Potato goodness

I know I always preach buy local and eat local, but I do have my inconsistencies, after all I am human. One of these is English/Irish potatoes, I grew up loving potatoes, I found them easy to eat, satisfying and incredibly delicious especially when saturated with butter.

We have incorporated potatoes into our culinary offerings. We use them in soups, in the popular potato salad, in roti – whether it’s a filling or a part of the puri in "aloo puri." Who does not love a good potato/aloo pie?

Baked, stuffed, scalloped, mashed, grilled, sauteed, or curried, potatoes are incredibly versatile and still win the hearts of many today.

On a recent visit to Galway, Ireland, I was served mashed potatoes as part of the evening meal, I found them dense, yellow and very flavourful. The secret? The potatoes were freshly dug from the backyard garden, now that’s a good potato!

Spicy Bengali potato onion pakoras

1½ cups chick pea flour or besan

2 tsp roasted ground cumin

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp hot pepper or cayenne

½ tsp baking soda

¼ cup fresh chopped chadon beni

1 large potato, peeled and grated

2 medium onions thinly sliced

⅔ cup cold water

Coconut oil for frying

In a mixing bowl combine chick pea flour with cumin, salt, pepper, and baking soda.

Add chadon beni, potato and onion, stir to combine.

Add water and stir to make a thick batter.

Drop batter by spoonfuls into hot oil and fry on both sides for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Drain well. Serve with chutney.

Makes about 18.

Seasoned potato/aloo pies

These potato pies are always delicious, but the vendor’s versions tend to be a little greasy. This version is delicious hot or at room temperature, serve with chutney or kuchela.

Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tbs butter

Filling

1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

salt

1 small onion finely chopped

¼ cup finely chopped chive

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pimento pepper seeded and chopped

½ Congo pepper or hot pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)

2 tsp ground roasted geera

pepper sauce to taste

salt and freshly-ground black pepper

vegetable oil for frying

Make the dough by combining flour, with baking powder, salt and butter. Add water to make a soft but pliable and non sticky dough.

Knead into a ball and let rest.

Meanwhile boil potatoes with a little salt until tender, when cooked, drain and crush well with a potato masher.

Add garlic, geera, peppers, pepper sauce, onion, chive salt and ground black pepper.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Divide dough into 8 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Rest for 5 minutes.

Roll each piece of dough into a 5-inch circle, place about 1-2 tablespoons of the filling

Onto the lower portion of the circle, and bring the upper portion over lower portion to cover in a half-moon shape.

Seal and continue until all the dough and filling is used up.

Heat oil in a frying pan and shallow fry pies until golden brown.

Drain and fill with chutney.

Makes 8 pies.

Festive scalloped potatoes

2½ lbs potatoes

tbs unsalted butter

5 tbs flour

4 cups milk

1 large onion, chopped

1½ tsp salt

½-1 cup grated cheese

Peel and thinly slice potatoes to about ⅛-inch thickness.

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter, add flour stirring constantly, cook and stir until the mixture forms a creamy consistency.

Add milk and stir, lower heat and stir until thick, smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes, add salt and stir.

Add chopped onions, stir and remove from heat at once.

Grease a casserole dish. Place a single layer of potatoes in the dish, cover with some sauce, making sure all the potatoes are covered, repeat again with another layer of potatoes and sauce. Repeat process until all the potatoes are used up, finish with a layer of sauce, and top with grated cheese.

Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 45 minutes, remove foil and continue baking for a further 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender, and the top is lightly browned.

Serves 6-8

Roasted garlic and potato croquettes

2 lbs potatoes

1 head garlic

¼ cup butter

¼ cup milk

2 eggs

Salt to taste

1 cup bread crumbs

½ cup flour

vegetable oil for frying

Preheat oven to 400F.

Slice the top off of the garlic head, place on a roasting pan and wrap in foil, drizzle with a little olive oil.

Roast for one hour, cool.

Then squeeze garlic from the bottom and the pulp should come right out, set aside.

Boil potatoes until very soft, about 30 minutes, depending on the size.

Peel and crush well, add butter, one beaten egg, milk and roasted garlic cloves, stir to combine, season with salt.

Roll potato into 1½-inch balls, dredge in flour, then in the other beaten egg, then in crumbs, fry until golden.

Makes about 8 to 12.

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