Homemade crispy French Fries - a simple and quick vegan recipe

My husband always start a presentation in office with some surprising question to attract the attention of the audience. Once he asked to 40-odd people audience “Who does not like French Fries?” and nobody raised his hand. This proves that the French fries are one of the most popular dishes of world. But talk to a doctor or school nutritionist or any woman concerned over her family’s health and you will find that nobody talks positively about this. The reason behind this is the fat content of the dish which makes it a junk food but one other main reason is that you generally eat this dish in Restaurants and people tend to think it is difficult to make it at home. We can keep it healthy if we can make it in home and that requires an easy recipe which I am now going to present:-

Preparation Time: - 30 min

Cooking Time: - 25 min

Servings: - 3 persons (depends upon individual capacity)

Ingredients:-

1. 2 medium or 1 large potato (approx. 250 gm.)
   
2. Approx 30 Black Pepper corns
3. 1 tsp Paprika (optional)
4. 1 tsp Black Salt or as required to taste
5. 1 tsp Salt or as required
6. 1 tsp Mixed Herbs (Dry Rosemery or Oregano should also do)
7. Sufficient Olive oil for frying

Preparation:-

1. Even before preparing please be informed that generally the Indian potatoes are unsuitable for frying because of their high starch content and watery nature. In West, people use Russet (in USA, Idaho) potatoes for making French fry. But if you follow my recipe this short coming can be overcome. At first take the potato/potatoes and rinse well under tap water. Peel them and remove any eye.
2. Remove the top and bottom part of the potato to get a rectangular shaped slices. Slice them such that the thickness is about ½ inch.
3. Cut the slices into pieces with about ½ inch width. The ultimate shape should be closely matching with what we eat in Restaurants. Here is one secret: - Do not waste pieces which are not of exact rectangular cuboid shapes because taste does not vary if the shape is any different.
   
4. Rinse the potato pieces thoroughly to remove starch from them. Now put the pieces in warm water. Keep aside for 10 minutes.
   
5. Now pat dry the pieces and squeeze so that the watery content of them is reduced.
6. Put all of them in the cold water and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
   
7. Meanwhile smash the black pepper corns with the help of a pestle and mortar. We can use black pepper powder but smashing the corns generate a nice aroma.
8. Mix all the other spices and salt. Keep it aside.
   
9. Take out the potato pieces from refrigerator and again pat dry the pieces with the help of kitchen towel. The potato slices should be completely dry before you start frying them.
10. We all know the French fry means the potatoes which are soft from inside and crispy from outside. This is achieved by two stages of frying – first one with low temperature for the inside to be soft and second time with high temperature to have crispy outer layer.
11. We need to know before frying is that Olive oil spreads most and hence we will need less oil for frying. This reduces the fat content of the fries. But you can use any vegetable oil like sunflower or canola or rice bran oil. I used Sundrop sunflower oil.
12. Heat sufficient oil in wok or pan in medium heat so that the fries can be immersed totally. The burner should be in medium settings so that the oil is about 130~135 degree centigrade (about 300 degree Farenheit) hot.
13. Add the potato in hot oil and start frying. Please remember that the pieces need sufficient space between them to soak the oil properly. Hence it is advised to fry them in batches. I personally prefer two batches as it saves time.
    
14. Stir continuously to fry them for 5~6 min. Please be careful not to change colour of the fries just as yet. Please remove them just before they start to change colour to brownish.
15. Use a slotted spoon or wire mesh to transfer the fries immediately to kitchen towel / tissue paper / brown paper so that extra oil can be soaked. Allow them to cool to room temperature when you fry the next batch.  
16. Put each of the fries in the spice mix so that there is a thin layer of spices coated on each piece.
    
17. Now heat the same oil to high temperature (180~185 degree centigrade or 355 degree Farenheit) and add the half-fried pieces.
18. Again stir continuously for 5~6 min to turn the fries in nice golden yellow colour. This ensures the crispiness.
    
    
    
    
19. Again transfer the fries to paper towel to soak the excess oil. Now your golden crispy yet soft French Fry is ready to be consumed.
    

Serve this snacks with your favorite dips or sauce and enjoy.

Please note that the above recipe suits the Indian tastebuds. If you want more blunt taste you can reduce the black pepper or salt content from the spice mix. Another way to cook these fries in western style would be to fry the second time w/o the spices - sprinkle salt and herbs before serving. 

If you like the recipe, then go to my Facebook Page and like my page for regular updates.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.

Happy Bengali New year - Menu from my kitchen

There are so many recipes we can make on the occasion of NaboBarsho that we cannot count. But we should eat authentic Bengali items for the New Year. In light of that our menu for Bengali New Year is as follows:-

Sundar sokaler menu

Luchi

Cholar Dal

 Dupure jamiye khawadawa

Basanti Pulao 

Mutton Curry

Tomato Khejur Amsotto chutney 

 

Bikeler bhajabhuji

 

Peyaji

Rasagolla chara ki Bengali Menu complete hoy?

Rasgulla/Rasagolla

Shubho Nababarsho - Happy and prosperous Bengali New Year to all

সমস্ত বাঙালী reader দের আমার শুভ নববর্ষের প্রীতি ও শুভেছা জানাই

Salted mint lassi - a healthy yogurt Indian drink for the summer

Lassi is very popular drink in India - especially in summer time. This has originated from Punjab and well adopted in other regions as well. There are mainly 3 versions of this drink - sweet, salty and most popular one is Mango Lassi. You can find my recipe for Mango lassi here and that of plain and sweet one in here. Even my family and I like mango lassi but salted lassi is most healthy of the three. It has its cooling effect like other form of lassi – in addition it aids digestion by generating good bacteria in gastronomical tract. It also re-hydrate people in hot Indian summer. The best part of this preparation is that it has mainly 4 ingredients and it is super easy and super quick well-suited for today’s busy women. Let’s get on with the recipe:-

Preparation Time: - 5 min

Cooking Time: - 10 min 

Servings: - 2~3 persons (depends upon individual capacity)

Ingredients:-

1. 2 cup Yogurt / Curd
2. ¼ cup Mint (Pudina) leaves
3. 1 tsp Ginger Juice
4. ½ tsp Black salt (optional)
5. ¼ tsp Salt
6. 1 tsp Roasted Jeera / Cumin seeds powder
7. A few ice cubes
8. Few Pudina leaves for Garnishing

Preparation:-

1. Take 2 cup of fresh chilled curd. It is good to use full fat milk to prepare curd at home for Lassi purpose. Yogurt is thicker than curd and so it is useful for lassi but homemade curd/dahi is best. You can buy ready-made curd/ yogurt as well.
2. Make Ginger juice by grating about 1 inch long ginger and squeeze the pulp in your fingers.
3. You can use ready-made roasted jeera / cumin seeds powder but it is always better to roast the cumin seeds in home. The aroma is superb. Take a heavy skillet (tawa) and toss the cumin seeds on it. Roast just until the aroma comes out. Do not burn the seeds. The color should be brown, not black. If you do not have cumin seeds you can take 8~10 corns of black paper and thrash them in mortar and pestle. This is a workaround but roasted cumin seeds is the best for salted lassi.
4. In a blender first add the mint leaves and 2 tbsp of yogurt / curd. Make a smooth paste.
   
5. Then add the black salt, normal salt, roasted cumin seeds powder, curd and ice cubes. Please note you can use black salt only instead of a mixture of black salt and normal salt. In that case you need 1 tsp of black salt as it is not very salty. If you use mixture of both the salts then use as described in ingredients section.
   
6. Blend again for ½ min or till the mixture is smooth. You may add a little water as needed. Please remember that the lassi should not be frothy.
7. Garnish with few mint leaves and pinch of cumin seeds powder.
   

Transfer to a pitcher or you can keep it in refrigerator to drink later. I would recommend to drink within a day of preparing. Serve this yummy healthy drinks at the end of a meal or just drink alone to refresh yourself in summer days. 

If you like the recipe, then go to my Facebook Page and like my page for regular updates.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.