| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 4 Large Russet potato
- 1 onion
- 4 egg
- 4 tsp salt
- 4 ground matza (or 1C matza meal)
- Toppings: apple sauce, sour cream, ketchup see notes below
- olive oil for frying
Ingredients
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- If using whole matzo, pulverize them in the food processor and pour into the bowl you'll use to mix the latkes.
- Peel the potatoes and the onion. Slice the onion into four pieces, and cut the potatoes only enough to get them down the chute of the food processor -- larger is better. Using the shredding blade, run one potato through, then run through a quarter onion, repeating with the rest of the potatoes and onion chunks. (The onion will help keep the potatoes from turning brown or purple, as well as adding flavor. You won't notice them in the final product.)
- Dump the shredded mix into a clean dish towel and close the ends like a candy wrapper. Twist until the liquid runs out of the mix. Get it as dry as you can.
- Add the eggs, matza and salt. Note: potatoes can take a lot of salt, but if you tend to prefer less salty food, cut this down to 3t and fry up one to see how it fits with your preferences. You can also add some black pepper at this point if you like, or if you're a non-traditionalist, paprika, garlic, thyme (dried or fresh) or coffee grounds. I'm kidding. Don't add thyme. That's British, not Jewish. Or coffee. That was a joke. Mix thoroughly.
- Using a large cast iron pan (or similarly heavy pan) heat about a Tablespoon of olive oil. (You can use other oils, but olive is traditional for Jewish foods.) Scoop out some of the mixture with your hand and place it in some hot oil in the pan. Use the tips of your fingers to spread from the middle so that the latke isn't too thick, but has some loose shreds around the edges.
- I like to stage the latkes so that they don't all finish at once. It helps the pan stay at a steady heat so the latkes cook without scorching. If you get really dark spots before the latke is golden, your pan is too hot. (This is a too-hot pan latke.)
- Dribble oil next to the latkes as needed so that they sizzle a little. Latkes are fried -- that's the point. If you don't want to fry them, make potato pancakes in a non-stick pan. These are Latkes. Use oil. When they're golden on both sides, put them on a paper towel on a cooling rack to soak up extra oil.
There is great debate over hand grating vs. using a food processor. Hand grating allows you to create longer shreds, which are reputed to make better latkes, however I haven't hand-shredded since my then-eldest became a teenage boy, and nobody has ever complained.
Olive oil is an appropriate choice, as this is pan frying not deep frying, however any decent cooking oil can be used. Avocado has a nice neutral flavor, and is a healthy choice. Do use good quality oil, as any off flavors will come through.
You can find recipes that grind the potatoes, use sweet potatoes, add chives, add carrots, and all sorts of nonsense. Some of these are traditional for Sephardic Jews or other groups. Others are American appropriation. To stay on the safe side, stick to my canonical recipe unless your Mizrahi Grandma sent you a link to parsnip and raisin latkes. Then make mine anyway, because raisins are awful.
Wars have been fought over how to top a latke, and that's just in my living room. Apple sauce is a safe bet. Sour Cream is common if no meat is served at the meal. Ketchup is delicious, but should never be served unless all Jewish people present are from the New England region AND they already know each other.
There's just one thing you can't put in latkes, and that's flour. If you use flour, it's a potato pancake, and that's lovely, but it's not a latke.