Machanka

Ingredients

• Pork shoulder — diced500 g
• Smoked sausage250 g
• Smoked ribs250 g
• Onion2
• Soured cream300 ml
• Flour2 tbsp
• Bay leaf2
• Flour for pancakes250 g
• Milk500 ml
• Eggs2
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Brown the pork well, add the onion and fry until soft.

   15 min

2. 2

   Add the sliced sausage and ribs, pour in a cup of water, add the bay and stew twenty-five minutes.

   27 min

3. 3

   Whisk the flour into the soured cream until smooth and stir it into the pot.

   6 min

4. 4

   Simmer ten minutes on a low heat, until the gravy thickens to the consistency of pouring cream.

   12 min

5. 5

   Whisk a pancake batter from the flour, milk, eggs and salt and let it stand fifteen minutes.

   20 min

6. 6

   Cook thin unsweetened pancakes in a dry pan.

   20 min

7. 7

   Serve the machanka in a deep bowl with the pancakes stacked beside it. You tear off a piece and dip.

   4 min

About the dish

Machanka is neither a soup nor a sauce but a gravy for dipping: thick enough to cling to a pancake, loose enough to dip into.

The pancakes are plain, made on water or milk without sugar. A sweet pancake does not work against a salty meat gravy at all.

Two kinds of meat go in: fresh pork and smoked sausage. The first brings tenderness, the second the smell, and neither is enough alone.

Worth knowing

• — The soured cream goes in only slackened with flour and over a low heat. Into boiling liquid it splits into curds.
• — Adjust the thickness with water or broth, not more cream: extra cream makes the gravy sour.
• — Draniki are served instead of pancakes just as often — in Belarusian villages the two are equal options.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

780 kcal

Protein

34 g

Fat

46 g

Carbs

54 g

More from Belarus

• Draniki — Potato pancakes from raw grated potato, fried to a crisp edge and served with soured cream.