Lebanese Spicy Potatoes (Batata Harra)
Lebanese Spicy Potatoes (Batata Harra)
Absolutely brilliant combination of flavors. I made this on 29 June 2017 as a side dish to a chicken meal I made. You can make this as spicy as you want it, and let me tell you, local homemade red chili paste in a village, is spicy!
Ingredients
- 3 cups potatoes, cubed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon red chili paste, more or less to taste, go with 1/4 tsp if you cannot handle spicy
- 50 grams fresh coriander leaves, chopped, plus more for garnish, (2 oz)
- ½ cup lemon juice, or lime juice, either one is fine
Instructions
- Cube your potatoes, I used 2½ medium sized potatoes for just over 3 cups.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the potatoes and boil for 10 minutes with 1 teaspoon of salt added.
- Prep the other ingredients while the potatoes are boiling. Shown here my garlic, coriander, chili paste (1 teaspoon of that was used, a small bag lasts a while), and the lime juice. I use lime juice as it is everywhere, lemon juice on the other hand is not that easy to find, they can be used interchangeably.
- Take drained potatoes and fry in oil, drain on paper towels.
- Heat olive oil in a non stick, large skillet, add garlic and chili paste, cook for just a minute or two then add coriander and lemon (lime) juice, cook for a few minutes.
- Add the potatoes. The potatoes will cook through and the liquid will be absorbed.
- Cook until starting to browned, when the liquid is absorbed, the potatoes will be tender. Ready to serve. This is an excellent side dish.
The flavor in these potatoes is absolutely amazing, easy to put together, and you can prep everything once you get the potatoes into the boiling water. I did forget one step, that was to fry the potatoes in oil after boiling, but they turned out great. A note about the chili paste, this is much spicier than chili powder, the 1 teaspoon listed is perfect but for those with stomach problems, such as myself, I will cut back on the chili paste next time, but I did get 1/2 a serving down, and had no issues with it. Overall, wonderful flavor, will certainly make these again.