Tonight is the first night of the Jewish Festival of Light, Chanukah and the tradition, based on the story of the holiday, is to consume lots of things connected to oil.  So, I decided I would share my own recipe for the ever popular Latke, a potato dish cooked in….you guessed, oil!

The Ingredients needed

This is a great way to cook one’s spud, tatty or even potato. delicious, irresistibly crispy on the outside and moist potato within and is popular in mainstream US cuisine too

The way I make Latkes is with a nod to the tradition but adding a little bit of something else. Being a veritable kleptomaniac, when it comes to the use of a dash of color, I thought it might be fun to help this classic dish along the culinary trail by bringing some colorful vegetable interlopers to the party

Ingredients (serves 6+) 

Plain, Carrot & Kale Latke mix

• 6 x large potatoes (peeled and grated)
• 2 x large onions grated
• 1 x cup of Matzo Meal (available in many supermarkets but you could use flour as an alternative binding agent)
• 3 x large eggs
• Oil to fry (I used sunflower oil)
• Salt and Pepper to season
• Optional: 2 x purple carrots (peeled and grated) and 1 x large handful of kale (diced)

Method

Into the frying pan

• For the basic Potato Latke mix, add the eggs, onions and matzo meal to the grated potatoes and season well mixing the ingredients until they are all combined
• Alternatively, divide the potato mix into two halves, subdividing one half equally between 2 bowls and mixing the carrots and kale separately into each bowl
• Form patties of the potato mix from each bowl in the palm of your hand
• Heat around 1/4″ of oil in a large frying pan / skillet carefully place in the uncooked patties and fry until golden brown on  each side
• Dry on paper towel to absorb excess oil

Beer & Latkes

Absolutely fabulous served with apple sauce and washed down with a large glass of dark strong seasonal beer. I had mine with the aptly named  ‘Chanukah Beer’ from Shmaltz Brewing of NY