Viazi Karai

Ingredients

• 800 g waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte
• 1 cup (110 g) gram flour, also called besan
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• About 180 ml cold water
• Vegetable oil for deep frying, about 1 litre
• 3 tbsp tamarind paste
• 3 tbsp warm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Before you cook

• Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks roughly 4 cm across.
• Whisk the gram flour, rice flour, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin, bicarbonate of soda and 1 teaspoon of the salt together in a bowl.
• Whisk in the cold water a little at a time until the batter is smooth and thick enough to coat a spoon heavily.
• Stir the tamarind paste, warm water, sugar, garlic, chilli flakes and remaining salt together in a small bowl to make the dipping sauce.

Steps

1. Put the potato chunks into a pan of salted cold water and bring to the boil.
2. Boil for 10 minutes, until a knife slides in with slight resistance but the pieces still hold firm.
3. Drain the potatoes and spread them on a tray to steam dry for 5 minutes.
4. Heat the frying oil in a deep pan to 180C.
5. Drop a few potato chunks into the batter and turn them so they are thickly coated.
6. Lift each chunk out with a fork, let the excess batter drip off, and lower it carefully into the oil.
7. Fry six or seven pieces at a time for 4 minutes, turning once, until the crust is crisp and deep gold.
8. Lift the viazi onto a rack or kitchen paper and season with a pinch of salt.
9. Fry the remaining potatoes in the same way, letting the oil come back to temperature between batches.
10. Pile the viazi karai onto a plate, pour the tamarind sauce over or serve it alongside, and add lime wedges.