Baby Potato Fry is a spicy, delicious recipe of baby potatoes sautéed with the choicest South Indian spices and herbs. To make this South Indian Baby Potatoes recipe, cooked baby potatoes are sautéed with onions, herbs, spices and seasonings.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 250 grams baby potatoes (- boiled and peeled)
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil ((gingelly oil) or any neutral oil)
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ¼ cup sliced pearl onions ((shallots) or ¼ cup chopped onions or 8 to 9 pearl onions or 1 small onion)
  • 6 to 7 curry leaves
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (or cayenne pepper - add as required, for a spicy taste add ½ teaspoon)
  • 1 teaspoon sambar powder
  • salt (as required)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))

Method

Boiling baby potatoes

  1. Rinse and steam baby potatoes, in a steamer or stovetop pressure cooker or Instant Pot.
  2. For pressure cooking, in a 2 litre stovetop cooker, cover the potatoes with water and cook for 1 to 2 whistles on medium heat.If the potatoes are very small or small-sized, cook for 1 whistle. If they are slightly larger, cook for 2 whistles.
  3. Drain all the water from the potatoes. Set the baby potatoes to become warm at room temperature.
  4. When they become warm, peel and set them aside.

Making baby potato fry

  1. Heat sesame oil in a pan. Keep the heat to a low and add the mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds begin to crackle.
  2. When the mustard seeds start crackling, add the cumin seeds. Fry till they splutter and change color.
  3. Next add the sliced pearl onions or chopped onions, 6 to 7 curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida (hing).
  4. Sauté stirring often till the onions soften and turn translucent.
  5. Add the peeled baby potatoes. Stir and mix them very well.
  6. Now add the spice powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, sambar powder.
  7. For a spicy taste, add ½ teaspoon red chili powder. If you don’t have sambar powder, then add ¼ teaspoon coriander powder and ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder.
  8. Mix the ground spices with the ingredients and baby potatoes, in such a way that they coat the baby potatoes evenly. Add salt and stir to mix again.
  9. Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes on a low heat stirring in between. Lastly add chopped coriander leaves. Stir to mix and switch off the heat.
  10. Serve these spicy Baby Potato Fry as a side dish with rasam-rice, sambar-rice or dal-rice or khichdi. You can also have it with roti or chapathi.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.