DESI-ISH BAKED POTATOES
Today, I thought we could go back to the basics and review a simple skill that every good cook should master……how to bake a potato.
Those baked potatoes whose skins are irresistibly golden and crispy, with a satisfying hint of crunchy salt in each bite. Those baked potatoes whose insides are perfectly light and fluffy and steamy, ready to enjoy with all of your favorite toppings. Those baked potatoes that taste like pure, nostalgic, comforting carbohydrate magic, and remind you how satisfying a simple potato can be.
Of all the places I have traveled, my favorite will always be London — the cobblestone streets, the limitless sights, the walkability and, most important, the food. This is where i discovered the ingenuity of filling a soft, steamy potato with all kinds of tasty toppings that absorb nicely into the starchy flesh. In this recipe, I have substituted out the big potato for smaller, thin-skinned ones (for a prettier presentation), and the bacon bits, chives and packaged cheese for spicier, brighter toppings: chiles, chaat masala and onion.
This dish takes almost no time to put together once the potatoes are baked, but looks very impressive as an appetizer or a small side.
Tip: Cut onion and chiles while the potatoes bake, so everything is ready for assembly.
INGREDIENTS
500 gms baby red potatoes
Kosher salt
¾ cup sour cream
Handful of SEV for garnish (Sev is a popular sub-continent snack food consisting of small pieces of crunchy noodles made from chickpea flour paste, which are seasoned with turmeric, cayenne, and ajwain before being deep-fried in oil.)
½ small red onion, finely diced
1 small green chiles, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chaat masala or more 😁
chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 200*C .The oven needs to be extra hot, so that the potato skins will crisp up quickly.
Prepare your baking sheet. If you happen to own a wire cooling rack, I highly recommend placing one on top of a baking sheet, so that the potatoes can cook evenly on all sides. Or if you don’t own a wire rack, you can either place the potatoes directly on the oven racks (with a baking sheet below, to catch any drips) or you can just bake the potatoes on a foil-lined (or parchment-lined, at your own risk) baking sheet.
Poke your potato all over with a fork. Because no one wants to deal with exploding potatoes. ;)
First bake. My best advice for how long to bake a potato — in two rounds! For the first round, bake for about 25 minutes, until the skin starts to feel dry and slightly wrinkly.
Brush the potato with melted butter (or oil). Next, carefully remove the potato from the oven. Use a pastry brush to brush the potato with melted butter (or oil) evenly on all sides. Sprinkle the potato with a generous pinch of Kosher salt. (I like mine fairly coarse so that you get a bit of a crunch.) Then place the potato back on the baking sheet, opposite side up, so that the potato can cook evenly on both sides.
Second bake. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. Then very carefully, use an oven mitt to squeeze the potato (it will be hot) to check for doneness. If the insides are nice and soft and give under pressure, remove the potato from the oven. Otherwise, continue cooking in 5-minute increments until the potato is ready to go. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the potatoes, but on average, they typically take 45-55 minutes to cook.
Let the potatoes cool until they can be handled.
Without cutting all the way through to the bottom, slice each potato lengthwise and crosswise into four sections. Use your hands to push down and pull apart the four sections like a blooming flower. Now scoop a dollop of sour cream in the middle.
Evenly divide the onion, green chiles, and chaat masala among the potatoes on top of the sour cream. Make it rain with chopped cilantro and sev…..SERVE.
NOTE: WHILE WRITING THIS POST I THOUGHT HOW INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS IT WOULD BE TO ADD A LITTLE DRIZZLE OF IMLI (TAMRIND) O M G 👌🏻😋….NEXT TIME 😉
