Spicy Fried Potatoes

"The Dragonlance Chronicles is a trilogy of fantasy novels written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, which take place in the Dragonlance setting. This series is the first set of Dragonlance novels, and is followed by the Dragonlance Legends series." Wikipedia

As a teenager I poured through my friends copy of Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home after he introduced me to the first two trilogies of the Dragonlance Saga.

Dragonlance Chronicles series; 

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night*, Dragons of Spring Dawning.

 

Dragonlance  Legends series;

Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, Test of the Twins. 

*see also Winter Knights, the second book of the Quint trilogy by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, part of the Edge Chronicles which are entirely unassociated with the Dragonlance universe.

I was searching. 

I was searching for something specific. 

And to my great satisfaction, the authors of Leaves had done me proud. 

I discovered the closest thing possible to an official recipe for Otiks Spicy Fried Potatoes. 

Shared in accordance with International Fair use Policy for Educational Purposes

Sadly, I had problems getting it to work. 

The recipe specifically instructs the potatoes to be cut to 1/2 inch cubes. 

This means they are raw in the middle while crispy on the outside. 

I tried a lower temperature. It makes slushy mashed potatoes. 

I tried boiling them first. It makes slushy mashed potatoes.

I tried again with smaller cubes. It makes slushy mashed potatoes. 

I added more oil, they go slushy and oily. 

I decided I do not have the natural flare for making Otiks Spicy Fried Potatoes and with much remorse I quit attempting to make them for twenty-six arduous, hungry years. 

In the meantime I discovered Farls, an Irish recipe which is a mix of mashed potatoes with wheat flour, so the dough can be both baked like bread or fried like chips. Genius. 

Then one day in my Forty-Second year it all clicked together in my head. Where I had been going wrong in the first place. I returned to the kitchen armed with a sack full of potatoes and spices, to try again. It's not quite Otik's recipe but its a helluva load easier.

Joe's Recipe for Spicy Potato Mash

You will need: 

Boiled Potatoes (washed and chopped without peeling - their skin is where the enzymes are)

Butter (approx 1/6th the amount butter to potatoes - we want this creamy) 

Turmeric (yellow powder)

Chili powder (red powder)

Ground Black Pepper (grey powder not dissimilar to gunpowder)

Salt (white powder or in this case pink Himalayan mountain salt)

Method: 

Boil the potatoes until soft, drain, add all the ingredients to a bowl, ensure the chili and turmeric each thinly cover the surface - thats how you know you've added enough, less with the salt and pepper, mash it all up with a fork until its fluffy. Serves only 1 regardless how much of the stuff you make.

Enjoy~