Chilli potato is a spicy starter snack from the indo-Chinese cuisine where fried potatoes are tossed in a spicy, sour and slightly sweet chilli sauce. This is a semi-dry version and is simply addictive and tasty. The same recipe can be used to make a chilli potato gravy recipe by adding some more water and adding a bit of more of the sauces and spices to suit your taste buds.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Side Dish, Starters
  • Cuisine: Indo Chinese

Ingredients

  • 250 to 275 grams potato or 3 to 4 medium sized potatoes
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
  • 1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
  • ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon salt (or add as required)
  • 2 tablespoons corn flour (or corn starch – can use rice flour, tapioca flour or all purpose flour)
  • oil (as required – for deep frying)
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (– substitute sunflower oil for roasted sesame oil)
  • ⅓ cup chopped onions (or 1 medium sized onion, chopped or 50 grams onion - can use ⅓ cup chopped spring onion whites)
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic (or 4 to 5 medium to large garlic or 5 grams peeled garlic)
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger (or 1.5 inch ginger or 5 grams ginger)
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped green chillies (or 1 or 2 green chillies, finely chopped)
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped capsicum ((green bell pepper))
  • 2 teaspoons naturally fermented soy sauce (or regular soy sauce)
  • 2 teaspoons red chilli sauce (or red chilli paste)
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar (or white vinegar or rice wine)
  • ½ teaspoon sugar (or add as required – optional)
  • salt (as per taste)
  • freshly crushed black pepper (as required)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (or spring onion greens)

Method

chopping potato

  1. Firstly rinse 3 medium sized potatoes (250 to 275 grams) well in water. Then peel them. Chop the potato in slices having 0.3 to 0.5 cm thickness.
  2. Then cut each slice in sticks having 1 cm width.
  3. In a bowl take 3 cups cold water. Place the potatoes in the water for 20 to 30 minutes.

prepping other ingredients

  1. Chop 1 medium sized onion. Finely chop 1 small capsicum (green bell pepper), 4 to 5 medium to large garlic cloves, 1.5 inches ginger and 1 or 2 green chillies. You can even add spring onion whites instead of onions.
  2. In a small bowl take 2 teaspoons soy sauce (naturally fermented) and 2 teaspoons red chilli sauce or red chilli paste.
  3. Mix both the sauces very well and keep aside.

making potato mixture

  1. Rinse the potatoes with running water. Then drain all the water very well. Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add 1 teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder and 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes. If you do not have kashmiri red chilli powder, then add ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chilli powder. You can even add ½ teaspoon red chilli flakes. roughly mix.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons corn flour (corn starch) and ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon salt or add as per taste. mix very well.

frying potato

  1. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan or wok. Keep a medium flame. Add the potatoes. Oil splutters while adding potatoes. So be careful.
  2. As soon as you add the potatoes, stir with the frying slotted spoon, so that the potatoes do not stick to each other.
  3. Begin to fry potatoes on a medium flame.
  4. Fry the potatoes stirring at intervals till the potatoes look crisp.
  5. Remove with a slotted spoon. place the potato fries on kitchen paper towels. You can fry potatoes in two batches.
  6. In the same bowl in which the potato was mixed with corn starch, you will see some of the potato juice mixed with the remaining corn starch. Keep this mixture as we will be adding it to the sauce later.

making chilli potato

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil in a wok or kadai.
  2. Keep flame to medium or medium-high. Add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chilies.
  3. Mix and stir fry on medium heat for 5 to 6 seconds. Do not brown them.
  4. Add chopped onions and finely chopped capsicum. mix very well.
  5. Stir fry on medium heat till the onions turn translucent.

making sauce for chilli potato

  1. Add the mixed sauces from the bowl. mix very well.
  2. Add ¼ to ⅓ cup water. Stir and mix. let the entire sauce mixture come to a boil.
  3. Now add the corn starch mixture from the bowl. Stir and mix.
  4. Season with freshly crushed black pepper or black pepper as required or you can add about 2 to 3 pinches of black pepper powder. Also, add salt as per taste and ½ teaspoon sugar if you prefer. If you do not like a slightly sweet taste in chilli potatoes, then skip the sugar. Also go easy on the salt as the sauces and corn starch mixture already have salt in them.
  5. Mix and let the sauce thicken. add the fried potato. Mix well. switch off flame.
  6. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves. If you have used spring onion whites, then add spring onion greens at this step.
  7. Lastly, add ½ teaspoon white vinegar or rice vinegar or rice wine. Mix well.
  8. Serve chilli potato hot. while serving you can garnish with some coriander leaves if you want. Do serve them hot as the crispiness in the potatoes can be felt when eaten hot. If served after some time, the crispiness won’t be felt in the potatoes.

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.