Batata harra
A Lebanese meze in which the potatoes are only a vehicle for the two real protagonists: garlic and an enormous quantity of fresh coriander. Success rests on crispness, and that takes two steps. The potatoes are blanched before frying so their surfaces roughen and go floury. And the garlic is fried only briefly, while the coriander goes into a pan taken off the heat — fried, it quickly darkens and loses its fresh aroma.
Your own work in that: 5 min.
- Potatoes 45 min
- Garlic and chilli 5 min
- Combining 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCut the potatoes into even dice
Cut the potatoes into 2 cm dice, as even as you can. Uneven pieces fry at different rates — the small ones burn before the large have browned on even one side.
Ingredients: 800 g potatoes · 1 tbsp salt · 80 ml oil
Blanch the dice in salted water
Cook the dice in salted water 6 minutes, until soft outside but firm within. Blanching roughens the surface — that floury layer is what later turns into a crisp shell.
Ingredients: 800 g potatoes · 1 tbsp salt · 80 ml oil
Six minutes — soft outside, firm at the centre.Steam-dry them in the colander
Drain and leave the potatoes in the colander for 5 minutes to steam dry. Damp dice spit in hot oil and stew in their own steam instead of frying — then they are hard to brown properly.
Ingredients: 800 g potatoes · 1 tbsp salt · 80 ml oil
Shake the colander to scuff the edges
Shake the colander a few times until the surfaces turn floury and slightly ragged. The same trick as for roast potatoes — it increases the surface that meets the hot oil.
Ingredients: 800 g potatoes · 1 tbsp salt · 80 ml oil
Fry in batches, undisturbed
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the potatoes in batches, in a single layer, leaving them undisturbed for 4 minutes, then turn and repeat until golden on all sides — about 20–25 minutes in total for all the batches. Constant stirring breaks the forming crust — the dice should sit still until they release from the pan themselves. Set each finished batch aside on a plate, then return them all to the pan at the end.
Ingredients: 800 g potatoes · 1 tbsp salt · 80 ml oil
One layer and undisturbed — the crust needs time to form.Fry the garlic 30 seconds, no longer
Lower the heat, push the potatoes aside, add the garlic, chilli flakes, ground coriander and the chopped fresh chilli (if using) and fry only 30 seconds, then toss everything together. Garlic burns instantly and turns bitter — and that bitterness then passes into everything.
Ingredients: 8 cloves garlic · 1 bunch coriander · 1½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 pcs hot chilli
Add the coriander off the heat
Take the pan off the heat and add the whole chopped bunch of coriander, tossing. Fried coriander quickly darkens and loses its aroma — and its scent is the most important thing in this dish.
Ingredients: 8 cloves garlic · 1 bunch coriander · 1½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 tsp ground coriander · 1 pcs hot chilli
A whole bunch off the heat — fried, it loses its aroma.Squeeze over lemon and serve at once
Squeeze over the lemon, season with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately — the acid begins softening the crust within minutes, and batata harra lives on the contrast of crisp shell and soft centre.
Ingredients: 1 pcs lemon · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Before you start
The oven version
The potatoes can be roasted rather than fried: after blanching, toss them with 4 tablespoons of oil and roast in a single layer on a tray for about 30 minutes at 220 °C (conventional heat), turning once. They come out slightly less crisp than fried, but with far less fuss. Then briefly fry the garlic and spices in a pan and carry on as in the recipe.
It really is a whole bunch
A whole bunch for 800 g of potatoes looks absurd, but that proportion is exactly what separates batata harra from ordinary spicy potatoes. If you dislike coriander, parsley works — though it becomes a different dish.
Eat it straight away
A dish of one moment: after a quarter of an hour the crust softens from steam and lemon, and reheated potatoes never get it back. You can blanch the potatoes ahead and keep them a day in the fridge.
