Home-made French Fries ~KFC Style!

Who doesn't love french fries? There are certain things in life that no one can deny - french fries being one of them 😛 I absolutely love potatoes. Growing up, Amma used to make potato fry for lunch/dinner almost everyday and thats the only vegetable that I will never have enough of 🙂 After moving to Bangalore, potato wasnt that close to my kitchen. I made myself stop eating too much potato and started eating other veggies too. But occasional french fries from KFC would bring a huge smile on to my face. S exactly knew how to get to my heart! For many times, I have attempted making french fries at home and ended up having soggy oil absorbed fries rather than the crisp at edges and tender at the center fries. One night at around 10.30, I had this urge to have fries. Knowing that its not a good time to venture out for fries (:P) I decided to make them at home and followed a technique after searching many many food sites. I can say its fool proof and makes awesome fries in less than 30mins. Here is the recipe -

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Firm potatoes - 3 (big)
• Salt - to taste
• Ice cold water - 1 ltr
• Oil - to fry

Procedure:

1. Peel off the potato skin and wash the potatoes in running water.
2. Cut into 3 inch long fingers desirable for making french fries.
3. Take a large bowl with ice cold water (preferably with ice cubes too) and add the cut potato fingers into it.
4. Wash the potato pieces multiple times with the cold water until the water turns colorless. It helps get rid of the starch from the potato and during the first few washes, the water would immediately turn white. Washing with cold water makes the potatoes even firmer giving them a good texture while frying.
5. Using a kitchen cloth, tap the potato pieces dry and spread them on a plate making sure no pieces are tocuhing each other. Put the plate in the freezer for 15mins.
6. Heat oil in a kadai, enough for frying. Take out the potato pieces from the freezer and deep fry them until there are no emerging bubbles. Take them out onto a tissue paper and go about frying the next batch.
7. The formula for crispness is to deep fry the potato pieces one more time when all your raw batch is done. The edges would turn slight golden brown and the center would still be tender yet firm. This ensure they remain crisp for a longer time. Alternatively, you can do this step just before serving it to your guests too.
8. Sprinkle some salt on the fries and shake them well for salt to be coated properly.
9. French fries are ready to served 🙂