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329 recipes

Podsolnechnaya khalva (sunflower seed halva)

In Russia and Ukraine, where sunflowers cover the southern steppe, halva means sunflower halva rather than the sesame kind: grey-brown, crumbly slabs sold by weight at markets and eaten with tea at any time of day, especially through the long winter. It tastes deeply of toasted seeds, with a sandy, flaky texture that breaks into strands and melts on the tongue. Serve it in small pieces with black tea, crumble it over porridge, or eat it with fresh apple slices. Factory halva is lightened with a foam of soapwort root, and some old recipes use whipped egg white; this home version needs neither. Sugar syrup cooked to the firm-ball stage is beaten straight into warm, finely ground seeds, and as the syrup cools it crystallises and binds the oily seed paste into a sliceable block, naturally egg-free. Chef's tip: grind the seeds until they just start to clump and look oily, not into smooth butter; the common mistake is over-grinding, which gives a dense, fudgy slab instead of crumbly halva.

230 minRussianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Petushok na palochke (Russian rooster lollipops)

For generations of Russian children the 'little rooster on a stick' meant the fair: sellers at markets, Maslenitsa celebrations and seaside promenades held up bunches of the amber cockerels, and many families still own an old two-part metal mould and cast their own at home. The lollipop is hard and glassy, with a pale caramel colour and a clean, slightly tangy taste of cooked sugar, sometimes with a splash of fruit juice for colour. Serve them as a party treat or wrap them as small gifts. They are naturally egg-free: the only thing that sets them is sugar boiled to the hard-crack stage, while a little lemon juice stops it crystallising so the candy stays clear. Chef's tip: oil the mould lightly but thoroughly, then wipe away any pools; the common mistake is skipping this, and the cockerels then stick and snap at the tail when you open the mould.

45 minRussianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tvorozhnaya massa s izyumom (sweet tvorog cream with raisins)

All over Russia, tvorozhnaya massa is the smooth, sweet curd cheese of childhood breakfasts and afternoon teas, and at Easter it is the base of paskha. Fresh tvorog is pressed through a sieve and beaten with soft butter, sugar and vanilla until it is pale and fluffy, then raisins are stirred in. It is creamy and tangy, sweet but light, and high in protein. Spread it on bread, spread it on rye toast or eat it from a bowl with tea and berries. Nothing is cooked and no egg goes in: beating the butter into the sieved curd gives it a mousse-like body, and it firms up nicely in the fridge, so nothing is needed to bind or set it. Chef's tip: soften the butter fully and sieve the tvorog first; the common mistake is beating cold butter into grainy curd, which leaves hard flecks and a lumpy, heavy cream.

15 minRussianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salat iz ogurtsov i pomidorov (Russian cucumber and tomato salad)

From Moscow dachas to Siberian kitchens, this is the salad that sits on almost every summer table: cucumber, ripe tomato and onion chopped together with dill, dressed either with smetana for a creamy version or with unrefined sunflower oil, whose nutty taste is the flavour of the Russian countryside. It is eaten beside boiled potatoes, kasha or grilled food, and it is made minutes before the meal. The usual mistake is salting it early: the tomatoes and cucumbers release their juice and the salad turns into a watery soup. Chef's tip: if you can find it, use unrefined, cold-pressed sunflower oil; it tastes of toasted seeds and makes the plainest salad sing.

10 minRussianSaladsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tvorog so smetanoy (farmer's cheese with sour cream)

Across Russia, a bowl of soft tvorog with a spoon of smetana and a little sugar or jam is the breakfast grandmothers swear by and the supper students live on. The fresh, slightly sour curd and the cool cream make something like a rustic cheesecake you eat with a spoon, high in protein and ready in five minutes; add berries in summer. Tvorog, like quark and cottage cheese, is set with culture rather than rennet, so it suits vegetarians. The mistake is buying the driest block and serving it as it is, which feels chalky; break it up and loosen it with the smetana first. Chef's tip: mash the tvorog with the sugar and let it stand two minutes so the sugar dissolves before you add the cream.

5 minRussianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Grechka s molokom (buckwheat with milk)

Grechka s molokom, buckwheat groats cooked soft and served in a bowl of warm milk with a little butter, is the breakfast or light supper that generations of Russian children have eaten at home and in nursery school. The groats are earthy and nutty and the milk makes them gentle and sweet-tasting, without any sugar. Buckwheat is naturally gluten free (despite its name); the dish contains milk and has no egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: use toasted buckwheat (the brown kind sold for kasha), which has the rounder, nuttier flavour.

25 minRussianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Stolichny keksRaisin loaf cake

Stolichny keks, the 'capital city' cake, was made to a fixed state recipe in Soviet bakeries and sold in waxed paper in every Moscow grocery: a tall, buttery loaf with a cracked top, a fine yellow crumb and so many raisins that each slice is studded with them. People still bake it at home for New Year and for guests, and it keeps well for a week, wrapped, next to the teapot. Some cooks plump the raisins in brandy or cognac; this recipe soaks them in hot water and lemon juice instead, and a spoonful of brandy can go into the soak if you like. Under-creamed butter is the usual problem: the cake comes out heavy and greasy, so beat the butter and icing sugar until really pale. Chef's tip: dry the soaked raisins on a towel and roll them in flour; wet raisins all sink to the bottom.

95 minRussianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KrendelSweet pretzel-shaped bread

Name days and birthdays in old Russia called for a krendel: one huge pretzel-shaped sweet loaf, carried to the table whole and torn apart over tea from the samovar. The shape is said to come from Baltic and German bakers in St Petersburg, but the bread itself is very Russian, a buttery yeast dough rolled around cinnamon sugar so the crumb streaks with spice. Serve it with tea, jam or honey and a bowl of sour cream. The pretzel is made from one long filled roll, slit open down its length so the layers show; forgetting to chill the filled roll before slitting is what makes the filling smear and the shape slump. Chef's tip: shape it straight on the lined tray rather than lifting it afterwards, as a filled rope this long tears easily.

180 minRussianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Borodinsky breadDark sourdough rye with coriander

Moscow's darkest everyday loaf is said to be named after the 1812 Battle of Borodino, though the recipe bakers follow today was fixed by the city's bread trust in 1933. Borodinsky (Бородинский хлеб) is a dense, moist sourdough rye, sweet-sour from molasses and red fermented rye malt, with whole coriander seeds crackling on the crust. Russians slice it thin for breakfast with butter and salted cucumbers, alongside borscht or herring for meat-eaters, or under a slice of cheese with strong tea. The method looks long, but most of it is the starter and the scald quietly working on their own. The usual mistake is cutting it on baking day: rye crumb needs a full day wrapped in a cloth to set, and a warm loaf is gummy right through. Chef's tip: red fermented rye malt gives the colour and the deep flavour; plain diastatic malt will not do the same job, so look for the reddish-brown 'fermented' kind in Eastern European shops.

1120 minRussianBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Glazirovanny syrok (chocolate-glazed curd bars)

Glazirovanny syrok, the chocolate-coated curd cheese bar, has been sold in Russian dairy aisles since Soviet times and is still what children across Russia, Ukraine and the Baltics grab after school. Made at home, it is a firm, creamy, gently sweet vanilla tvorog filling under a thin snap of dark chocolate, like a tiny cheesecake bar. This version uses less sugar than shop bars. It contains milk (and may contain soya in the chocolate). Chef's tip: press the tvorog through a sieve first; it is the only way to get the smooth, dense texture of a real syrok.

30 minRussianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kartofelnaya zapekankaBaked mashed potato

Kindergarten kitchens across the USSR baked this in huge trays, and it is still the Wednesday supper many Russians remember: a layer of soft mashed potato, a layer of minced beef fried with onion, more mash on top, brushed with egg and sour cream so it browns in the oven. It is Russia's answer to cottage pie, eaten with pickled cucumbers or a beetroot salad. For a vegetarian version, swap the mince for 500 g chopped mushrooms fried until dry. The common mistake is a wet mince layer, which makes the potato slide off when you cut it. Chef's tip: let the bake rest for ten minutes after it leaves the oven; it slices into neat squares instead of collapsing.

75 minRussianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

TefteliMeatballs in tomato sauce

Ask anyone who went to a Soviet school canteen and they will remember tefteli: soft meatballs studded with rice, served in a ladle of tomato sauce with buckwheat or mashed potato. They are still the go-to dinner for small children from Moscow to Yekaterinburg because they are tender enough to cut with a spoon. They are softer and plainer than kotlety and are always cooked in sauce, never just fried. The common mistake is boiling the sauce hard, which breaks the meatballs apart. Chef's tip: roll each ball with wet hands and leave them in the fridge for 15 minutes before cooking; they hold together much better.

55 minRussianMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Prague cake

Despite its name, Prague cake was born in Moscow, created in the 1950s by the confectioner at the Praga restaurant on the Arbat, and it became one of the most coveted cakes of Soviet celebrations. Three layers of dark sour-cream chocolate sponge are sandwiched with silky chocolate buttercream made with condensed milk, then brushed with apricot jam and covered in a shiny chocolate glaze. It is served for anniversaries and birthdays in thin slices with black tea. The common mistake is glazing a warm cake, so the glaze slides off the sides. Chef's tip: chill the filled cake for an hour before the jam and glaze go on; the surface sets smooth and glossy.

100 minRussianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fried courgette with garlic mayonnaise

When the dacha beds in the Moscow region overflow with courgettes in July, this is what appears on the veranda table: rounds of courgette dusted in flour, fried until golden, then stacked in a dish with garlicky mayonnaise, tomato slices and dill. It is served cool as a zakuska with bread or beside new potatoes, and it tastes even better after an hour in the fridge. The common mistake is cutting the slices too thin, so they fall apart and soak up oil. Chef's tip: salt the slices for ten minutes and pat them dry before flouring; they fry crisper and spit far less.

30 minRussianSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lenivye golubtsyLazy cabbage roll patties

Rolling proper golubtsy takes an afternoon, so Soviet working mothers invented the lazy version: shred the cabbage, mix it straight into the mince and rice, shape oval patties and braise them in a tomato and sour-cream sauce. It became a staple of factory canteens in Leningrad and Kyiv and is now a weeknight dinner across Russia, served with mashed potato or just bread. The patties taste exactly like stuffed cabbage, only softer. The mince is beef and pork. The common mistake is using raw rice, which stays hard inside the patties; it must be part-cooked first. Chef's tip: squeeze the blanched cabbage hard in a cloth, or the patties will be too wet to hold their shape.

70 minRussianMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RybnikFish pie

Along the shores of Lake Onega in Karelia and through the Russian North, rybnik is the Sunday and holiday pie: a whole cleaned fish, traditionally pike-perch, bream or whitefish, sealed in rye dough with butter and onion and baked until the crust turns into its own oven. At the table the top crust is cut away like a lid, the fish is eaten from the bones with the juices, and the crust soaked in them is the best part. The common mistake is underbaking, which leaves the fish raw by the spine. Chef's tip: use a fish no thicker than 4 cm and score it on both sides so the heat reaches the middle; it is done when the flesh is opaque and flakes from the bone.

120 minRussianFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zebra cake

Russian mothers learned the trick of zebra cake from Soviet women's magazines in the 1980s: spoon a vanilla and a cocoa batter alternately into the centre of the tin and the rings spread out by themselves into stripes. Cut open at a birthday tea or on a Sunday afternoon in Moscow flats, it always draws a gasp from children. The sponge is made with sour cream, so it stays moist for days. The common mistake is spreading the batter with a spoon, which smears the stripes. Chef's tip: drop each spoonful exactly in the middle of the previous one and let gravity do the work.

70 minRussianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sweet sorrel pie

In late May and June, sorrel is the first thing to grow thick in dacha gardens around Moscow and Kaluga, and grandmothers turn the sour leaves into a sweet pie that tastes surprisingly like rhubarb. Shredded sorrel is tossed with sugar and a little starch and baked between two layers of soft sour-cream pastry, then eaten in thick slices with tea or cold milk. The common mistake is mixing the sugar into the sorrel too early, which draws out the juice and floods the pastry. Chef's tip: layer the dry leaves into the pie and sprinkle the sugar and starch over them right before you close the lid.

70 minRussianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

VarenyeFruit preserve in syrup

Varenye is not quite jam: whole berries or fruit are steeped and cooked in short bursts so they stay intact in a clear, glossy syrup. All summer at dachas around Moscow and Vladimir, copper basins of strawberry, cherry or gooseberry varenye bubble outside, and in winter it is spooned into tiny glass rosettes and eaten with tea, sometimes straight from the spoon between sips. The common mistake is boiling it in one long go, which turns the fruit to mush. Chef's tip: cook it in three short boils with long rests between; the fruit soaks up syrup slowly and stays whole.

780 minRussianBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

OladyiKefir pancakes

Saturday breakfast in a Soviet flat often began with the sizzle of oladyi: thick little pancakes, no bigger than a saucer rim, made from kefir that had soured a day too long. Grandmothers from Samara to Novosibirsk still drop spoonfuls of the batter into hot oil and stack the puffed, golden rounds on a plate to eat with smetana, honey or a dish of cherry varenye. Unlike blini they are fat and spongy, with a lacy crisp edge. The common mistake is beating the batter after the soda goes in, which knocks out the bubbles and gives flat, rubbery pancakes. Chef's tip: warm the kefir slightly before mixing; the soda reacts faster and the oladyi rise noticeably higher.

30 minRussianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PastilaBaked apple sheets

Long before chocolate reached Russia, the merchants of Kolomna near Moscow and Belyov in the Tula region were drying whipped apple into thin, cloud-soft sheets in their stove ovens and selling them in tins at winter fairs. Today pastila is again a souvenir and a tea-table treat: whipped baked-apple purée is spread thin, dried slowly until leathery yet tender, then stacked in layers and cut into bars. It is fat-free and naturally gluten-free. The common mistake is too hot an oven, which browns and cracks the sheets. Chef's tip: dry it with the oven door wedged open with a wooden spoon; it needs gentle warmth and escaping steam, not baking.

480 minRussianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Crab stick salad

On 31 December, alongside Olivier and herring under a fur coat, almost every Russian table carries a bowl of crab stick salad. It arrived in the 1980s when cheap crab sticks reached Soviet shops, and it stayed: chopped surimi, hard-boiled egg, sweetcorn, cucumber and rice bound in mayonnaise, eaten through the New Year holidays. Crab sticks are made from white fish, so this salad is not vegetarian; check the label if you need it gluten free, as some brands add wheat starch. The common mistake is dressing it hours ahead, which makes the rice soggy and the cucumber watery. Chef's tip: mix everything except the mayonnaise in advance and stir that in just before the salad goes on the table.

35 minRussianSaladsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GrenkiGarlic fried rye bread

In Moscow bars and railway buffets a plate of grenki, strips of dark Borodinsky-style rye fried until crunchy and rubbed with raw garlic, comes with every order of kvass, and at home they are what you make with the end of the loaf on a Friday night. They are also dropped into bowls of pea soup or borscht. The bread should be crisp outside and still a little chewy in the middle. The common mistake is rubbing the garlic on cold bread: it only works while the toast is hot and rough. Chef's tip: use bread a day or two old; fresh rye soaks up oil like a sponge.

15 minRussianSnacks & StartersVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MuraveynikAnthill cake

Muraveynik is the 'anthill' that Soviet home bakers built for birthdays when shop cakes were hard to come by: crisp shortbread is baked, broken into crumbs, bound with boiled condensed milk and butter, then heaped into a little mountain and sprinkled with poppy seeds for the ants. It needs no tin and no layering, sets in the fridge, and is still a favourite at children's parties from Moscow to Omsk. The common mistake is crumbling the biscuit too fine, which makes a dense block instead of a craggy, crunchy heap. Chef's tip: break the dough through the coarse holes of a mincer or grater before baking so the crumbs are uneven and crisp.

50 minRussianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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