The latke is more than just a potato cake, it’s a tradition of the Jewish festival of Chanukah. This basic latkes recipe comes with twists to try this year.
After consuming the quantities of deep-fried potato that I have in 22 years and 7 months, it’s a miracle I am still here to write this.
The latke is more than just a potato rosti or potato cake – it is a tradition that comes from the Jewish festival of Chanukah. To celebrate and remember the story of Chanukah, it’s custom to eat food that has been fried in oil. Therefore, for eight whole days each year, I stuff my face with latkes and doughnuts.
When I was a child my mum would give me the job of grating the mountains of potatoes, by hand, to make the latkes. This grating by hand went on for years, until one day she decided to tell me that we had a machine that could do it for me. Since then I have gone on to be the latke maker in the family - my latke-making record to date is 73 Latkes in one session. Even though traditionally we have these to celebrate Chanukah a lot of Jewish families like my own love them so much that they’re made all year round.
This traditional recipe is inspired by Evelyn Rose, the food writer who wrote the bible to my past, present and future life in my kosher kitchen. I’ve put my own spin on it but I have a lot to thank her for. SO, here are three ways to take the basic latke.
This recipe is meant to serve 4-6 people but I often I double it for the same amount of people. I guess it depends on your appetite!
Ella’s basic latke recipe
Basic latke ingredients
4 large potatoes, peeled
½ medium onion
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
A pinch of white pepper
4 tbsp self-raising flour
Rapeseed oil or other flavourless oil
Basic latke method
1. Grate the potatoes finely, either by hand or in a food processor, and do the same with the onion. Press down in a sieve and leave for 10 minutes to drain, then pat down with kitchen paper.
2. Tip the onion and potato into a bowl with all the other ingredients and mix it all up by hand.
3. Put a large frying pan on a high heat with about ½ an inch of oil. Once hot, make a tablespoon of the mixture into a ball then flatten it into the oil with a spatula.
4. Depending on the size of your frying pan you can usually cook them in batches of up to 5. Cook for five minutes on each side, or until crispy and golden brown. Place each cooked latke on kitchen paper to drain off the oil while you put your next batch into the pan.
4. They are best served piping hot with a large helping of salt beef!
Ella’s beetroot & courgette latkes
They come up nice and purple from the beets and have a really nice root-veggie earthy taste.
Ingredients
3 medium-sized beetroots, peeled
2 medium-sized courgettes
½ a medium onion
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
a pinch of white pepper
6 tbsp self-raising flour
rapeseed oil or other flavourless oil
Method
1. Grate the vegetables finely, either by hand or in a food processor. Press down in a sieve and leave for 10 minutes to drain, then pat down with kitchen paper.
2. Once drained, put all vegetables into a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. This recipe needs more flour than the traditional one because, even when drained, the beets still have a lot of liquid.
3. To cook, follow the instructions for the basic latkes above.
4. I like these latkes with sour cream mixed with dill and horseradish to taste – the horseradish brings out the earthy root flavour.
Ella’s squash, cranberry & sage latkes
For this last recipe I went home for my inspiration. In our family home we love a butternut squash, whether it’s roasted, in soup and most recently we discovered it in a potato kugel, which is another Jewish potato dish. This what inspired me for the yummy flavors below.
Ingredients
1 medium-sized sweet potato
1 onion
Half a butternut squash
A handful of cranberries
4 eggs
1 level teaspoon of salt
A pinch of white pepper
6 level tablespoons of self raising or all purpose flour
Rapeseed oil or other flavourless oil
8 sage leaves
Method
1. Grate the vegetables finely by hand or in a food processor. Press down in a sieve and leave for 10 minutes to drain, then pat down with kitchen paper.
2. Once drained, put all vegetables into a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, except the sage. This recipe needs more eggs to help it bind together.
3. To cook, follow the instructions for the basic latkes above.
4. Place each cooked latke on kitchen paper to drain off the oil while you put your next batch into the pan. Once you’ve made all the batches, drain most of the oil away, then flash fry the sage for a couple of seconds, until crispy.
Serve with a feta dip:
100g feta cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
Small handful of fresh basil
Salt and pepper
Feel free to change the basil to another soft herb of your choice I find coriander works really nicely with this to. Just mix it all up in a bowl until crumbly and sticky.
