All About the Veg! is a new recipe column where Best of Vegan contributor Seiran Sinjari breaks down one amazing plant at a time. In today’s column, she talks about potatoes, a.k.a. everyone’s favorite root vegetable. Her recipe for Crispy Smashed New Potatoes with Curry & Tahini Dip is a result of mixing several influences at the same time, including a family recipe, Swedish summer, and a South Kurdish breakfast dish.
This week’s recipe is all about everyone’s favorite root veg, the potato! It’s early summer so of course, we’re working with tender sweet new potatoes. They have thin skin and the waxy texture holds very well when cooked.
New potatoes are delicious just cooked in salted water and served with some vegan butter or combined with a summery salad and tossed with a simple salad dressing. But they work beautifully for roasting as well since their tender skin will crisp up and inside they will become soft, sweet, and creamy.
Today’s recipe, Crispy Smashed New Potatoes with Curry & Tahini Dip, is inspired by and in a way a mashup of (yet completely different from) my mom’s coriander fried potatoes and her tahini mayo sauce, Swedish summer (which equals new potatoes with almost every summery meal) and South Kurdish curry fried breakfast potatoes. In South Kurdish cuisine we use a lot of Madras-style curry powder and it works particularly well with potatoes so I incorporated that into the dip here.
Additional toppers such as fresh herbs, seeds, and other aromatic.s are optional but highly recommended to add some more textures and fresh flavors.
These potatoes are best served warm straight from the oven and can be served as a side dish, a snack, or however You like to have them. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Potatoes:
- 1 kg / 2.2 lb small new potatoes - gently scrubbed and rinsed
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2-2 ½ tbsp avocado oil - or other high smoke point vegetable oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp sweet paprika powder
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes or other mild red pepper flakes
- salt and black pepper to taste
Dip:
- 2 tbsp runny tahini
- 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp vegan greek style yogurt
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ tbsp agave syrup
- 1 ½ tsp Madras curry powder
- ⅓ tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- if needed, 1-2 tbsp cold water
Toppings:
- Aleppo pepper flakes - or other mild red pepper flakes
- Nigella Seeds - or black sesame seeds
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Finely sliced green onions
- Fresh coriander
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225 °C / 440 °F
- Place potatoes in a large pot, add 1 tbsp salt and water until the potatoes are submerged and covered by 2.5 cm / 1 inch of additional water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cook for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender and drain them well.
- Place all seasonings for the potatoes including salt in a small bowl and mix well.
- Place potatoes in a large bowl and add 2 tbsp oil, toss to coat all potatoes then and ⅔ of the seasoning, toss again.
- Transfer potatoes onto a large oven sheet. Place another baking sheet on top and press to smash all potatoes evenly or smash them individually using the bottom of a glass or cup. Drizzle potatoes with remaining ½ tbsp oil (optional) and add remaining seasoning on the top. Bake for 25 minutes, flip the potatoes and bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown and a little crispy around the edges.
- Mix ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Add some water (1 tbsp at a time) if it’s too thick and mix again. Set to the side.
- When potatoes are done, place on a serving dish and top with some of the dip and toppings before serving.
Notes
Recipe, text, and photography by Seiran Sinjari.
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If you loved these crispy smashed new potatoes with curry & tahini dip, you might also like…
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