Easy Home-made Frech Fries

I have been cooking so much lately, i have had no time to talk about it. And these french fries have been featuring prominently as evening snacks most days of the week, ever since i discovered them about two months ago. I saw them featured on The Pioneer Woman and they looked delicious. Not its easy to say no to fried potato whether they are really in front of you or just virtually in pics. But then i am also one for shortcuts. I usually don't have the patience for pre-planning. So while the source recipe tells you to soak the potato cut into fries for at least an hour and then fry them twice once in hot oil and next in very hot oil, that sounded too long winded and cumbersome to me. And it asked for a thermometer to measure the temperature of oil. There i gave up. But i didn't give up entirely.

I patiently read through why each of those steps were required. The potatoes after they are cut into fries need to be washed thoroughly to remove any starch from the surface, because the starch prevents a crisp outer surface when fried. The first step of frying in less hot oil was to make the fries soft, this i changed to boiling in water and straight after washing them too. No pre-planning or long waiting times. Dry them and fry them and you have what you need, what you can't resist. Now to tell you how good they are. My husband who refuses to eat anything at McDonald's succumbs to their fries. Tells himself (and me when i challenge him) that you can't do so much processing to potatoes and they can't be as bad as their burgers or chicken nuggets. He finally asked them how their fries were made, only to be told that they get packets of frozen fries imported. And how can they be good for you when they are being stored from ages ago? Seeing how desparate he was for fries, i tried these at home. They have been certified to be as good or better than what he was buying. He has not bought a single serving of fries outside since. We have fries with this wing sauce or tobasco but tomato ketchup or mayonnaise are good pairings too. 
Earlier this curry was the only one that used up potatoes in our house and we would hardly eat a half kilo every month. And now we have been using up loads of potatoes. Just a warning on how addictive these can get. You can't blame me later.

Inspired from here
Prep time: 5 - 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Serves: 2-4 based on your portion size

Ingredients
3 large potatoes
4 cups water
oil for frying
salt to taste

Method

1. Peel and rinse the potatoes, then cut them into sticks by cutting the potato in four or five vertical pieces, then cutting each piece into sticks. Or use a french fry cutter. I have used both methods
2. Wash the potato sticks until the water runs clear. Place them in a large saucepan. Pour water into the pan until it is one inch above the potatoes. Add a teaspoon of salt, stir. Boil on high heat for 10-12 minutes until the potatoes are tender when cut with a fork or knife. Drain and dry on paper towels
3. Heat oil in a heavy pot or kadai. You need between 1-2 inches of oil but the pot must not be more than half full with oil. Test whether the oil is at correct temperature by dropping one small potato stick, if it floats to the top immediately, it is ready.
4. Fry the potatoes in batches for about 6-8 minutes. Stay away from the stove and drop the potatoes gently into the oil. I use the same slotted spoon for putting the potatoes in oil as i use to take them out. As soon as you add the potatoes the oil will bubble and rise up by 1-2 inches which is why you should not fill your pot with oil more than half full. 
5. When the fries are ready, the potato sticks will all float to the top, the bubbles are at a minimum and the they will have slightly shrunk in size. Remove from oil using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt right after taking them out of oil and serve.

Tastes best when eaten within minutes of making them. I serve each batch of fries as they come out of the oven and finish eating a batch before the next one comes out. That is why what you see in the above pics are only a third of what we ate that day.
 
Linking this to Sobha's Just 4 fun event at Good Food.