Homemade, Sun-dried Potato Chips

Like most of the Indian women, my mother used to prepare (& still does) different kinds of vadiyalu (papads, loosely translated), sun dried chillies, potato chips during the hot summer months. Our Kitchen's top shelf used to carry these sun dried items stored in big containers. My mother fried them whenever we felt like snacking on them or to perk up our meal. We kids always enjoyed the process of making them from the scratch with our mother and so, I thought of sharing the experience and of course, some home made goodies :) with the little ones. This month luckily I had a couple of weeks of warmer weather here in Chicago and made use of it to a good extent. I am planning to share some of them here and the first in the series is going to be potato chips. I know that every super market has a dedicated aisle for potato chips with all different kind of flavors but I thought of preparing some of my own for fun. This is my mother's method of doing potato chips. It is quite simple and takes less than 30 minutes excluding the drying time. What you need: Potatoes as many as you need Salt A potato slicer & gorgeous Summer sunshine :) How to make the chips: Wash and scrub the potatoes well. (Peel the potatoes if it is hard to get rid of the dirt.) Slice the potatoes into thin circles using a slicer. (Don't go too thin.) Mean while, boil water with a little salt (Use like a 1/2 tsp salt for 10 potatoes). The water quantity should be such that when you drop potato slices in it, they should submerge in the water. When the water comes to a rolling boil, turn off the heat and set the water container aside. Add the potato slices to it and cover it for about ten minutes. Then drain all the water. Spread the potato slices on a plastic sheet in the sun. Arrange them in such a way that they are not crowded. Get them inside in the evening and put them outside in the sun again the next morning. Repeat the process till the chips are completely dry. If you have a temperature of 80 - 90 deg F outside, they would be dry in 2 -3 days. After they dry completely, store them in an air tight container. They would stay fresh for at least an year and need no refrigeration. How to cook them: Take 1/4 tsp each of salt and chili powder and mix well. Keep the mixture aside. Heat oil in a small pan. Add a few dried chips into the oil taking care not to overcrowd it. Fry the chips, remove and immediately drain on paper towels. It would take only a few seconds for the chips to get fried. Sprinkle the salt-chili powder mixture on the fried chips. Post a comment