How To Making Restaurant-Style French Fries At Home

Admit it, making restaurant and fast food-style French fries at home is always a task. No matter how hard we try, it is a struggle to achieve fries that are perfectly cooked, non-greasy and crunchy all at the same time. Chef Rupesh, Chef De Cuisine of Earthplate at Sahara Star Hotel in Mumbai reveals some basic tricks to achieve the perfection of this fried goodness at home.

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1. A common suggestion is frying the potato sticks twice – once at a low temperature and then at a high temperature – to achieve the right texture. 
2. But chef Rupesh thinks otherwise. He recommends that you start by parboiling the potatoes, for approximately 10 to 12 minutes, with a pinch of salt. 
3. Ensure that they are 60 per cent cooked which means they should be soft on the inside but not falling apart. In case perfect timing is not your thang, just take the potatoes off the flame once the water shows its first big bubble.

4. Once the potatoes are par-cooked, cut them into sticks and lay them on a kitchen towel to soak the excess water. 

5. Once the fries are dry and cold, fry them on a high flame in vegetable oil until a crust forms over them. A common mistake is to wait for the colour to change but all you have to look for is a coating. 

6. Once out of the pan, season the fried sticks with some salt and serve hot.

If the above steps are followed properly, the end result will be a batch of homemade french fries that are crunchy on the outside and hot and soft on the inside. Now, like most others, you can spike these fries with a dash of freshly ground pepper or take the flavour a notch up with some homemade peri peri masala. 

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How to make peri peri masala at home

Also known as piri piri, this Portuguese-African spice mix gets its name from the Swahili word piri, which means pepper. It is traditionally made with an African bird's eye chilli ground with dried garlic, oregano, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, black salt and regular salt. 

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You can sprinkle this powder on your fries or salad or add it to your curries and rice dishes to spruce them up. Many add a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil to the mix to turn the peri peri masala into a sauce that can be used to marinate meat and vegetables.

Peri Peri Masala Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp dry red chilli flakes
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp black salt
• Salt to taste

Method

• In a bowl, add all the ingredients listed above and mix well.
• Your peri peri masala is ready.