My mother and husband make the most awesome potato fry that I was never able to replicate. I then figured out my own recipe that is super easy to make and sometimes, tastes better! LOL. This potato fry is great with rasam rice, kootu, sambar rice and if you squeeze a little lime on it, the best beer food EVER. So here is how we do:
Note: If you're new to cooking in the US, you'll find a lot of potato varieties: yukon gold, russet potatoes, red potatoes, etc. If you're looking at trying desi (Indian) recipes, russet potatoes work best in my opinion. For more spud-related trivia, check out Alton Brown's potato fundas. This is an awesome way to 'get rid of old potato stock.'
1. Pressure cook four giant (yeah, they look mutant compared to desi potatoes, so I call them mutant thanks to my frame of reference) potatoes in a pressure cooker with the peel on.
2. Peel potatoes and cut them into 1" x 1" cubes.
3. In a cast iron skillet (or your usual kadai), start your tadka (garnish): 2 tbsp oil (canola, vegetable, sunflower, or sesame seed), 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds), 3 dried red chilles (dried red peppers of any kind), a spring of (5-6 leaves) curry leaves (you can skip this if its not in your pantry) and 1 tsp asofoetida (hing to desis; this reduces your chance of being a biological weapon at work and giving new meaning to f-bombs).
Note: The mustard seeds will start spluttering in a while, so be careful if you're not a fan of hot, vicious, biodegradable things out to get you.
4. Optional: Cut onions in half and slice them thin. Add them to the skillet once the mustard seeds have spluttered. If you're new to cooking, then this will help you in the step 6.
5. Put the cubed potatoes in the skillet and mix.
6. Add salt (to your taste), chilli powder (paprika will also do; according to your taste) and 1 tsp turmeric to the potatoes and mix them really well and be careful not to mash the boiled potatoes in the process.
Note: You may want to add a little more heat (paprika/black pepper/chilli powder) and cut up a few chillies (serrano peppers) very fine if you're making this beer food. Tip: I use a baking sheet in step 7 and toss things around on the sheet instead of the skillet because I make this in large quantities and my skillet is not enough for all the potatoes. When I use the baking sheet, I line it with aluminium foil so it is easy to clean and also gives the potato a nice roasted look.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 F and cook the potatoes for 35-45 mins or till it gets as crisp as you want it to be.
Note: Avoid opening and closing the oven since you will increase cooking time further by letting the heat escape (trust me, you will be tempted, but DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN till 30 minutes have passed).
8. Spray the potatoes with a cooking oil/butter spray for it to look oily and unhealthy (its not, but only you know that and everyone will think you slaved over the stove all day!). If you don't have a spray, then just drizzle a little oil over the potatoes.
9. Serve with hot rasam rice! If you made it for beer food, then squeeze a little lime/lemon over it, and garnish with raw onions and coriander (cilantro).
