By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026
In Russia and Ukraine, oladyi are small, thick pancakes, and when summer brings armfuls of zucchini, the vegetable goes straight into the batter with grated hard cheese. Thick, mildly sour milk kefir makes a tender batter with a gentle tang, while baking powder gives the lift. Fry them in batches until golden, then pile them up with a bowl of sour cream alongside.
A summer pancake from the Slavic kitchen
The word for these pancakes was first recorded in 1470, and the dish appears in a sixteenth-century Russian household manual. The classic batter is wheat or sometimes buckwheat flour, eggs, milk, salt and sugar, and it may be made with kefir, soured milk or yoghurt. In Eastern Slavic cooking the same name also covers vegetable fritters. Zucchini oladyi are treated as a must-have of zucchini season, eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are good hot or cold, which makes them handy for a picnic.
Squeeze the zucchini, and the rest follows
Grated zucchini holds a lot of water, and a wet mixture is the main reason fritters fall apart or seem raw in the middle. Grating on the medium holes helps, because very fine grating releases more juice and then needs more flour. Salt draws out juice too, so it goes into the kefir rather than onto the zucchini ahead of time. The flour you need varies with the zucchini, the egg and the flour itself, so add it gradually until the batter falls slowly from the spoon. Keep the heat moderate, because oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre is cooked.
Sour cream, dill and other good company
Sour cream is the classic partner, either plain or stirred with garlic and dill. Fried onions, fresh vegetables, cream cheese or lightly salted fish also go well alongside. For the batter itself, try garlic, dill, parsley, spring onion, feta or a pinch of paprika. In Taiwan fresh dill is seasonal, and dried dill works when there is none, with a milder aroma. A thin, crisp cousin from Beijing is made with shredded zucchini and dipped in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic.
Russian zucchini and cheese kefir fritters
Ingredients
- 300 g zucchini Choose a young zucchini. Remove any tough skin or large seeds before weighing; weigh before squeezing.
- 150 ml plain milk kefir
- 1 egg
- 50 g hard cheese Grate before using; cheddar is one option.
- 100 g all-purpose flour Add gradually, stopping when the batter falls slowly from a spoon. If it still runs freely, add a little extra flour.
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt Use less if the cheese is very salty.
- 30 ml vegetable oil For frying; divide between batches.
You will need
- Box grater
- Mixing bowl and whisk
- Frying pan and spatula
- Tablespoon
- Plate and kitchen paper
- Food thermometer
Instructions
- Grate the washed zucchini through the medium holes of a grater.
- Squeeze the grated zucchini firmly to remove excess water.
- Whisk the milk kefir, egg and salt together in a mixing bowl.
- Stir the grated cheese and squeezed zucchini into the kefir and egg mixture.
- Stir in the flour and baking powder gradually to make a thick batter that falls slowly from a spoon, adding a little more flour if it is still runny.
- Rest the batter for 5–10 minutes.
- Heat some of the oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat.
- Fry spoonfuls of batter, about 1 tbsp per fritter, for 2–3 minutes until golden underneath.
- Flip the fritters and fry for another 2–3 minutes, until golden on the second side and cooked through in the centre.
- Cook the remaining batter in batches, topping up with the remaining oil as needed and placing each cooked batch on kitchen paper to drain.
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