Skip to main content

Blintz: An Uzbek Recipe From My Uzbek Grandmas

I know about 5 words in Tajik but every word I use makes my Uzbek grandmas laugh and clap their hands with exuberance like I'm so amazing. When I see them I give them big hugs and say "Ona Jon!" (my husband's grandma - Ona is grandma if I spelled it right) and "Holla Jon!" (her sister) and they say "Kylie Jon!" and kiss me on the cheek. We communicate with Fayoz's native language - gestures. Their favorite gesture is to rub my belly, pretend to rock a baby and then clasp their hands together with a pleading gesture. Silly grandmas. I love them.

My Uzbek grandmas speaking at our Uzbek wedding (I wish we could understand them!)
In Uzbekistan, grandmas are treated like queens (as they should be!). These grandmas fly back and forth from Uzbekistan to live with various children and grandchildren. They come live here for months at a time and sleep on mats on the floor (apparently that's comfortable to them). 

Selfie! That's Holla Jon on the left and Ona Jon on the right.

While they are here the grandmas looove to cook us incredible food, and their favorite breakfast is blintz. Blintz is basically a crepe, but I like to think this recipe is ultra special, because everything is special when it's made by the my Uzbek grandmas.

Uzbek Blintz from Uzbek Grandmas 
Makes about 10
You will need:
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1 c flour
  • Milk for consistency (I've cheated and used water too)
What to do:
  • Mix ingredients with a whisk. Add the milk until it's runny. 
  • Put a bit of oil or butter in a pan, heat on medium.
  • Pour 1/2 cup of batter into heated pan and tilt the pan so the batter covers the entire pan. Let it heat until the edges are dry.
This is what it looks like when it's ready to flip
  • Flip, cook the other side.
  • When it's done, start stacking it on a plate and REPEAT (except I don't re-grease).
Almost done!

The Traditional Filling:
Farmers cheese
Sour cream (if I'm out I replace with plain yogurt)
A bit of sugar (to taste)

Mix it together and wrap it up like this:



That's the legit Uzbek filling, but of course you can get creative! Here are our favorites:

Fayoz's Favorite Fillings
  • Sweetened condensed milk with raspberries
  • Bananas, whipped cream and caramel
Kylie's Favorite Fillings
  • Peanut butter and yogurt
  • Swiss cheese, deli turkey and cream cheese


Hopefully yours turned out so good, they inspire this kind of reaction!

He raves about everything I cook for him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Questions People Ask When They Find Out My Husband is Deaf

When it comes out that my husband is deaf, I'm usually the first person people have met with a deaf husband. Here are some of the most common questions/reactions and the answers: 1. Does that mean you know sign language? When I first got asked this question I was surprised. My husband is deaf, of course I know sign language! However, I have since realized that some hearing/deaf couples really can talk to each other, lip read or use a mix of ASL and speaking. In my case, yes I know sign language and yes I am fluent and it is the way I communicate with my huz. 2. How did you learn ASL? Some hearing wives are native signers with deaf siblings or parents and have grown up in the deaf community. I'm not. I took two high school classes and one semester in college and that's it. I was never super into it (I actually took it because it was easy), but when I met my husband I just fell in love with him and he taught me almost everything I know. Fortunately I picked it up pretty...

The Stranger Who Changed My Life

Today is last day ever that I won't be a mom. Tomorrow I will meet my little boy. My Pregnant Timeline I spent the first couple of months after I found out I was pregnant in shock. I felt that this was the right time but I had no idea how things were going to work out for us. I was working my tail off in NYC, I had very little support and I was depressed. I literally felt like an alien had invaded my body - a feeling that took me completely off guard and I never thought would be associated with my own pregnancy. I just didn't know how in the world I was going to care for this little person in our situation. I was so frustrated with my own lack of faith! Why couldn't I be like Mary? She simply said "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word" and then went on to sing a song of joy and rejoicing. She did this with no idea what would happen to her at that point and she could have been killed when her family and Joseph found out...

Embarassing Moment Part II: Our Second Chance!

So remember that one time we asked if someone was a man or woman on the bus and they started signing to us? I sincerely thought neither of us would ever see that person again. I was wrong. Fayoz was taking the bus to work the other day and looked up to see a familiar face on the other side of the bus. With a start he realized this was the same person we had insulted about a year ago. His intimidating features were somewhat softened by his reading glasses as he was reading the morning news. When I saw him, I think I would have had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, but Fayoz is more brave than me. His only thought was that he must take this opportunity to apologize for last year's incident. He walked over, grabbed a seat in front of the person and boldly said: "Hello! I want to say I am really sorry." Looking at Fayoz with a growing recognition the person said "Ah, I remember you. You sat across from me on the bus." Fayoz said, "Yes, ...