Spicy Fried Potatoes (Indonesian Sambal Goreng Kentang) is the Indonesian version of home fries. It’s spicy, sweet and tangy. Serve as a side dish, or enjoy over steamed rice.
Whether you’re looking for a simple spicy side dish to go with your meal, or you’re looking for a main dish to go with your steamed rice, I’ve got you covered here. Spicy Fried Potatoes (Sambal Goreng Kentang) is an Indonesian dish just that versatile.
The potatoes are just a little bit crunchy, and are thoroughly coated with a spicy, sweet and tangy sambal sauce. These Spicy Fried Potatoes are the Indonesian version of home fries. Well, you wouldn’t typically eat American home fries with rice, but we eat everything with rice here in Asia and these Spicy Fried Potatoes are no exception. In fact, it is my favorite way to enjoy this dish. Potatoes + rice = comfort food.
First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel the skin off two potatoes, then cut them into cubes (approximately 3/4 inch pieces).
Toss the potatoes in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lay them out on a baking tray, then bake for 30 minutes. Tip: Leave the baking tray in the oven while it is pre-heating. Take it out with an oven glove, put the potato cubes on it, then put the back in the oven. Putting the potatoes on a hot tray will prevent them from sticking to the tray when they’re roasted.
Just a few minutes before the potatoes are ready, we can go ahead and prepare the sambal.
Traditionally, a Mortar and Pestle are used to blend the sambal ingredients but thanks to modern technology, we can prepare this sambal with less effort and a fraction of the time using a food processor. Here, I am using my Magic Bullet Blender – It does the job perfectly.
Blend 2 sliced fresh red chilies, 3 cloves of garlic, 3 shallots, 1 finely sliced lemongrass stalk (only the pale white portion), 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 1/4 cup of water, and the juice from half a lime.
When the potatoes are ready, heat up 1 tablespoon of cooking oil over medium-high heat in a wok or frying pan. Pour the sambal into the wok. Fry the sambal until it starts to thicken. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, then stir to dissolve the sugar.
Add the potato cubes and give it a good toss to thoroughly coat them with the sambal.
Add 1 finely sliced kaffir lime leaf.
Enjoy it as a side dish, or over a bowl of steamed white rice.
Spicy Fried Potatoes (Sambal Goreng Kentang)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Toss the potato cubes in olive oil, lay them out on a baking tray, then bake for 30 minutes. (Tip: Leave the baking tray in the oven while it is pre-heating. Take it out to put the potatoes on, then put it back in the oven. This will prevent the potatoes from sticking to the tray)
Just a few minutes before the potatoes are done, prepare the sambal:
- Put the chillies, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, ketchup, lime juice and water in a food processor or Magic Bullet and blend till smooth.
- When the potatoes are ready, heat up cooking oil over medium-high heat in a wok or frying pan. Pour the sambal into the wok. Fry until most of the water evaporates and it starts to thicken up. Add sugar, then stir to dissolve.
- Add the potatoes. Stir to coat all of the potato cubes with sambal.
- Add kaffir lime leaf.
- Enjoy as a side dish, or over steamed white rice.
Nutrition
