Name: Potato skin fritters ( “Aloo khosha bhaja” in Bengali)
Guest Foodie: Paroma
Eaten in: Eastern India (Bengal)
Category: Traditional fare for winter/rainy days
Starting with some prologue: I am so glad to be finding my way back to Tropical Foodies after what seems like ages. I thought of this recipe since the hellish Arctic freeze unleashed almost all over North America (barring sunny California, of course), it is the perfect time to combat winter woes with some much needed fried-food-generated warmth. This recipe is also the perfect way to recycle your potato peels, thus sending some good kitchen karma your way! Unlike most Indian fritter/fried recipes such as Samosa or Aloo tikkis that are widely available when dining out, this recipe is more of a domestic improvisation and is not available in Indian restaurants. It is a simple dish that brings out the flavors of the east (the part of India where I grew up). Here it goes:
Potato skins fritters
Print recipe| Meal type | Snack |
| Region | Indian |
Ingredients
- Skin/peels of one medium sized potato. (The peels should be thick)
- 2 green chilies (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds (you can toast them over the flame for some extra crunch)
- 1 cup chickpea flour (called Besan-- available in Indian grocery stores)
- 1 pinch turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- chopped cilantro to garnish
Directions
| 1. | In a large bowl, add the chickpea flour and some water to make a batter. The batter should not be too runny or too thick but just gooey enough to have a little bit of flow to it. Adjust the proportions of water and flour if need be to get the consistency. Once you have the batter, add the poppy seeds, the chilies, turmeric and salt and mix well. |
| 2. | Heat oil in a pan. Ideally, the fritters should be deep fried, but if you are super health conscious and the sight of a sea of oil freaks you out, you can shallow fry it in a flat faced pan as well (like I did). Once the oil is hot enough, dip several of the peels at once in the batter, scrunch them to make a ball-like shape, and add to the oil. Fry till golden brown on all sides and edges. |
| 3. | Finally garnish the fritters with chopped cilantro and enjoy with a steaming cup of tea or coffee, or better still have it with some rice and daal (like we "desis"/Indians) do to chase away those winter blues. |
