I have been making my Chilli Honey Chicken since eternity. It has always been a stable part of our dinner table whenever I cook Chinese. And then one fine day a few years back my pishai (paternal aunt) came down and joined us for one such Chinese dinner. And she is a vegetarian. So out came my thinking cap as I mentally made a note of all that I could make for her. I didn’t have paneer at home and she doesn’t like mushrooms much. Then suddenly struck the thought of bringing the humble ol’ potato to good use. Now, as a family we are potato-holics. We should have been born in Russia, methinks. We eat potatoes with everything. Even if we don’t eat anything else we eat potatoes. Alusheddho-bhaat, biriyani with aloo, alu potol diye patla maachher jhol, kosha mangsho with aloo. You get the picture, right?
So, back to these potatoes. A sticky coat of sweet, spice and tang along with the crunch of potatoes can totally make your tastebuds go numb with pleasure. They are good. They are very good. They are so good that my sister thinks she can live on them. I can, too. These potatoes can make you forget the chicken counterpart of it. They have the potential of making you a convert even if you are the staunchest “fleshetarian”. Try this, even if you (like me) swear by your fish and chicken and lamb. I promise you won’t regret.
Chilli Honey Potato
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Ingredients
- Potatoes, cut into long French fry-like strips: 4 medium
- Olive Oil: 1 tbsp + for frying (I fried my potatoes in the air fryer with 1 tsp oil)
- Garlic, minced: 2 tsp
- Honey: 1/4 cup
- Tomato ketchup: 4 tbsp
- White wine vinegar: 1 tbsp
- Soy sauce: 1 1/2 tsp
- Garlic chilli sauce: 2 tsp
- Dry red chillis: 2
- Salt, to taste
- Cornflour, for binding
- For marinade:
- Garlic, minced: 1 tsp
- Honey: 3 tbsp
- Tomato ketchup: 3 tbsp
- White wine vinegar: 1 tsp
- Soy sauce: 1 tsp
- Garlic chilli sauce: 1 tsp
- Salt
- Cornflour, for binding
METHOD
1. Marinade the potatoes with all the ingredients and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.
2. Heat some olive oil in a non-stick pan and fry the potatoes. (Or air fry the marinated potatoes at 180 C for 15-18 min. Check intermittently and fry for longer if required) Make sure they are completely cooked from inside. Set aside. (You can check my detailed post of How to make French Fries in the Air Fryer here)
3. Heat oil again. Add the dry red chillis and garlic and saute for sometime.
4. Now add the potatoes and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add vinegar, soy sauce, honey, ketchup, garlic chilli sauce, salt. Try not adding any water but if you badly want some gravy and a little cornflour mixed in water and cook till all the potato sticks are coated.
6. Cover and cook on medium-high for 5-6 minutes till the gravy thickens. You can leave some gravy or completely dry it depending on whether you want to have it as a side dish or a starter.
7. Remove from heat and serve as a starter or with fried rice or noodles. Or like me, just have it straightaway from the bowl!
