Honey Chili Potato Fries using Frozen Fries

With over a bazillion ways to enjoy this humble vegetable, there is always atleast one dish you have fallen in love with which is potato centric. For me, potatoes are always welcomed in the form of french fries. Today on the DSB menu is one rendition of french fries my family enjoys the most- Honey Chili Potato Fries.

For those who are intrigued by the name of this dish, Honey Chili Potato Fries is a very popular appetizer in India. The origins of this dish is unknown but just like most of the Indo-Chinese fusion dishes, it hits the perfect cord of balancing flavors.

Honey Chili Potato Fries – Perfect Appetizer

As the name suggests, Honey Chili Potato Fries is exactly what it is – Sweet notes of honey mingling with the hot and spicy chili kick over some fried potatoes – Pure Bliss ! What’s better, this one dish wins hearts of both kids and adults alike. Pair it with some wines or enjoy it with a hot cup of ginger chai and you are set for your evening.

This dish is fried, comforting and just hits the right notes of flavors for me. The real reason though is that the batter fried french fries stays crunchy even after coating with that sauce – Delicious!

Why the frozen Fries

Over the years of making and remaking this dish, I ditched the fresh potatoes for the french fries and it seemed to work out better in this dish. One, I always have french fries in my freezer and Two, it cuts down my cooking time to almost half : win-win 🙂 To keep it crowd friendly, I just keep it more on the sweeter side than the spicy side and everyone loves it… but you can always choose the route you like! So let’s get cooking Spud’tastic dish !

Honey Chili Potato Fries

Honey Chili Potato Fries

Servings: 4-6
Time: 20mins
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Ingredients

Frozen French Fries- 1 lb (can take straight cut or crinkle cut )
Oil for Deep Frying

For the Batter

All Purpose Flour – 1/2 cup
Corn Starch – 2 Tablespoons
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Garlic powder – 1/2 tsp (can also add 1 tsp fresh minced garlic)

For the Sauce

Oil – 2 Tablespoons
Red Onion – 1 large, Julienne
Green Bell pepper – 1 large, Julienne
fresh minced Garlic – 1 Tablespoon (Add more or less as per your taste)
2-3 Spring Onions Whites – Cut lengthwise
Toasted sesame seeds – 2 Tsp
Light Soya Sauce – 2 Tablespoon
Sambal Oelek / Chili Paste- 1 Tablespoon
Ketchup / Tomato Paste- 1 Tablespoon
White Vinegar – 1 tsp
Honey- 1/2 Cup
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Cornstarch – 1 Tablespoon
Fresh Coriander- chopped, for garnish
Spring Onion Greens – chopped, for garnish

Method

Start with mixing all the ingredients of the Batter and adding enough water to make a thick (honey consistency) slurry.
Dip the frozen fries (requires no thawing for this recipe) in to the batter and coat them well.
Heat the Oil for Deep frying and once the oil is hot, add a few coated fries at a time and fry them in batches till golden brown. Remove on an absorbent paper towel. Repeat with all the frozen fries.
Now, to prepare the sauce, heat up the oil for sauce in a wok. Once the oil is smoky hot, quickly add in the Onions, Spring Onion whites, Green Bell Peppers and minced garlic and saute.
In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients for the sauce and add to the wok. Combine well and let this cook for a couple of minutes till the sauce comes to a boil.
Now, mix the cornstarch with 1/2 cup water and add to the sauce to thicken it.
Add the salt, black pepper and sesame seeds. Mix well.
Add the honey and combine quickly. Shut the flame.
Now, quickly drop the crispy fried french fries in the sauce and coat well.
Garnish with coriander and spring onion greens and serve immediately.

I wish I could be eating this dish right now ! The dish is an absolute stunner and is an amazing appetizer to pair up with cocktails, as a side dish or heck, go and try it out with burgers next time !

Go check out another dish I prepared on the similar lines which uses fewer ingredients and can be enjoyed guilt free coz it’s baked – Hot ‘n’ Honey Potato Sticks