Potato Rosti With Fennel And Fiery Salsa

I combine my understanding of ingredients and international cuisine, and my own exclusive technique to create gourmet dishes that are truly healthy (vegan, gluten-free, almost no oil) that would be relished by Indian palates. I have been using this unique combination to create dishes that look spectacular and taste fabulous for my family for over 20 years and will share some of these treasures with you through a weekly column on Healthy Goodies Blog.

This week’s innovation is Potato Rosti With Fennel And Fiery Salsa

Every dish needs an understanding of its ingredients, to achieve the texture, taste, and form.

This particular dish is simple but needs a little technique, which I will explain below.

The core ingredient for Rösti is, of course, the potatoes. In Switzerland, they make it easy by selling potatoes specifically labeled for Rösti, usually in the red bag (blue is for starchy, green for waxy). Basically, it’s an all-purpose potato that’s not too starchy and not too waxy. You need the potato to retain its shape a bit and not dissolve into mush, but not so sturdy that you taste each strand. In the U.S., I hear Yukon Gold is a good option.

Since I live in Mumbai, I buy the potatoes which are sold as Chips ke Aloo.

I have tweaked the recipe to make it healthier by not using much oil.

Recipe

After washing the potatoes, par boil them till 80% done and let them cool. For best result, it’s best kept in the refrigerator overnight.

Heat a cast-iron skillet/tava and brush very little oil on it

Directly grate the boiled peeled potato (make sure you use a grater with bigger holes) on the hot tava spreading it throughout to get around the spread of the potato shreds. It should not be mushy nor separated so that once it starts to roast it sticks together.

Let it nicely roast until it’s crisp on the side before you flip it

Even if while flipping the pieces separate do not worry you can get it together slowly with the help of the spatula while it’s still on the skillet/tava

Season the rosti with salt and pepper and add very finely chopped green chilies and spring onions to it.

Remove it carefully as one piece with the help of a broad spatula or just flip it on a serving plate.

Salsa sauce

Roast 3 plum tomatoes peel and de-seed them

Add 3 taps of hot sauce/sriracha to it and grind it roughly

Add some herbs of your choice and salt to taste

Fresh fennel

Slice the fennel bulb thinly and grill it on the tava using a little oil till fragrant and slightly tender, then season it with salt and freshly ground pepper. Additional flavorings can be done as per your choice.

Assemble

On top of the rosti place the salsa sauce and the sliced fennel

Fold the rosti like an open envelope just for a good presentation

You can also serve sour cream with chives on it on the side.

Serve it with some lettuce to add a fresh crunchy element to the dish, to round it off.

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