Kartoffelpuffer / Latkes

The one thing I figured out having made these, is that there is no real escape from the fact that you need to use a lot of oil, because they won’t fry in the same way without. A Jewish friend refers to his annual bout of latke-making somewhat affectionately as “grease fest” and now I know why.

These pancakes do not have to be greasy, however. Keep the potatoes dry enough and the oil hot enough and you should end up with a nicely crispy result. Most recipes call for the onion to be grated, though I imagine that very finely chopped onion would do the trick too. To check your seasoning, you can fry one small pancake first and taste to see if the rest of the mixture needs more salt or pepper.

You’ll need:

450g potatoes, preferably a floury / starchy variety
half a medium-sized onion (about 75g), grated coarsely or very finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
0.5 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
a few tblsp plain flour or matzoh meal ^[1]
plenty of vegetable oil for frying

You’ll also need:

A grater (or food processor with grater attachment) for grating the potatoes and onions, a clean tea cloth for squeezing dry the potatoes and a large frying pan.

The Steps:

Scrub the potatoes and peel or leave unpeeled as you prefer. Grate coarsely and wrap the grated potatoes in a clean tea towel or other clean cloth. Wring the tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
Mix the grated potatoes with the grated onion, beaten egg, salt and a few twists of black pepper. If the mixture seems a little wet, add a spoon or two of flour or matzoh meal to absorb the excess.
Place your frying pan over a high heat and add about a 0.5cm depth of oil. Allow it to heat for a few minutes. To check whether it is hot enough, drop in a small piece of the potato mixture. If it sizzles straight away, then you can start frying, though if the oil starts smoking at all, remove from the heat for a minute or two and lower the heat a little.
Take a heaped tblsp of the potato mixture, drop into the oil and flatten out as much as you can using the back of a spoon. If you have more room in your pan, add another 2-3 pancakes, but don’t crowd the pan too much.
Fry the pancakes for a couple of minutes on each side, until crispy and golden. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and either eat straight away (accompaniments of sour cream and apple sauce would be traditional) or keep warm in a low oven while you fry the rest. You may need to replenish the oil in your pan if the level starts running low after the first few batches.

The Variations:

This a fairly traditional rendition of which the variations are legion. You could add garlic and/or herbs of your choosing or leave out the onion and make a pancake that’s as good served sweet as savoury.

The Results:

Makes around 15 pancakes bearing whatever name you prefer to use.