Crisp and Spicy Potato Skins with Cilantro Aioli

Cooking snacks is a vicious cycle. It goes something like this, I cook something good, we indulge. I love the gratification of both the complements and the seductive satisfaction of snacking, I cook some more and we eat some more and the story continues. This weekend was one of those weekends.

The highlight of visiting the market this weekend was checking out the different varieties of greens in the market, it is great to see the tender kale and the kohlrabi greens. The market is also filled with red radishes, golden beets, little turnips, squashes and kohlrabies. It is also filled with potatoes, russets, Yukon Golds and delicate little Australian crescents or fingerling potatoes. They also have great herbs still, it is wonderful to see the fragrant and intense bunches of cilantro. My cooking is incomplete without cilantro, so this makes my trip worthwhile.

I cooked these fried potato skins and used the scooped out flesh for tossing with lemon and kale. These fried potato skins make the perfect based for rubbing with spices. They need just a little patience to ensure that they reach the right degree of crispness but it is well worth the effort. I serve these with a cilantro based aioli and the recipe for the aioli can be found here.

 Seriously Good Spice Rubbed Masala Skins

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes (includes time for boiling the potatoes)

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

For the Potato Skins

6 large russet potatoes

Water for boiling

Salt for boiling the potatoes plus 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

Oil for Frying

For the Spice Rub

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (can be substituted with mint leaves if desires)

½ teaspoon dried pomegranate seeds

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

For Dusting

Extra Chili Powder or Paprika

Method of Preparation

 1. Cut the potatoes in half. Place in a large cooking pot and add some salt and boil the potatoes for about 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked until they are soft but not mushy. It is important to be able to scoop the flesh out without breaking the potatoes.

 2. Cool the potatoes slightly and then scoop out the center, leaving about a layer of 1 inch thickness around the potatoes.

3. Cut the skins into 1 inch pieces.

4. Toss with the turmeric and salt.

5. Heat the oil on medium heat in a good frying pan for about 2 minutes. Gently lower the potatoes into the oil. Let the potato skins cook undisturbed for 6 to 7 minutes until the potatoes gently turn golden and turn crisp.

6. Turn the potatoes and continue the process on the other side.

7. Drain the potato skins on paper towels.

8. While the potatoes are cooking, gently heat the cumin and coriander seeds for 1 minute until they smell toasty.

9.Place them in a spice mill, with the fenugreek leaves, pomegranate seeds and the black peppercorns and grind to the smooth powder.

10. Rub the potato skins with this mixture.

11. To serve arrange on a place with the aioli or a dipping sauce of your choice and sprinkle with paprika or chili powder if desired and dig in.

Rinku Bhattacharya teaches Indian cooking and writes the blog Cooking in Westchester. She can be found on facebook.