125. Kyiv-style syrniki (Ukrainian recipe)

Syrniki (also tvorozhniki; Ukrainian syrnyky, from the Ukrainian syr — cottage cheese) are a dish of Russian and Ukrainian cuisine in the form of cottage cheese fritters: fried patties of cottage cheese mixed with flour (some cooks hold that real syrniki have no flour in them) and eggs. Syrniki are usually fried in vegetable oil, but some recipes call for baking them in the oven. The most popular are plain syrniki and syrniki with raisins, which is what we're going to make today.

Cooking time ≈ 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 400 g cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 0.5 tbsp sugar
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of vanillin
• 1 glass of flour
• 0.5 glass of raisins
• 1–2 tbsp thick jam (I used apricot)

Pour boiling water over the raisins for 5 minutes, drain the water, dry the raisins on a napkin, chop them and mix them with the jam (you should get a sticky filling).

Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve, mix it with the egg, salt, sugar and vanilla, add the sifted flour and knead the dough. If it sticks to your hands, add a little more flour.

Divide the dough into small pieces.

Shape a piece of dough into a round and put a little filling in the middle.

Pinch the edges together and shape a round syrnik. If you like, you can roll it in white breadcrumbs, but I make them without.

Fry the syrniki in vegetable oil on both sides until golden.

Put them on a paper napkin so the excess oil is absorbed. Serve hot, with sour cream and jam.

Bon appétit!