Lithuanian red beetroot blinis

Why any ethnic cuisine is great? Because it is not a McDamn. Now I am going to surprise you with a culinary journey to the east of Poland. For the next two months I’ll be presenting some Lithuanian staff apart from my regular coconut-banana recipes. My guide is Biruta Markuza, a Polish food writer specialising in East European recipes. I liked her book on Lithuanian cuisine straight away. It is both simple and diverse. The ingrediends are easily accessible. And the recipes says something familiar that you know you will like that food. Lithuanian cooking has influenced Polish cuisine with many recipes, some of which are particularly known as Lithuanian in our cookery books. There is a hunter’s stew of a Lithuanian provenience and a cold soup of red beetroot, just to name the best known.

Red Beetroot Blinis!

 2 portions (for main course) or 4 for starter

3 medium size red beetroots

2 apples

0,5 kg cottage cheese (quark)

few Tbsps milk

1 egg

1 cup flour

sugar

salt

oil for frying

sour cream/plain yoghurt to serve

1.      Wash well the beetroot, put to the cold water and cook. Peel and grate with small holes grater. Mix cheese and milk for a smooth paste (ok, it doesn’t have to be that smooth). Peel the apples and grate with large holes grater.

2.      Combine beetroot, cheese, apples, egg and flour, season with salt and sugar.

3.      Heat the oil in the frying pan. To make small blinis, place one tablespoon of batter in the pan, flatten and fry until dark a bit.

4.      Serve hot, absolutely with sour cream!

These blinis have an extraordiary colour and a surprising sweet taste. It reminds me the breadfruit French fries or the onion rings, which are also sweet and chewy. Serving them without sour cream will spoil their potential.