Cottage Cheese Syrniki

This is one of my favorites from the former USSR, albeit in a North American incarnation. Normally - in Ukraine or Russia anyways - these would be made with творог ("tvoroh" or farmer's cheese), not cottage cheese. Farmer's cheese is usually less accessible where I live than cottage cheese is, however, hence the substitution! I've enjoyed these for years, so if you live somewhere with a similar issue this recipe is worth a try!

Cottage Cheese Syrniki
(10 servings)

Ingredients
2 cup of small curd cottage cheese*
4 eggs (beaten)
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Vegetable oil (as needed)

Jam (to serve)

Sour cream (to serve)

*This is one small container where I live currently.

Directions
1) Mix the cottage cheese, eggs, and sugar in a mixing bowl and the dry ingredients in a smaller bowl.
2) Gradually blend the dry ingredients into the cottage cheese and eggs until thoroughly combined.
3) Heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pan or wok over medium heat until hot, then put 1/3 cup of the batter in (I will usually play with it as I pour to make it relatively even and circular.) and cook for 3 or 4 minutes before flipping and cooking for another 2 or 3 minutes or until both sides are nicely golden brown.

4) Repeat until the batter's used up. Once the pan's well oiled and hot I find I don't usually need too much more oil - when the pan starts looking a little dry I'll add another tablespoon.

5) Serve the syrniki hot or warm with a dollop of jam and sour cream, and enjoy!