Playing host with friends and family can mean being gifted with much more items or food than you actually need. I was recently gifted a large box of potatoes and after making crispy fries and some boiled potatoes, I began to think of the many other recipes that I can come up with, talking about putting these potatoes to good use. And then one struck me, Batata Harra (Spicy Potatoes)!
The first time I tried this spicy potato dish was on the streets of Dubai’s busy downtown. If you are not new on here, you would know I love spicy and as such, I did not have any issues with the level of spice, it was very spicy.
However, in today’s recipe, the spice was adjusted because of my little ones, feel free to go soft or hard on the spice. I did see a number of recipes and finally went with this one as it gave me the perfect saucy and juicy potatoes.
Looking for another recipe to satisfy your sweet craving, try out my Warm and Sweet Strawberry Cobbler
What is Batata Harra?
Batata Harra is a spicy Lebanese side dish made by frying potato cubes in some oil, garlic, chili pepper flakes, seasoned with salt, garnished with fresh cilantro and topped off with a squeeze of lemon juice.
As part of my plans to reduce my oil consumption, I went with baking the potato cubes instead till they were nice and crisp before tossing them into the chili sauce and serving with grilled haddock.
Have you tried out our sweet Toogbei/Wet Ghanaian Bofrot/Puff Puff ? You should!
Batata Harra Ingredients
Here are a list of ingredients needed to make this quick and easy side dish:
Potatoes: You can use either russet potatoes or Yukon gold ones, these are easy to find in your closest grocery store.
Dried Chili Flakes: This is the main spice component of this dish.
Garlic: These can be chopped up and will be added to the spicy sauce.
Tomato Paste: I added very little of this for some colour, it gave it a rich and saucy colour.
Fresh cilantro: This is an important ingredient for garnishing.
Lemon juice: A fresh squeeze just before digging in is a hit!
Have you tried some of our other sweet and savoury recipes The Secret Recipe to the Fluffiest Vanilla Cupcakes or How to Make Flaky Nigerian Meat Pie?
BATATA HARRA (SPICY POTAOES) RECIPE
Batata Harra (Spicy Potatoes) Recipe
Ingredients
- 5-8 Russet potatoes
- Fresh garlic chopped
- 1 tsp Dried chili flakes
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- Salt to taste
- 4 Tbsp Vegetable oil
- Fresh cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Peel and rinse the potatoes thoroughly. Use a paper towel to pat them dry.
- Cut the potatoes into cubes and spread them out on a baking sheet. Drizzle 2 Tbsp of oil and season with salt, insert into the oven and let it bake until light brown on all sides, this should take 40 minutes because they are in cubes.
- Meanwhile, add in the leftover oil into a hot skillet.
- Add in the tomato paste and let it fry lightly for 2-3 minutes while stirring.
- Go in with the chopped garlic, chili flakes and some salt and keep stirring to prevent burning.
- Add in the baked potatoes and combine well till all the potatoes are well coated with the chili sauce, keep cooking for 5 minutes and it is ready to be served.
