Shrove Tuesday with a twist

Udmurt Tabani pancakes with mushrooms!

These sourdough pancakes with mushrooms are a delicious twist on a more classic repertoire. They are from my new cookbook Kapusta (out now!)

This is a fascinating recipe from the Udmurt people, an ethnic group close to the Fins and the Hungarians, who reside in the Eastern European side of the Ural Mountains (as well as in part of Ukraine, Estonia and Kazakhstan). Tabani are a culinary classic, usually prepared for celebratory weekend breakfasts. Made with a sourdough starter, they are either served plain smothered in butter or with various toppings, such as mushrooms, and are always served with a side of zyret, a sort of a bechamel dipping sauce. While traditionally they were always baked in a cast-iron pan inside a wood-fired oven, called pech’,  these days tabani can be made on a stove in any frying pan. I have to admit, I have never come across this dish until now, and absolutely loved its unique yet familiar combination of sour pancakes, earthy mushrooms and a creamy sauce. 

Makes 8-10

For the batter 

450ml of milk

230g flour 

1 tsp of dried yeast 

2 tbsp of caster sugar 

1 tsp of salt

For the mushrooms
25g salted butter 

1 onion or 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced
200g of mushrooms, roughly chopped  

2 garlic cloves, finely grated 

Salt and pepper to taste 

For zyret

300ml of whole milk

2 tbsp of flour 

Pinch of salt and sugar 

50g butter 

More butter for frying and greasing

Make the sourdough starter by mixing milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Whisk in ½ of the flour until smooth and leave to rest for 8 hours or overnight. 

You can make all the elements in advance, and finish cooking in the morning.

Make the mushrooms by frying the onion or shallots in butter with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes on low heat, then add the mushrooms and garlic, season with pepper and more salt and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Set aside.

To make the zyret place the milk in a saucepan, reserving a couple of tablespoons in a small bowl. Add the flour to the small bowl and whisk until smooth.

Place the milk saucepan on a low heat, tip in the flour mix, add the sugar and salt, and warm it up stirring constantly without boiling. When the mixture is hot and starts to thicken, take off the heat and stir in the butter. 

Leave to cool until needed for serving.

To finish the pancakes add the rest of the flour and salt to the sourdough starter, mix well, and leave to rest for 40 minutes. 

Heat up a cast-iron pan (or any frying pan that you’d usually use to make pancakes), melt a small knob of butter and pour in a ladle of the batter. 

Once the bubbles start to appear, add 2 tbsp of the filling across the pancake while the batter is still wet, and let the mix cook through. Then carefully flip the pancake and cook on the other side for 1 minute. 

Grease with butter, and keep stacking the rest of the pancakes with a little knob of butter in between, until you have run out. 

Serve with the zyret dipping sauce, and you can of course add some fresh parsley or dill on top.