Draniki – thin and round potato pancakes, are often pan-fried and served with sour cream. The word ‘draniki’ originates from the verb ‘drat’ (soft t), which means grate, rub. It was originally a common breakfast, and today we stick with this tradition, but in some restaurants it’s served all day long. Draniki are so beloved and popular in our country, that not even every Russian knows, that it is Belarus dish.
Potato was brought to Russia in the end of 17th century, when it was served as an exotic dish only at royal banquets, and potatoes were sprinkle with sugar, not salt and pepper as nowadays. At that time in Belarus, potato had been known for 80 years. Today potato became the main vegetable in Belarus, and now over 200 potato dishes are known.
Similar potato pancakes can be found in many countries, like hash browns in the USA, kartoffelpuffer in Germany, Swiss rösti, or Jewish latkes, and etc.
This is a simple recipe that is easy to prepare and produces great results! 🙂 Enjoy!
Draniki - Russian potato pancakes
Ingredients
4 large potatoes
1 egg
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2-3 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)
a good pinch of salt
a good pinch of pepper
2-3 Tbsp sunflower oil, for frying
sour cream, for serving
Preparation
- Peel potatoes and grate (using medium or large holes of a box grater), transferring to a bowl of water. Soak potatoes for 10-15 minutes, then drain well in a colander, and squeeze grated potatoes with hand, extracting as much liquid as possible.
- Transfer potatoes back to a bowl and stir in egg, salt, pepper and dill. Add flour and mix until well-coated. The mixture should be wet and thick (not soupy!).
- In a heavy-based or iron skillet heat the oil until hot, but not smoking. Place the large spoonfuls of the mixture into pan, pressing down and spreading into cm/inch rounds with a fork or spoon. Reduce heat to moderate. Brown draniki on one side about 5 minutes, turn over and brown on the other. Let drain on a paper towels.
- Serve warm with sour cream or raw.
- Draniki are also good with creme fraiche, herb cream cheese and ricotta.
The remaining draniki can be kept in a refrigerator up to one day. Reheat in a 160C/320F oven, about 10 minutes.
milkandbun 
Oh how I love this, potatoes and dill are a match made in heaven! And thank you so much for the history of dranikis, it is so interesting.
I love potato pancakes, these are similar to latkes. I also think the dill is a wonderful addition, it goes so well with potatoes.
Totally agree! I do like any potato pancakes too 😀
Yum! I love latkes and I love rosti, so I’m positive I’ll enjoy these as well – the dill sounds like a marvelous addition, too 🙂
Potatoes and dill is truly wonderful combination! 🙂
These look wonderful! I love potato pancakes and the dill is a perfect match.
It is a great match, totally agree! But you can also add some chopped spring onion or parsley 🙂
Potatoes and dill sound delicious, Mila! These little potato cakes look great!
Thanks for your kind words, Ngan! 🙂
I agree with Ngan, roasted potatoes with dill sound amazing! I think I could eat them all!
I agree with both of you! 😀
This looks delicious. I do love the addition of dill. I love it’s royal history. I”ll feel especially regal the next time I make them 😉
I am so glad you posted this. What a lovely recipe. I love potatoes and this is such a great way to have them. I’ll make them for breakfast.
These look really scrumptuous Mila!
who knew? (you did, obviously) These look amazing. Definitely will make at home. Have you ever used sweet potatoes instead?
never heard of draniki before! definitely something i will be trying in my kitchen. thanks for sharing the idea + recipe!
Thanks for visiting, Thalia! Draniki are also good with some cured or smoked salmon 🙂
What an interesting fact about potato, Mila. I will never look at potato pancakes the same way again. Thank you 🙂
We all love potato pancakes! 🙂
Oh my husband’s lovely dish) I have never imagined that this recipe is known in the world:)
Yummy. I like seeing different recipes for potatoes as we always have heaps to use up and it can be difficult to think of various ways to cook them or make them different so we are not eating the same all the time.