Ukrainian potato pancakes (Deruny)

Potato pancakes or Deruny in Ukrainian is a delicious dish you can make as a main course or side dish. My Mom has made these for as long as I can remember, especially during Lent at Easter time. They are simple to make and use ingredients you usually have in your kitchen, which is potatoes, onions, eggs and flour. There are other versions and variations of this recipe, I am sharing the recipe that I make. The pancakes can be served with sour cream or with dry curd cottage cheese mixed with sour cream, salt and pepper which is how my family enjoys them. You can also add fresh chopped dill to the sour cream for another delicious option.

Method:
1. Peel the potatoes and onions.
2. In a large bowl, grate the potatoes and onion using a hand grater or food processor. If using a hand grater, I prefer the star option for a smoother batter. When you grate your onion, the onion juice will prevent your potatoes from turning brown. If you use a larger shred for your potatoes, it may take a bit longer to fry to soften the raw potatoes.
3. Add your beaten egg(s), flour, salt, pepper or onion soup mix and mix well until all the flour and egg are combined and there are no lumps. The batter should be a bit runny so you can ladle it into your frying pan. If you find your batter is too funny for you, just add a bit more flour to thicken it up.
4. For the cottage cheese topping, put the cottage cheese in a large bowl. I use a pastry cutter and mash the curds so that they are fairly fine. You can use a food processor for this as well or leave the curds the size you prefer. Add the sour cream, salt and pepper. Mix well. You can add more sour cream if you'd like. You can also add fresh chopped dill as well to the cottage cheese mixture or sour cream, no specific amount. Just measure that stuff with your heart, kind of like when you add garlic to any recipe! I always have some frozen dill from my garden in my freezer and use that when I’m needing to add dill to any recipe.
5. Add your oil to your frying pan, enough to coat the bottom of your pan. Make sure you have enough oil so that your batter doesn't stick to your pan.
6. Add about 3-4 tablespoons of your batter at a time, depending on how big you want your pancakes. NOTE: Before I cook an entire batch of pancakes, I usually add about 1 tablespoon of the batter and fry the pancake on both sides until it is cooked, nice and golden brown on both sides and taste it. This is when I add more salt or pepper to taste. You can add more onion if you like as well.
7. Ladle the rest of the batter in the size of pancakes you like into the pan. Fry one side until it is golden brown, flip it and cook the other side until golden brown. You may need to add more oil as you fry your pancakes as they will absorb some of the oil as they cook and to prevent them from sticking to your pan.
8. Once your pancakes are all cooked, top them with sour cream or the cottage cheese mixture.
9. I have also added a bit of bacon fat to my oil when I have fried my pancakes if I have some on hand. This adds a really nice flavor and the pancakes crisp up nicely as well.
10. Enjoy!