AirFryday: Our winning reader’s crunchy air fryer potatoes

This was close, but just look at those crispy potatoes. Anyone who cooks roasties in an air fryer knows that there’s a learning curve involved in getting that perfect golden, crunchy outcome. And you’d be hard pressed to get them more golden and crunchy than this.

Esté Dietrichsen of Pretoria sent us her recipe for what she calls Lizzy’s crispy potatoes, which are parboiled with salt and bicarbonate of soda before being roasted in the air fryer.

Esté says: “A crispy coating with a fluffy creamy inside, these roast potatoes are a delicious accompaniment to a range of meat dishes and a firm family favourite. Give them a quick boil on the stove, coat with flavoured oil and let them roast in the airfryer until they’re crispy and browned all over for at least half an hour; it gives you time to welcome the guests.”

Before sharing Esté’s recipe, a little about the shortlist of dishes that were considered. Good news: Daily Maverick is going to send prizes to two runners-up of a DailyMaverick T-shirt each. Kindly let me know once they have arrived.

I very much like the masala potato wedges recipe submitted by Yariva Ramdhani. Yariva says it’s her take on her mum’s masala chips recipe, adapted for the air fryer. This speaks to me, having done that with my own mother’s way with chips.

“This is my take on my mum’s masala chips recipe, which was chips deep fried and then sprinkled with masala mix,” she says. “I prefer the wedges and opt to use the air fryer instead of a deep fry. It’s become a family favourite as a side dish to roast chicken, fish or a simple rice and dhal.”

Ironically, the remaining recipe on the shortlist to win the Defy air fryer was one that is on my own shortlist of recipes to feature in our AirFryday slot. It was sent in by John Weaver of Betty’s Bay, who remarks that his recipe is for one, because air fryers were originally designed for one, but it can be multiplied for up to six people depending on the size of your air fryer.

He also suggests an alternative of making individual miniature versions in ramekins or other small dishes to serve each guest. The number of guests would determine the quantity of ingredients.

Here’s our winning recipe, followed by the two runners-up.

Lizzy’s crispy potatoes, by Esté Dietrichsen

Ingredients

1kg large potatoes

1 tsp salt for the cooking and ¼ tsp for the oil

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

2-3 Tbsp lard or other animal fat

Sprig of rosemary

1-2 cloves of garlic

Method

Peel potatoes, cut into large chunks.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil (enough to cover the potatoes), add 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp bicarb.

Put potatoes into boiling water, boil about 8 minutes until tender but not soft, with no lid on.

Drain water and place potatoes onto a wire rack to let steam evaporate for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, make the flavoured oil:

In a pan, on a low heat, melt 2 or 3 Tbsp of lard with ¼ tsp salt, a sprig of rosemary, and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, and simmer very gently on low until fragrant. Strain to remove any solids.

Place about half of the boiled potatoes into a bowl with a lid, add about half of the oil, make sure the lid is tightly closed and give it a few firm shakes so that the oil coats the potatoes.

Place one batch of coated potatoes into the airfryer, it’s best not to use any paper liners or foil – allow air to circulate at maximum.

Set on the highest temperature (the Philips XL goes to 200°C) and roast for 40 minutes. Check that they are nicely browned, give the basket a shake but don’t stir or mess around with them.

Roast for another 10 minutes, they should be crispy and evenly browned.

Serve with almost anything: roast chicken, steak, sausages.

Yariva Ramdhani’s masala potatoes

Ingredients

2 -3 large potatoes cut into wedges (skin on or off)

Salt

½ tsp roasted masala mix

¼ tsp garam masala

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp crushed chilli (optional if you want an extra kick!) 

Pinch of garlic flakes

Pinch of crushed cumin seeds

Enough oil to thoroughly coat the potatoes 

A drizzle of honey

Method

In a large bowl, toss all the ingredients, drizzle with oil, and mix well so the potatoes are well coated. Add to the pre-heated air fryer for 10 to 15 mins at 180⁰C. Give it a mix and turn up to 200⁰C  for an additional 10 mins. Adjust the time based on the size of potatoes.

Depending on the meal, I sometimes leave the potato skins on, but adjust the temp for a longer cooking time at 200⁰C for a crispy skin, or microwave it for 5 mins before marinating and cooking – again this depends on the potatoes and how fast they cook.

John Weaver’s Gratin Dauphinoise

(Serves 1, but multiply as needed up to 6 portions)

Ingredients

1 potato, sliced thinly

1 garlic clove, sliced thinly

1 tsp butter

100ml cream

Salt and pepper

A small handful of grated mature Klein Rivier Gruberg, or similar hard cheese

Method

Rinse potato in cold water and dry with a salad spinner or dish towel. Place butter, cream, potato, garlic, salt and pepper in a pot and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Take your air-fryer-proof dish and rub with butter. Add all the ingredients from the pot.

Cook in the air fryer at 150oC for 45 minutes. Pull out the pan and sprinkle grated cheese over top. Put it back in for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is nicely browned.

Serve hot.

You can also use smaller dishes so that each person at the dinner table gets their own personal Gratin Dauphinoise. DM