The whole of last week, it was health food- gooseberry chutney, barley spinach khichdi, plantain stem soup etc. Let us give health food a break. Today it is one of the most popular snack – French fries also called finger chips is a very popular snack or starter made from potatoes. I tried both methods-deep fried finger chips/french fries and oven baked french fries.To be very honest, the fried ones were perfect French fries and were more delicious than the baked ones. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and melted in our mouths. The baked ones are no doubt healthier fries but not perfect french fries. Today let us learn how to make Crispy french fries at home following this easy recipe with step wise pictures.
French Fries-Finger Chips
Prep Time : 10 mins | Cook Time: 20 Mins
Ingredients needed
Potatoes-3 large
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Method
Buy big/large potatoes for making french fries. Wash and peel the skin.
First cut slightly on all the sides of the potato as shown in the first picture below to give it a good shape (rectangular shape)
Then slice it lengthwise as shown in the 2 nd picture. Then cut it again like fingers (baton cut) as shown in the 3 rd picture below. Keep them in water to prevent the potatoes from getting discoloured.
Rinse the potato fingers in water twice. Boil water in a pan with salt and turmeric powder.When water starts boiling, add the potatoes. Cook the potatoes until soft but they should not fall apart or break. They should retain their shape. Hope you get what I am trying to convey. Do not overcook the potatoes. This step is very important to get perfect french fries.
Drain the water completely. Spread it on a plate and cool it well. I dried it under the fan.
Once it is completely cooled, it is ready to be fried. Heat oil in a kadai, (to check if the oil is hot enough, put a small piece of potato inside, if it comes to the surface immediately, the oil is hot enough to fry the potato fingers), once the oil is hot, add the potatoes and fry until golden brown and crispy.
Drain the french fries on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. When the fries are hot, sprinkle chilli powder to taste (or you can season with ground pepper powder also) and mix it well with your hands, so that the fries are well coated.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup. The french fries will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Baked French Fries
I tried baking it also. Let us see how to bake french fries in the oven.
Cut potatoes as mentioned above. Rinse it well and soak them in ice cold water for 20 minutes. Drain the water completely.Wipe it dry with a kitchen towel. Add a tbsp of oil, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and mix it well with your fingers. Bake in preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 35-40 minutes. Flip it over and bake for another 5 minutes. I baked in a wire rack with a crumb tray at the bottom.
Check out Homemade Potato Chips Recipe and more Snacks Recipes.
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Wow! lovely, tasty, yummy french fries. Love it
Perfect french fries, like the bright color.
wow looks appetizing..
yum yum yummy!!!!
Wow .looks so crispy and tempting dear 🙂 Love it !!
Crispy french fries….and loved the clicks.
Thanks for visiting my blog and happy meeting through blogging.
Looks like McDonald French fries. So crispy and yummy.
Padhu these are what I call as unputdownable fries.
Deepa
Hi padhu,
Can you tell me for how many minutes did you boil the potatoes just to get an idea.thanks arthy
Hi Padhu,
I also prepare French fries same way…crispy and tempting…i sprinkle little all purpose flour or maida while potatoes are cooling and toss ot mix…it gives extra crunchiness….
love ur recipes…keep it up…
-Shubha
Hi padhu ur french fries are looking like restaurant fries yummy to eat so crispy i will try it today i love these kind of fries thank u
it doesn't remain crispy as it is in McDonald's. How to do?
You should dry the potatoes well after cooking it. If it has moisture, it will not be crisp.
great…….
For how much time we have to cook the potatoes in boiling water???
Yummy yummy……nice
Hi. The American method of cooking french fries is not boiling the potatoes before frying. Yes first cut up the potatoes unpeeled with outer skins scrubbed clean. Next soak them in cold water with an astringent solution I.e. vinegar added say a quarter cup per 2 liters. Soak for an hour. This will draw out the starch and make the potatoes crispier when you fry them. Next deep fry in oil at 300 degrees farenheit until cooked through. Lastly raise temperature of oil to 375 degrees and fry until crispy.
Can i boil n store it future use as ma 2 yr old loves these n i want to prepare small batches every day
May be you can par boil and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days.But you have to dry it well before frying or baking as there will be moisture in the potatoes after refrigeration. Spread it on a cloth and dry it completely.
Thank you for recipe !
Thanks for recipe…..
I tried this and the result was amazing. Thanks a lot.
I tried this tday…t WS simply amazing..luvd it
It was soo Delicious and Owesome,Thanx for Recipe..
I tried oven method,baked for 35 minutes at 200 deg and when i flipped and bake for 5 more minutes, it all turned black/dried with bitter taste.. i followed your method correctly,but still… what could be the reason ?
May be you have cut the potatoes too thin. Then I used only the bottom coil for baking. You have to keep an eye after 20 minutes of baking.
Thank you for your great effort
I love this recipe but i was wondering, what kind of dish would usually accompany this?
It goes well with all variety rice like lemon rice, jeera pepper rice, sambar sadam etc. You can have it even as a tea time snack.
Recently I have started cooking, your blog is helping a lot. Thanks much !
Recently I have started cooking, your blog is helping a lot. Thanks much !
I tried today it comes good but some pieces were not crispy