Russian Pancakes (Blini) with Kefir

Russian Pancakes (Blini) with Kefir
I recently went to a Maslenitsa celebration (a uniquely Russian pagan holiday celebrated by eating crepes/pancakes), and enjoyed some Russian folk tales told by a talented voice-over actress, Russian tea from a samovar and a bunch of crepe-like cupcakes with fillings such as mushrooms and cream, caviar and butter, tvorog – ricotta cheese – and raisins, jams etc. It was nice and cozy. So, in a spurt of motivation, I decided to try making pancakes/blini with kefir and soda. They are a bit thicker, fluffier, and porous – due to the soda bubbles. You’ll see these holes in the pic.

I have eaten my crepes thin all my life so this was new for me. And I must say, I like it better – it is much more filling, gives more of a comfort food feel, which the ephemeral crepe achieves only after you eat a good number of them. And the pancakes themselves don’t really require a lot of ingredients (plus kefir is good for your stomach!)

I topped mine with cherry & plum jam, but they obviously can go with anything (the mushroom/onion/heavy cream sauce was divine, btw!)

The recipe is in Russian and Google translate does some weird things, but here are the ingredients:
500 ml kefir, 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 250 water, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, sugar and salt to taste, butter for frying.
You beat the kefir, eggs, sugar and salt. Sift in the flour. You boil the water, add the soda after it boils – it will fizz – then carefully add to batter. Mix. Let it rest 2-3 minutes. Add oil to it. Then heat your pan, add just a little butter, when it gets hot spoon in a ladle of batter and be quick when turning the pancake – they will be ready rather fast.

Here – if you prefer the original (or the Google translate funk):
http://ivkusnoiprosto.ru/bliny-i-oladi/zavarnye-bliny-na-kefire.html

P.S. I should give credit for the Maslenitsa event. It was organized by At the Immigrant’s Table:
https://www.facebook.com/immigrantstable/