One of my favorite ways to eat potatoes, fried with whole spices. So good! And the kitchen smells absolutely amazing from the smell of the spices! Also great with Breakfast for Dinner.

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I love fried potatoes. French fries, breakfast potatoes, there is just something addictive and satisfying about them., especially when they are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Years ago I mostly ate Indian food for about 2 years. I really loved the flavor combinations, the spices, everything about Indian food was amazing. One of the cooking methods was something called tadka, which translates as tempering. Oil is heated up and spices, either whole or ground, are added to the hot oil. This method extracts and retains the essence of the spices in the oil, which is then either added to the dish in the beginning or towards the end. It is amazing to hear the crackle of the spices and smell the aromas that fill the kitchen.

So, back to the potatoes. One of the dishes I learned to make at the time was a potato dish with tempering. I mostly ate it for dinners, but at some point I decided to try it for breakfast, starting by removing the peas that were in the original dish. It was amazing. Over the years the recipe morphed and is finally pretty stable.

So make your favorite tofu scramble, or get some Just Egg, and let’s get the potatoes cooking!

This dish also has a lot of lovely variations, such as the main dish Potatoes, Greens, Peas, and Seitan Sausage! Here is is with some greens…

And here with a breakfast scramble…

Recipe

Spice-Fried Potatoes

One of my favorite ways to eat potatoes, fried with whole spices. So good! And the kitchen smells absolutely amazing from the smell of the spices!

Also great with Breakfast for Dinner.

I have also made these with purple sweet potatoes or regular Russet potatoes. See Notes.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Indian-inspired

Servings servings

Ingredients

2 pounds potatoes red
⅛ cup cumin seeds
⅛ cup brown mustard seeds
½ teaspoon asafetida
1 tablespoon turmeric
½ tablespoon smoked paprika
4 tablespoons sunflower oil or other neutral oil, I have used avocado oil

Instructions

Put a cast iron skillet on medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil and spread over the surface of the pan. When the oil starts shimmering, add the asafetida and let it fry for a few seconds. Then add the cumin and mustard seeds. Cook until they begin to sputter and pop and turn gray. Be careful at this point to not let the seeds burn.
Add the potatoes and stir to coat with the seeds. Add the turmeric and smoked paprika and stir to fully coat the potatoes.
Cover the pan and cook until crispy. I typically stir them a few times, though I wait about 10 minutes for the first stir.

Notes

If using purple sweet potatoes or Russet potatoes, I find it easier cover them with water, bring them to just the beginning of a boil, then drain them.

Keyword breakfast, fried, Indian, potato, spices, vegan

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