Deruny

Ingredients

Batter

• 1 kgfloury potatoes
• 1onion
• 1egg
• 3 tbspplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tspblack pepper

To fry

• oil or lard

To serve

• sour cream
• fried onion
• mushroom sauce
• dill

Directions

1. Grate the potatoes and the onion together on the fine side of a box grater.
2. Grate the onion in with the potato rather than separately. Onion juice slows the browning that turns grated potato pink and then grey, and that is exactly why Ukrainian cooks do it this way.
3. Let the grated mixture stand for 5 minutes, then squeeze out some but not all of the liquid.
4. Let the squeezed liquid settle for a few minutes, pour off the water on top, and scrape the white starch from the bottom back into the potato. That starch is the binder and throwing it away is the common mistake.
5. Mix in the egg, flour, salt and pepper.
6. Work fast from here. The batter darkens as it stands, and the pancakes want to be in the pan within a few minutes rather than waiting.
7. Heat a generous layer of oil or lard in a heavy pan over a medium heat.
8. Drop in spoonfuls and flatten each to about 1 cm thick.
9. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes a side, until deep golden and crisp at the edges.
10. Drain on a rack rather than on paper, so the undersides stay crisp.
11. Serve hot with sour cream, or with a mushroom sauce, and plenty of chopped dill.

Technique

• Floury potatoes only. Waxy ones hold their water and refuse to bind.
• Korosten in the Zhytomyr region holds an annual deruny festival, which gives some idea of how seriously they are taken.
• They are best straight from the pan and do not improve for waiting, so cook and serve in relays.

Substitutions

• A splash of milk if the batter is very stiff.
• Lard rather than oil, which browns harder and tastes better.

Variations

• With mushrooms and onion folded into the batter.
• Baked in the oven under a mushroom and sour cream sauce.
• With minced meat sandwiched between two pancakes, as deruny z miasom.

History

Potato pancakes fried in oil and eaten with sour cream; Korosten in Zhytomyr region holds an annual deruny festival.

Frequently asked questions

What is Deruny?

Deruny is a main from Ukraine: potato pancakes with sour cream or mushroom sauce. Potato pancakes fried in oil and eaten with sour cream; Korosten in Zhytomyr region holds an annual deruny festival.

How long does Deruny take to make?

Deruny takes 20 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 16 pancakes. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Deruny?

Yes, within limits. A splash of milk if the batter is very stiff. Lard rather than oil, which browns harder and tastes better.

What is the most important thing to get right in Deruny?

Grate the onion in with the potato rather than separately. Onion juice slows the browning that turns grated potato pink and then grey, and that is exactly why Ukrainian cooks do it this way.