french fries | finger chips

French fries recipe With step by step photos – we love French Fries. who doesn’t!!!

Let me tell you that these homemade french fries come very close to the ones we get in Mc Donald’s or any other fast food chains. These finger chips are crisp as well as soft from inside and taste too good.

I had got a couple of recipe requests for posting french fries. When I make french fries at home, I just chop the potatoes, rub some salt and directly fry them. The potatoes are not perfectly crisp like the Mc Donald’s french fries – but for all of us, these easy to prepare, quick homemade french fries are alright.

When I got the requests, I searched a lot of recipes on the web for that perfect french fries. I stumbled upon many and they all tell me to parboil the potatoes first, then fry it not once, but twice at different temperatures.

Now being a busy woman, I cannot afford to spend a major chunk of my time cooking the potatoes, then cooling them, then frying them, cooling them and again frying them.

So I gave up the quest for the perfect french fries and even if some recipe comes close to it, I will be more than happy & satisfied.

This recipe is inspired my friend Anamika and is simple and easy.

An easy method to make homemade french fries

In this method, the potatoes are kept in cold water for 30 minutes. I actually kept the whole bowl of chopped potatoes with cold water in the fridge. Then drained & dried the potatoes with a napkin and later fried twice. Yes to get that perfect crispy french fries, you need to fry them twice. You can fry the potatoes once if you want, but they will be less crispy.

As a result of being fried twice, these homemade french fries are crisp from outside and soft & tender from inside. the way the french fries should be.

For best results use potatoes which have a high starch content. Russet potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, Idaho potatoes are a good choice to make crispy yet tender french fries. Do not use new potatoes or potatoes having less starch.

This finger chips recipe can also be a Navratri fasting recipe if you use rock salt (sendha namak).

How to make french fries

1. Firstly take 1 extra-large potato or 2 large potatoes or 3 medium potatoes (315 grams). Rinse well in water and then peel the potato.

2. Then slice the potato in slices having 1 cm thickness. Before slicing, you can remove the top and bottom part of the potato to get a square or rectangle shaped potato. You can also use a french fry cutter if you have it.

3. Then begin to cut them in sticks having 1 cm width.

4. Cut the remaining potato slices in sticks as well.

5. You can also rinse these potato sticks for a couple of times in water to get rid of the starch. In a bowl take 3.5 cups cold water and dunk the potato sticks in it. Keep this bowl outside or in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 45 minutes. In a hot and humid climate, keep the bowl in the fridge.

6. After 30 minutes or 45 minutes, drain the potatoes in a colander.

7. Rinse the potatoes with running water. Drain all the extra water.

8. Then place them on a clean kitchen cotton napkin.

9. Place the second half of the napkin above and press, pat and dry the potatoes. The potatoes have to be completely dried before you begin to fry them.

First frying – making french fries

10. Heat oil in a wok or pan. Keep the flame to medium. This flame range will depend on the heaviness of the pan. For a heavy pan or wok, keep medium flame and for a less heavy pan, use a medium-low flame. The oil should have a medium-low heat or having a temperature of 130 to 135 degrees celsius.

11. Now add the potatoes in the oil. You can fry in two to three batches. I fried in two batches. Do not overcrowd the wok (kadai) or pan.

12. Begin to fry them.

13. Stir often while frying them for uniform cooking.

14. Fry till the potatoes get cooked, but they should not brown from outside. They should just get a crust from outside without any major color change. light browning of the edges is fine. Remove with a slotted spoon.

15. Place the half fried potatoes on paper kitchen towels. Stack 3 to 4 paper towels. Press some paper towels from top also to absorb extra oil. Let the half fried potatoes cool down at room temperature. After removing this batch, you can fry the second batch of potatoes. By the time you fry the second batch of the potatoes, the first batch will cool down. So in the same oil, you can fry the first batch of half fried potatoes.

Second frying – making french fries

16. Now increase the flame to a medium-high or high. Again here for a heavy pan, use a high flame and for a less heavy pan, use a medium-high flame. The oil should be hot and on medium to medium-high heat having a temperature of 180 to 185 degrees celsius.

17. Add the half fried potatoes to the hot oil.

18. Stirring often begin to fry the potatoes.

19. Fry french fries till crisp and golden.

20. Remove finger chips with a slotted spoon.

21. Place french fries on paper tissues again to remove the extra oil.

Serving french fries

22. While still hot, take the french fries in a bowl. Sprinkle with some salt, paprika or red chili flakes, dried herbs or dry rosemary. You can add your choice of herbs and spices.

23. Gently shake and toss the bowl so that the salt, herbs etc mix well with the finger chips.

23. Serve french fries hot with some any dip or sauce of your choice. Here I have served these crispy finger chips with sriracha sauce.

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