Potato Latkes Recipe

Recipe: Potato Latkes Recipe »

One of my favourite ways to cook potatoes is to make potato latkes - those crisp, golden pancakes you often see at Hanukkah but which we happily eat all year round. They're made from grated potato and onion, bound with egg and a little flour or matzo meal, seasoned simply with salt and pepper and fried until deliciously crisp. Make them once and you'll make them again; they're brilliant for breakfast or brunch and just as good on a party plate served with applesauce, sour cream or smoked salmon.

Potato Latkes are easiest done in a food processor with a grating attachment. Peeling and grating by hand is possible, if not tiresome and for this reason I definitely recommend using the machinery especially if you have small potatoes as I did.

Potato Latkes

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5-15 minutes (depending on method)

Cooking time: 4 minutes per batch

Makes: 12-15 latkes

• 650g/1.4lbs potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered (depending on size)
• 1 large white onion, peeled and halved
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons plain all purpose flour or fine matzo meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs oil for frying

Step 1 - Grate the potatoes and onion in the food processor or manually do this using a grater. Place the grated potato and onion in a teatowel or a double layer of paper towels and squeeze well to extract all of the liquid. Repeat this process to ensure that the potato is very dry.

Step 2 - Add the potato and onion to a large bowl with the beaten egg, flour, baking powder and salt and mix with your hands so that the potatoes, egg and flour are well distributed.

Step 3 - Heat half of the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Dollop small rounds (around 2 tablespoons) of the potato mixture and spread out so that it is a small pancake. Fry for 2 minutes on one side and then gently turn over and fry for another 2 minutes. Place on paper towels to drain and repeat using the remainder of the oil when the pan runs dry.