Vindaloo Tater Tots
Spicy savory vindaloo curry mixed into a tater tot! A dream flavor and texture combination for me. Vindaloo is one of my favorite things to order when I get Indian food, and I learned how to make it as well because I love recreating my favorite foods at home. Once I got a hang of the process and flavors that make up the dish, it was easy for me to make a simplified version to flavor these tater tots!
The inspiration for this recipe
I was thinking of a flavor profile to add to some homemade tater tots, and vindaloo curry came to mind because there are usually potatoes in the dish. It was actually a great flavor combo, and it was pretty easy to mix and blend the flavors. In my opinion, the key to vindaloo is caramelized onion, red vinegar, and plenty of spices! These tots were a prefect pregame meal before a long day of drinking and wandering around the city, but they would be great as a late night snack as well.
Prepare the potatoes
Peel the potatoes and then shred them on a cheese grater. I make tots a handful of different ways and this is one of them. I felt like making the tater tots this way would work best with the vindaloo flavoring.
Give them a quick rinse to bring the starch level down a bit. Then strain and squeeze out the excess moisture. I baked these for about 20 minutes to par-cook them.
Make the vindaloo paste
In a mortar and pestle or a blender or food processor, add a bunch of spices and some garlic, ginger, and hot chili pepper. I used habanero because the people that were coming over like things hot! You could do a jalapeno instead and take the seeds out to keep it mostly mild.
Brown some onions really well, then add the vindaloo paste. Pour this into the potato shreds, and add an egg and some potato flakes.
Form and fry the vindaloo tater tots
Mix the egg and potato flakes in really well then form a tot with your hands. If it sort of falls apart or feels too wet or dry, you can add more of either potato flakes, or a splash of vinegar. Then fry the vindaloo tater tots at 350 for 3-5 minutes.
Serve the vindaloo tater tots
Serve with a bright and fresh cilantro sauce. The sauce is just cilantro, garlic, and jalapeno in the blender with some oil.
These vindaloo tater tots are really spicy and flavorful and the deep flavor matches well with the light and fresh sauce. And they are SO CRISPY!
I could eat a ton of these in one sitting!
Twists on this recipe
Everyone always asks, can you do this in an air fryer. Sure, the vindaloo tater tots would work but they won’t be as crispy. You could also do it in the oven. I like to bake them in a mini muffin tin to make coin shaped tots.
If you are looking for a lamb vindaloo recipe, I like this one.
For more great Mash-ups with Indian flavors, check out my fried butter chicken and waffles, mango lassi wings, and gnocchi gobi!
Vindaloo Tater Tots
Equipment
Ingredients
Vindaloo Paste
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon coriander
- pinch clove
- pinch cardamom
- pinch cinnamon
- 1 habanero seeds removed
- 1 inch ginger sliced thin against the grain
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 tablespoons red vinegar
Cilantro sauce
- 1 bunch cilantro chopped, larger stems removed
- 1 jalapeno seeds removed, diced
- 2 cloves garlic sliced thin
- 1 splash red vinegar
- 1 splash olive oil
Tots
- 4 yukon gold potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup potato flakes
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix the paste ingredients except for the onion and vinegar in a food processor or mortar and pestle.
- Cook the onion in a pan with some butter for about a half hour until lightly caramelized. Add in the paste you just made and cook another 3 minutes. Add in the vinegar and stir. Remove from heat.
- For the sauce, just mix all the ingredients in the blender until smooth.
- Grate the potatoes. Put them into a bowl with water and stir them around. Strain. Repeat. Squeeze the potatoes to remove moisture. Toss the potatoes with a little oil and salt and spread them onto a baking sheet. Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes.
- Allow potatoes to cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a bowl.
- Mix the onion mixture into the potatoes. Add in the egg and potato flakes. Stir well. Squeeze some with your hand to make sure it forms and holds together. If it is too wet, add more flakes, too dry, add another splash of vinegar.
- Preheat frying oil to 350
- Form your tots and fry them for about 5 minutes to brown.
- Serve the tots while hot with the sauce.
Hi Emma, I live in NH-zone 4- and I will be planting sicpanh for the third time this year. You could try some other greens as well- they don’t take long to mature. Snow peas might look pretty in pots. They are vines and like to climb. Good luck to you.