Batata Harra - Lebanese Spiced Potato Recipe

Batata Harra is a delicious vegetable dish from the Middle Eastern Cuisine. It literally means hot potatoes. This crispy, spicy roasted potato dish is a popular Lebanese recipe. The original recipe calls for tossing the deep-fried potato chunks in seasoning oil and herbs. To make it a guilt-free affair, I have roasted the potato pieces in the oven and then seasoned it in olive oil with garlic, red chili, pepper and coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice. It is a quick and simple recipe with just few ingredients. You can serve Batata Harra as an appetiser or party snack or a side dish, in any way it is going to win you praises. Believe me, if you are a potato lover, than this is a treat for you for sure.

It is Monday today and we bloggers at the #FoodieMondayBlogHop are back with an interesting theme for our #181 week . In this group each week bloggers take turn to suggest a couple of theme for the event. Members of the group vote for any one of them and the one with majority of votes is decided as the theme for the week. This week it was the turn of Sujata Shukla di to suggest themes. She came up with very interesting themes and majority of us voted to cook a dish from the #Levantine Cuisine. She thoughtfully mentioned that , Levantine Cuisine covers the East Mediterranean Shore and includes the Cuisines of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine,Israel, Jordan and Cyprus. I chose this delicious Batata Harra from Lebanon as my contribution towards the theme. Checkout the posts from my fellow bloggers for some more dishes with this theme.

                                                         
Before we jump into the recipe, let's have a peek into Lebanese cuisine. Lebanese cuisine is an ancient one and a part of Levantine style of cooking that has an abundant use of vegetables, fruits,whole grains, starches, fresh fish and sea food. Garlic and olive oil is significantly used , often seasoned with lemon juice. Foods are usually baked and sauteed in olive oil. Lebanese Cuisine is seasonal and varies from region to region. Chickpeas and parsley are staples of their diet. In Lebanon, drinks are usually served with food and pita bread is a staple of every Lebanese meal. Source

For more potato recipes from this blog, check out the following, Spicy Potato Salad from Nepalese Cuisine, Achari Aloo - Spicy Pickled Potatoes, Kashmiri Dum Aloo, Aloo Chutney Pulao from Haryana

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 5-6  medium size potatoes
• 2 tablespoon Olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2-3 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon rock salt + more to taste

Method:

1. To begin with, preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Line the baking tray with parchment paper. Rinse, peel and cut the potatoes into bite size pieces . Add them to a mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon rock salt and toss to coat them well. 

2. Spread them evenly on the parchment paper lined baking tray. Roast for 30 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

3. Once the potatoes are roasted, set them aside and prepare for the oil seasoning. For that heat Olive oil on medium flame in a pan. Add minced garlic to it and fry for about half a minute , taking care not to burn it. Next, lower the flame and add the spice powders (red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and half of the chopped coriander. Stir fry them for few seconds.

4. Add the roasted potatoes to the pan and stir fry with the spices for a minute and put off the flame. Lastly add chili flakes, crushed black pepper, remaining coriander leaves, lemon juice and dash of salt . Toss the potatoes to coat well with the seasonings.

  5. Serve the Batata Harra hot or warm and enjoy the flavorful potato treat with your loved ones !

Recipe Notes:

• This dish is eaten spicy, however, you may adjust the spice levels to suite your palate.
• You may serve Batata Harra with hummus, but it tastes good on its own and does not require any accompaniment. 
• There is no need to flip or turn the potatoes while roasting them in the oven. On roasting the potatoes should be soft and fluffy from inside and crispy and golden brown from outside.
• The original recipe uses Kosher salt, I have replaced it with rock salt.
• If you are looking for authentic taste, deep fry the potato pieces prior to tossing them in seasoning oil and do not replace Olive oil with other cooking oils.
• I have roughly adapted the recipe from here
• Lemon juice just lifts up the taste of the dish, so do not skip that either.
• Herbs like parsley, dill , coriander can be used to flavor the dish .

If you ever try this recipe, do share your thoughts with us in the form of comments or pictures . Feel free to drop any queries, suggestions and feedback in the comment section below. Follow us on  #Facebook  #Instagram ,  #Twitter and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates. 

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