Serves 4
Time: 45 minutes
There’s a falafel joint down the street from me that makes these amazing curry fries and you can smell them from a block away. They are so tantalizing, but baked fries are sooo much healthier and totally quench my curry fry craving.
These baked fries do take a bit of work. You need to parboil them, plunge them into ice water and then bake. But I wouldn’t post this recipe if it weren’t totally worth it! It’s everything a fry should be; a creamy interior while crispy on the outside. And it’s one of those things that, if you do it once, the next time it won’t be such a big deal and the time after that even less so. Looking over the directions I’m surprised at how much work it looks like when in reality it is so easy!
The type of curry powder you use is important. I use the Penzey’s sweet curry blend. It’s fairly mild with a little kick, and not bitter like some curry powders can be. Oh, and expect yellow garlic fingers for a few hours because you have to handle the curry powder with your hands. Welcome to my world.
PS If you just want plain old baked fries, skip the curry step. Just drizzle on the olive oil and salt and you’re good to go! You can also use chili powder or Cajun spice or any spice blend you’re totally in love with.
Oh and also, don’t use sweet potatoes or yams here. They’re much too soft and will turn to mush if parboiled. I find that simply baking sweet potato fries works well. This method is just for russet potatoes.
1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes
2 tablespoons mild curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Microplaned garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
Organic cooking spray
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In the meantime, you’ll prep everything else and preheat oven to 425 F.
You want “steak fry” slices. So slice them about 1/4 inch thick and 3/4 inch wide.
Now prep your workspace. Fill a big bowl with ice water. Lay a kitchen towel on the counter and line it with paper towels. You’ll be plunging the fries into the ice water after boiling, and then placing them on the towel to blot dry.
Once the water is boiling, add the potatoes and cook for 3 minutes, no longer than that or they will get mushy so put on a timer if you need to. Now drain the potatoes and immediately plunge them into the ice bath to stop them from further cooking.
Once completely cool, place potatoes in a single layer on the towel to drain. Blot the tops with a paper towel as well, so that they’re mostly dry. A little moisture is necessary, though, to get the coating to stick. You just don’t want a puddle.
Pour the ice water out of the bowl and wipe it dry. Scoop the curry powder into the bowl and mix in the salt. Now use a microplane grater to grate about a tablespoon of garlic into the bowl (just eyeball it.) Alternatively, you can finely mince the garlic until it’s almost a paste. Drizzle in the oil and mix with a fork.
We’re in the home stretch now! Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Toss a handful of potato slices into the curry powder and remove each one, rubbing in the curry powder. Do this in about 4 batches, being careful not to get huge chunks of curry on any one potato. It should be evenly distributed amongst the fries.
Place fries in a single layer, spray with a little extra cooking spray, bake for 8 to 12 minutes on each side until golden brown and tender inside. If you’d like extra browning, place under the broiler for a few minutes, keeping a close eye. Serve hot!
Yum. Can’t wait to try these.
I love oven fries and these look delicious!
They look delicious! Very much looking forward to making these… I only have convenience store brand curry powder at the moment (also, living in UK so probably can’t get hands on Penzey’s) – do you know which spices feature most prominently in your curry powder and whether a home-made approximation can be made?
oh yay! those look super good. Great tip on the ice bath! My last parboiled bunch ended up mushy… I definitely cooked too long. Never again!
Is the tbs. of olive oil necessary, Isa? I only ask cause I’m trying to watch my waistline. Could we just give the fries a quick spritz of oil from a mist can instead? Thank you for always being helpful!
Yeah, you can totally use spray instead.
These looks great, and I haven’t tried that technique before.. I wonder if these can overtake my other favourite fries/wedges – the smoky ones from The Complete Guide to Vegan Food substitutions? I also wonder if it’s possible to get a more smoky curry powder to use in these, or perhaps to add some smoked paprika. Yum! What a great idea.
I happened to be planning dinner when this showed up on my FB feed, so I made it tonight, with creole seasoning instead of curry (curry next time though for sure!). The teen entered the kitchen as I was pouring the potatoes into the ice bath, and asked, with a touch of horror, what I was doing to the potatoes. I told her – Isa said this is how you do it. Her response? “That’s some ‘Mommy Dearest’ shiz right there.” She kind of had a point. But dang these are good. PPK FTW again.
I’m making these right now and I’m a bear rawwrrrrrrr!!!!!!
These look so good and Penzey’s Sweet Curry Powder is my favorite and I have plenty on hand 🙂 Can’t wait to try these!
Wow, those look amazing!
However… what is “microplaned” garlic?
Holy moly, those look awesome. Excellent timing for Super Bowl snacks.
These look good! I also want to try it with sweet potatoes. I bet that would be great too.
Whoa Lindsay I was just thinking the exact same thing! Sweet potato + garam masala. Dip in chutney…
I said this before in the comments, but sweet potatoes are not a good candidate for this method. They’re much too soft, better to just bake them without parboiling.
I’ve added it to the recipe, so hopefully people don’t miss it!
Alright you twisted my arm Isa. I am about to go stock up on supplies before we get that snow on Saturday and even though I think I will try this recipe, as well as a few others, during the snow storm, I am going to stop at Amsterdam for a spicy falafel and fries while I am out.
I have not been there in quite a while anyway. In the summer if you sit on the patio of that bar right next door the people will usually deliver the food to your table when you order from Amsterdam.
Just in time! I am making “fish” and Chips on sunday night! I am even more excited now.
Am currently demolishing a plate of these – no sweet curry powder, but the garlic and olive oil combo is delicious…so glad they’re baked. This way I don’t feel bad about eating so many. Thanks Isa!
If You want to chop Garlic use the Chef’s trick, slice a bit then dump Salt on it and chop away, you can get tiny tiny chipped garlic that does not stick together. If it was me I would just rub this on the potatoes and then sprinkle them with the curry powder, much neater and evenly sprinkled.
Making these tonight along with the Beet Burgers. Assume the potatoes are unpeeled? Thanks, Isa!
Made these to ight, although with a slightly different method. Inlays and hubby loved them, I found them quite bitter. That said, no one can say ISA didn’t warn me that the type of curry powder is important here. I used what. My inlays had, the regular cheap stuff. Next time, I will prepare in advance!
These fries are phenomenal! I ended up not peeling which was a good call. They go beautifully with the beet burgers (also great) and looking forward to trying with other spice blends, too. Thanks so much…
Made these last night to accompany The Leman’s chicken-wings-debauch. Along with being quite delicious, I was very pleased that the spice mixture was barely enough to cover all of the potatoes; I’m always annoyed when I wind up with unusable leftover ingredients. I used the hottest curry powder that our local spice merchant carries, the same curry that I use in *everything*, and it was just what we wanted. Guacamole and too much Double Chocolate Stout made the Super Bowl almost intelligible. Thanks so much.
b/c I’m lazy, I used garlic powder. but for the curry powder, I used Jamaican Curry Powder. OMG!! finger-licking good! def making these again!
I love Jamaican Curry Powder!
Making these tonight. They smell awesome, and really not that much work! Will post to let you know how I like the taste! Thanks, Isa!
Oh. MY. These are amazing! I especially love all the little crispity crunchity little pieces of garlic. Will definitely do again. May also experiment with different spices. I am thinking that smoked paprika would be tasty instead of curry, though the curry is tasty! Thanks for a great lower fat “fry fix”!
These look yummy. I’ve been thinking of adding curry powder to salads and now I can add them to fries!
I made these tonight and they totally rocked! Delicious and not my parents’ fries!
What is microplaned garlic? garlic powder????
Thanks!
Garlic grated on a microplane! You can also mince it into a near paste.
These look a-MAZ-ing. I’m excited to try them out!
Thanks for the post, looking forward to more awesomeness.
Hi,
I mistakenly thought that Yukon Golds were in order for this recipe, and so got some. But obviously I’m wrong. Can I sub them with a shorter/no boiling time? Should I bake them not as long? Thanks.
Thanks. This is excellent and my 5 yo loved it as well. Result: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3445578899409
starting to make these riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight……..now! 🙂
Great twist on regular old fries
Oh gosh, I’m so excited to try these. Amsterdam’s curry fries are my favorite, but hopefully these will be my new favorite!
Nothing wrong with micro planing the garlic but you could save yourself a step by dropping in a few cloves of raw garlic in some OVOO for a few days then adding the garlic oil to the steak fries. I always have some of this heavenly aromatic oil on hand for dressings, sautes and oven fries.
Hey Isa! I am such a big fan of yours. I have three of your cookbooks. I am writing on this one, because I was so pissed about healthy oven fries. Your recipe works!!! No burnt ones in this recipe. Does parboiling work for the non-steak type, match-stick type french fry? I am so tired of Alexia taking over my life, and thought if I could just master parboiling and baking, maybe I would finally get some GOOD homemade fries on the table.
…by the way, I should tell you, we have staples of yours. We make your cilantro pesto pasta with artichokes and caramelized onions at least twice a month. I make a soup recipe from your awesome lowfat cookbook consistently. Your cookbook (Veganomicon) was the first one I bought for vegan cooking, and it isn’t going anywhere, thanks for all you do Isa!!! Love ya!!
these look amazing! I will be devouring them very soon…
I made these tonight, but instead of curry powder I used smoked paprika and the finely minced garlic. They came out great! I know a few people mentioned using smoked paprika and I’d recommend it! Next time I’m going to try to get them a little crunchier by broiling longer.
I would suggest using a clean lint free cloth towel in place of paper towels, since paper towels are not meant for cooking and often contain chemicals such as formadihyde.
omg now i know what i can do with the remaining curry powder i have!!!!