Blini

Blini(pluralblinisorblini, rarelybliny;Russian:блиныpl.,Ukrainian: млинці pl.,mlyntsi), singular:blin, are anEastern Europeanpancakemade from  various kinds of flour ofbuckwheat, wheat, etc. They may be served withsmetana,cottage cheese,caviarand other garnishes, or simply smeared withbutter. They are a traditionalSlavicdish.
In the West, blini traditionally refers to small savory pancakes made with leavened batter. In modern Russian, the term most often refers to pan-sized leavened thin pancakes, although smaller leavened pancakes are also called blini. Smaller and thicker pancakes (with  several of them baked on one larger pan) are calledoladyi.
Blintzes, calledblinchiki(little blinis) in Russian are an offshoot of blini orcrêpes. They are basicallyrollsbased on thin pancakes usually made of wheat flour, folded to form a casing for various kinds of filing, typically cheese, fruit, or (in Russian cuisine) pre-friedminced meat, and then sautéed or baked.
TheProto-Slavicterm for the Russian pancakes was probablymlinŭ,which transformed in Old East Slavic intomlinъ, blinъ(млинъ, блинъ), (cf.mlynets(млинець),Ukrainianforblin). It is derived from the verb моло́ть, "tomill", "to grind".Max Vasmerin hisEtymological Dictionary of Russian languagenotes that a similar word is used in many Slavic languages, as well as in Latvian and Lithuanian.While the Russian wordблины́bliný(plural ofблинblin) refers in modern Russian also to the introduced foreignpancakesin general; meanwhile the termру́сские блины́rússkiye bliný(Russian pancakes) is often emphasized in Russia for differentiation.
Some English dictionaries record usage of the formsblinas singular andbliniorblinyas plural, which corresponds to the original Russian forms, but other dictionaries consider this usage so rare in English that they do not mentionblinat all and only record the widespread modern regular usage ofblinifor the singular andblinisfor the plural.
Blini were considered by earlyEast Slavic peopleinpre-Christiantimes to be a symbol of thesundue to their round form.They were traditionally prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Butter Week, orMaslenitsa, also called "pancake week").The tradition of a dairy festival at that time of year was adopted by theOrthodox churchas a way of using up dairy products before the start ofGreat Lent. This tradition is observed by Western Christians asPancake Day.Drochena, a kind of blini, was also served atwakesto commemorate the recently deceased. Blini are considered to be the traditional meal inLithuanianculture onShrove Tuesday.
Traditional Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then diluted withmilk,soured milk, and cold or boiling water. When diluted with boiling water, they are referred to as zavarniye bliny. A lighter and thinner form made from unyeasted batter (usually made of flour, eggs, milk, or soured milk,kefir,ryazhenka,varenets) is also common in Russia. Traditionally, blini are baked in aRussian oven. The process of preparing blini is still referred to as baking in Russian, even though they are nowadays pan-fried, like pancakes. All kinds of flour may be used, fromwheatandbuckwheattooatmealandmillet, although wheat is currently the most popular.
Some ways that blini are prepared and served include the following:
They may be folded or rolled into a tube with sweet or salty fillings such asvarenye, fruit, berry, mashed potatoes,tvorog, cookedground meat, cookedchicken, salmon, chopped boiled eggs with green onions or chopped mushrooms.
Aside from referring to pancakes, the wordblin(блин) is used in Russian as a "minced oath" for theRussian swear word"блять"blyat', used as an interjection to express a negative emotion, akin to the words "damn!" or saying "Holy Moly!" while meaning "Holy shit!".
There are many  Russian proverbs involvingblini.For example, "Первый блин комом" ("The firstblinis lumpy") is a figurative saying that the first attempt to do something is expected to be unsuccessful, said to calm down the person who failed the first try.An English equivalent would be "You must spoil before you spin".