Potatonik may refer to two distinct potato-based dishes derived from Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine.
[1] Another dish, apparently unrelated but called by the same name, is essentially a very large latke meant to be cut into wedges at the table.
"Potatonik" is an Anglicization of the Yiddish kartoflnik that appeared in Ashkenazi-American communities – the word kartofl is one of many Yiddish terms for potato, and the suffix -nik indicates something associated with a specified thing or quality and creates an "agent noun" in Slavic languages.
Thus, [kartoflnik] held onto its potato-y flavor, while also remaining a member of the kugel family."
A related dish, ulnik, used buckwheat flour with grated potato, but no yeast.