Indo-Chinese Chilli Potato

I love Chinese food. But for me as a Sri Lankan, that means bold flavours that combine our famous Lankan chilli with Chinese spices. So when I moved to Dubai I seriously had withdrawal symptoms from my all-time favourite restaurants like Chinese Dragon. But to my utter delight, I discovered the Indo-Chinese cuisine, which quite literally is Indianised Chinese.

According to ‘Google’, it was born when Chinese immigrants landed in Kolkata over two centuries ago. They not only put down roots, they also went on to create this delicious fusion cuisine, which blends Hakka traditions with India’s fiery flavours.

Here in Dubai, one of my favourite go-to places is Chin Chin. They serve up an array of mouth-watering dishes, which hit just the right spot. Their Spicy Chilli Potato Starter is one of my absolute favourites, so I decided to create it in my own kitchen.

After doing my customary research, I came up with this dish made up of crispy fried potatoes, combining a sweet, spicy sauces with bell peppers and fresh spring onions. I must admit… it tastes almost the same as the one at Chin Chin’s, maybe just a little more homemade ;)

Hope you guys enjoy it too.

Find the link to the demo video for this recipe here: @chillipotato

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Ingredients:

Main:

500g potato fries

4 Cloves of garlic, crushed

A small piece of ginger, crushed

5 dried red chillies, broken into pieces

1 small red onion, sliced

1 yellow/red/green bell pepper, julienned

1 tsp pepper powder

1 tbsp chilli flakes

2 tsp soy sauce

3 tbsp chilli sauce

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil

Spring onions, to garnish

For the potatoes:

(Step 1)

Water as required

1/2 tsp salt

(Step 2)

3 tbsp cornflour

1/2 tbsp red chilli powder

Vegetable oil for frying

Method:

Step1

Clean, peel and cut potatoes into chunky strips like fat french fries. Try and keep the sizes uniform as this will help to ensure they fry evenly. Then it is essential that you soak them in water and 1/2 tsp of salt for a minimum of 30 minutes. This helps to remove the excess starchiness of the potatoes and makes them crispier when frying.

Drain the potatoes, place them on a kitchen towel and pat dry.

Step2

Place them in a clean dish or a wide plate and toss in the corn flour and chilli powder. Mix well until all the pieces are well coated in the mixture and then leave aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep pan on medium to high heat. Don't let the oil get too hot because then the potatoes will be crispy on the outside and raw on the inside. Make sure the temperature of the oil is just right. Ideally, when you toss in a fry, it should float to the top.

Now deep-fry the potatoes in batches until golden brown. Remember, do not over fry the potatoes, as they may turn hard.

Drain the potatoes on a paper towel.

Step3

Separately, in a wok or shallow pan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes on low to medium heat. They should be slightly burnt. Trust me, it adds a ton of flavour!