Fried potatoes with chilli and curry leaves

This fried potato with chilli and curry leaf dish comes from Nagesh Seethiah’s childhood table, who says this was so good, that “Mum would always have to compete with the kids eating the potatoes before she had dinner on the table!” Pair this with a curry or vegetable dish and some basmati rice for a complete meal.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 600 g kipfler potatoes, washed, unpeeled
• canola oil, for shallow-frying
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• 30 g whole dried red chillies
• 1 sprig fresh curry leaves, stripped
• cooked basmati rice, to serve

Watercress broth

• 10 cm x 6 cm piece ginger, peeled & julienned
• 2 eschallots, thinly sliced
• sea salt flakes, for seasoning
• 4 cups rice cooking water (see Note)
• 2 bunches watercress, picked

Instructions

1. Thinly slice potatoes, skin-on, on a mandolin or using a sharp knife, no thicker than 3 mm.

2. Heat enough oil to shallow-fry in a large saucepan with high sides, about 3 cm deep.

3. Fry the sliced potatoes in batches, sliced onion, curry leaves and 2 dried chillies until they crisp up around the edges. Don’t fry until they are completely crisp, allow for some softness in the middle. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat until all potatoes are cooked.

4. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of the shallow-frying potato oil. When hot, add the ginger and eschallot and cook, stirring, until softened. Season generously with salt. Add the water from cooking rice to make a broth. Add more water if necessary. Bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the watercress at the very last minute.

5. Season potatoes generously with salt and toss together to distribute. To serve, place a large spoonful of rice on a plate, make a well in the centre, pour some of the broth into the centre and serve with potatoes on the side. 

Note

• Wash 200 g basmati rice thoroughly and cook in plenty of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain, and keep the starchy water for the broth. Allow to drain fully for ten minutes.
• Re-use the shallow-frying oil by allowing the oil to cool, strain and store for another use.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.