbling, mix in both eggs:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 9 -
And gradually mix remaining of the flour, make sure batter doesn’t have any knots:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 10 -
Cover bowl with a clean cloth again and leave it in warm place for 40mins to one hour:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 11 -
By the end of the hour you will get fermented batter like this:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 12 -
Warm up a skillet with a bit of oil over moderate heat; scoop batter with a ladle or a big spoon and form pancakes on the skillet (avoid stirring of batter):
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 13 -
When a pancake is colored from one side, flip it to another with a spatula (carefully batter on other side maybe still liquid):
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 14 -
Repeat with all batter, keep adding a bit of oil to the skillet if you feel like it is needed:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 15 -
Move cooked pancakes to a plate:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 16 -
Serve yeast pancakes with sour cream, jam, honey or plain dusted with confectioners sugar; tastes great with a cup of kefir or milk:
Yeast Pancakes (Russian Oladi) Recipe: Step 17
