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Lean potato pancakes without eggs

Eggless Potato Pancakes (Draniki)

A little different, appetizing, golden, and crispy-edged! These eggless potato pancakes come out just as good as the usual kind — and they're much quicker to make, since the potatoes are grated on the medium holes. I worried they wouldn't cook through, but they turned out great!

katushafin

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Potatoes

300

Wheat flour

Ground black pepper

Salt

Vegetable oil

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 8 % 3 g

Fats 35 % 13 g

Carbohydrates 57 % 21 g

206 kcal

GI: 67 / 0 / 33

Cooking method

Cooking time: 30 min

Step 1:

How do you make eggless potato pancakes? Gather your ingredients. First scrub the potatoes well under running water with a brush to wash off all the dirt. Use a refined, odorless oil for frying. You can also add onion and any fresh herbs to the batter.
Step 2:

Peel the washed potatoes. I always use a knife, but a vegetable peeler works too. Rinse the peeled potatoes once more, then pat them dry so there's no extra moisture in the batter.
Step 3:

Grate the potatoes on the medium holes of a box grater. Some recipes use the coarse holes, while classic draniki use the fine ones. I suggest trying the medium holes — but choose whatever you prefer.
Step 4:

Some high-starch potato varieties darken very quickly once exposed to air. To prevent that, you can add some finely grated onion to the batter. For this eggless version, don't squeeze the grated potatoes — that keeps the pancakes from falling apart as they fry. Add the flour and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 5:

Mix well until evenly combined.
Step 6:

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat, add the oil, and let it get hot for a few minutes. Don't skimp on the oil — you want plenty. For golden, crispy-edged pancakes, the oil needs to be really hot. Then lower the heat to medium. Spoon the potato mixture onto the skillet, forming round pancakes.
Step 7:

Fry the pancakes until golden on one side, then flip them. Now you can lower the heat a bit so they cook through inside. You can also cover the skillet, but then they'll come out soft rather than crisp. Mine cooked through nicely over low heat.
Step 8:

Transfer the finished pancakes to a paper-towel-lined plate to blot off the excess oil. Before the next batch, turn the heat back up and add a little more oil to the skillet. Fry all the batter this way.
Step 9:

Serve the pancakes hot with sour cream. Enjoy!

Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying! Every oil is only good up to a certain temperature — its smoke point, the point at which it starts to burn and forms toxic compounds, including carcinogens. Unrefined oils, with a few exceptions, have a low smoke point; they're full of unfiltered organic particles that scorch quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. If you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, make sure you're using an oil with a high smoke point. The most common high-smoke-point oils are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed oil.
Here's an easy way to check if the oil in the skillet is hot enough: dip in a wooden spatula. If bubbles gather around it, you're ready to start frying.