These Hungarian potato cakes go by many names depending on the region, often causing friendly conversations to come to a halt as everyone tries to establish that they are talking about the same thing. They make for a great snack or side dish for meat courses. Remember to squeeze the liquid out of the grated potatoes for a crispy finish. While every household has their own variation, I prefer mine plain and crispy around the edges. You can also try adding garlic, chopped spring onions or parsley to the batter. Grated courgettes have recently gained popularity as a substitute for some or all of the potatoes. I have yet to try it, but it sounds delicious.
Ingredients (makes about 6-7 rostis)
- 450 g (1 lb) potatoes
- 100 g (~ 6 tbsp) flour
- salt, pepper to taste
- sunflower/vegetable oil
Optional sour cream dip:
- 100ml sour cream
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- salt
Method
- Peel and great the potatoes on a coarse greater.
- The potato has a high water content, to make a great rosti that is crispy on the outside and soft inside we need to squeeze out as much as the water as possible by hand. Once the water squeezed out combine with one beaten egg a bit of salt and the flour.
- We can straight away get on with frying them up in batches, the raw grated potato would turn into a greyish colour if sat around too long.
- Heat a splash or two of sunflower/vegetable oil in a pan, place spoonful heaps of the potato mixture into the hot oil flatten them out slightly and cook on medium heat until golden, turn and cook the other side.
- Take them out onto a plate lined with paper towel to soak up the excess oil, could serve with sour cream mixed with finely chopped garlic clove.
