Crispy Masala French Fries | How to make Crispy French Fries From Scratch – An Indian style spicy Potato French Fries Recipe that can be easily made at home. Thinly cut potatoes are deep fried until crisp and are tossed with few spices.
If you can’t make it out to a restaurant, no worries! You can make your own Homemade Crispy Masala French Fries right at home. All you need are some good quality potatoes, cooking oil, and a few spices. Revamp the classic french fries recipe, by preparing Masala French Fries. Loaded with spices and scrumptious flavours, this snack recipe will be a great way to treat your taste buds.
I will share below all the tips on how to prepare the potatoes so that you can get extra crispy french fries. Do check out the NOTES section in the recipe card. When making the masala fries, you can always adjust the spices according to your taste.
WHICH TYPE OF POTATOES WORK BEST FOR FRENCH FRIES?
High starch and old potatoes like Russet potatoes are best for French fries. This is because they are denser and have less moisture in them. Waxy potatoes like Red skin potatoes, yellow potatoes or new potatoes must be avoided as far as possible.
WHY SHOULD WE SOAK POTATOES FOR FRENCH FRIES?
Soaking peeled and cut fries in cold water helps to removes excess starch and prevents fries from sticking and makes them crispy.
Easy steps to follow for
Crispy Masala French Fries
Prep Work:
- Rinse potatoes and then peel them. Then slice the potato in slices having quarter inch thickness. Before slicing, you can optionally remove the top and bottom part of the potato to get a square or rectangle shaped potato.
- Then begin to cut them in sticks having quarter inch thick width. Rinse these potato sticks for a couple of times in water to get rid of the starch.
- In a bowl take 4 cups cold water and dunk the potatoes in it. Keep this bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, drain the potatoes in a colander.
- Rinse the potatoes again under running water.
Blanching Potatoes (Water Blanch) & Freezing:
- Bring enough water to boil (not roll boil) in a pot. When the water starts bubbling (temperature should be around 85 degrees celsius), add in a teaspoon of salt and then add the potato sticks. Blanch for about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and drain the potatoes in a colander.
- Then place them on clean kitchen cotton napkin and pat dry.
- Now, freeze them for about 2 to 3 hours until they are hard.
First Frying French Fries (Oil Blanch): (Low Temperature)
- Heat oil in a wok or pan. Keep the heat to medium-low or medium. The oil should have a medium-low heat or having a temperature of 130 to 135 degrees celsius.
- Now, remove the frozen potatoes and add to the oil and oil blanch (frying at low temperature). You can fry in two to three batches. Do not over crowd the pan.
- Stir often while frying them for uniform cooking.
- Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes until the potatoes get almost half cooked, but they shouldn’t brown from outside. There should not be any colour change. Remove with a slotted spoon onto paper kitchen towel.
- Let the half fried potatoes cool down at room temperature. Freeze them again for about 30 minutes.
- Repeat process with the rest of the potatoes.
Second frying – Making French Fries (High Temperature)
- Now, reheat the same oil, increase the heat to medium-high or high heat having a temperature of 180 to 185 degrees celsius.
- Remove the half fried potatoes from freezer and add to the hot oil. Begin to fry the potatoes stirring often.
- Fry till crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon. Place them on paper tissue to remove extra oil.
- While still hot, transfer the french fries to a bowl.
Preparing Masala or Spice Mix for French Fries:
- Prepare the masala with some salt, red chilli powder, pepper powder, chaat masala and some dry herbs. Add all the spices to a bowl and give it a nice mix.
- Sprinkle French fries with the prepared masala. You can add your choice of herbs and spices.
- Gently toss the bowl so that the spices mix well with the fries.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CRISPY MASALA FRENCH FRIES?
Masala French Fries recipe can be served with your favourite dip or any sauce like ketchup or mayonnaise. If you don’t prefer sides, then enjoy them as it is. Masala French Fries can also be paired with burger or soup to make a meal.
Crispy Masala French Fries | How to make Crispy French Fries From Scratch
Ingredients
- 3 Large Potatoes Russet Potatoes
- Oil For Deep frying
Masala (Spice Mix)
- 1/2 tsp Salt Adjust to taste
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1/2 tsp Pepper Powder
- 1 tsp Chaat Masala Powder Adjust to your preference
- 1 tsp Dry Herbs Optional
Instructions
Prep Work:
- Rinse potatoes and then peel them.
- Then slice the potato in slices having quarter inch thickness.
- Then begin to cut them in sticks having quarter inch thick width. Rinse these potato sticks for a couple of times in water to get rid of the starch.
- In a bowl take 4 cups cold water and dunk the potatoes in it. Keep this bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, drain the potatoes in a colander.
- Rinse the potatoes with running water. Drain all the water.
Blanching Potatoes (Water Blanch) & Freezing:
- Bring enough water to boil (not roll boil) in a pot. When the water starts bubbling, add in the potato pieces and blanch for about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and drain the potatoes in a colander.
- Then place them on clean kitchen cotton napkin and pat dry.
- Now, place them in the deep freezer for about 2 to 3 hours until they are hard.
First frying french fries
- Heat oil in a wok or pan. Keep the heat to medium-low or medium. The oil should have a medium-low heat or having a temperature of 130 to 135 degrees celsius.
- Now, remove the frozen potatoes and add to the oil and oil blanch. You can fry in two to three batches. Do not over crowd the pan.
- Stir often while frying them for uniform cooking.
- Fry for about 2 minutes until the potatoes get almost half cooked, but they shouldn’t brown from outside. There should not be any colour change. Remove with a slotted spoon onto paper kitchen towel.
- Let the half fried potatoes cool down at room temperature. Freeze them for about 30 minutes.
- Repeat process with the rest of the potatoes.
Second frying - making french fries
- Now increase the heat to medium-high or high. The oil should be hot on medium to medium-high heat having a temperature of 180 to 185 degrees celsius.
- Remove the half fried potatoes from freezer and add to the hot oil. Stirring often begin to fry the potatoes.
- Fry till crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon. place them on paper tissues again to remove the extra oil.
- While still hot, transfer the french fries to a bowl.
- Prepare the masala with some salt, red chilli powder, pepper powder, chaat masala and some dry herbs. Give it a Nic mix.
- Sprinkle French fries with the prepared masala and gently toss the bowl to mix well.You can add your choice of herbs and spices.
- Gently shake and toss the bowl so that the salt, herbs etc mix well with them.
- Serve these homemade french fries hot with some any dip or sauce of your choice.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Use potatoes with a high starch content. Russet, Yukon Gold and Idaho potatoes are a good choice.
- You can even prep the potatoes a day before you want to fry them so just cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight. This is to ensure that the excess starch is removed from the potatoes and they fry up nice and crisp.
- Soaking the potatoes in cold water helps to get a nice crisp.
- Rinsing the potatoes in water or cold water helps to remove starch, which prevents the potatoes from sticking together during the frying process.
- The oil should not be so hot that when you add the potatoes, it splatters. This means that you need to turn the temperature down! The oil should be bubbling gently while frying.
- Make ahead option: You can make the fries few hours before serving. Heat the fries in oven at 350 degrees F for seven to ten minutes before serving.
- If you want a healthier option, you can bake the fries in a preheated oven at 230 degree Celsius or 450° F for about 35 minutes or until nice and crispy. Don’t overcrowd the fries on the baking sheet, having them spread in one layer allows them to cook evenly.
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Cheers!!
Padma.
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.