Potatoes are a staple food in Africa, as they are filling, easy to get, cheap, and last a while. And can be transported long distances on the heads of women whose strength I envy. But they are traditionally served chopped into thick slices, and bathed in oil until the content is verifiably more grease than actual potato. We don’t cook with them very often, save the VERY occasional French Fry-making (hey, burgers just NEED them). But our friend brought a bunch over to make veggie burgers and we were left with the remainder, so what to do? Insert one of my new favorite recipes: spicy potatoes. WAY better than the normal “batatas fritas”, with much less grease. It required:
2 big potatoes, washed and chopped into squares
2T oil (could have used less)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp sugar (could be omitted)
2 tsp paprika
Generous shakes salt & pepper
Lemon juice
Chopped tomatoes, or in my case, some tomato paste (worked just as well)
The process began with chopping the potatoes into hash-brown sized squares, while the oil + mustard seeds in the frying pan were heating. I waited until the seeds started to jump, and then added the potatoes.
Waited for about 5 minutes to let the potatoes start softening a little bit, and then slowly mixed in all of the spices (plus a squirt of lemon juice) with the potato chunks. About this point it started to smell amazing.
After about five more minutes, I added some tomato paste (the recipe I found called for chopped tomatoes, but its really just going to mix right in with the potatoes so… I made do with what I had), and then put the lid on to let them simmer and soften for a few more minutes. I also added some piri-piri (local chili pepper hot sauce).
The result: delicious. Super glad I have a few more potatoes. Spicy breakfast potatoes, anyone?
Note: tossing these with coriander before serving would make them even better, for those who have access to coriander! : /
Served with some garlic chicken, a bit of mustard for dipping, and an unpictured salad. Bom apetite!
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