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Lebanese Potatoes & Salsa with Chickpeas

These amazing twice-fried Lebanese potatoes were inspired by our dining experience earlier this year at Open Sesame in Los Angeles. Make these potatoes, and if you are anything like me, there won't be any leftovers. (:
Total Time1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 4
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Ingredients

For the potatoes:

  • 1 quart oil, plus more for the second fry
  • 2-2 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced to 1 inch pieces
  • Sea salt or fleur de sel, for sprinkling

For the chickpeas:

  • 2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

For the salsa:

  • ½ cup cilantro, diced
  • ¼ cup parsley, diced
  • 2 Tbsp mint, diced
  • ¼ medium sized red onion, minced
  • ¾ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp Aleppo pepper, or chili pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Everything else:

  • Feta cheese, for sprinkling
  • Spinach or greens of choice

Instructions

Prepare the oil

  • Heat 1 quart oil in a large, deep pot on high heat for 3-5 minutes. You know the oil is hot enough when it looks like it is separating, so to speak: there will be little streaks running through the oil in the pot.

Fry the potatoes: the first fry

  • Now turn the heat down to medium. You really really need to invest in a fryer skimmer for this! In my experience, no other tool will do. Fill your fryer skimmer with potato pieces, and gently lower the potatoes into the hot oil.
  • Load your skimmer with potatoes once more, and lower this second scoop of potatoes into the hot oil as well. The potatoes should make the oil bubble.
  • Fry the potatoes in the oil for 5-7 minutes, until they are a light golden color. Stir VERY CAREFULLY with your skimmer every so often to keep the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of your pan.
  • After 5-7 minutes, use your skimmer to take all the potatoes out of the oil. Set the fried potatoes aside, making sure that they are spread out and not on top of each other. I recommend spreading them out on a large baking sheet lined with paper towels.
  • Now repeat the frying process with the rest of your raw potato pieces. It will depend on the size of your pot, but it generally takes me 3 batches to fry all of the potatoes.

Bring the potatoes to room temperature

  • Once all of your potato pieces have been fried and spread out to cool, turn off the heat under your pot, and let the potatoes cool down COMPLETELTY. Allow them to rest for at least a half hour. Don’t throw out your oil! You will use it again for the second fry.
  • After a half hour, heat up that oil again! Add about ½ cup more oil to the pot to make up for what was lost during the first fry. Heat the oil over high heat for 3 minutes.

Fry the potatoes: the second fry

  • Load your fryer skimmer with potatoes, and lower the scoop of potatoes into the hot oil. Load your skimmer with potatoes again, and lower a second scoop into the hot oil. Each potato will be fried a second time.
  • After about 3 minutes, the potatoes will turn a golden brown, and may rise to the top of the oil. Once they turn golden brown, the potatoes are done! Scoop them out with your skimmer, and place them back on the paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat this second fry process with all of the potato pieces.
  • Once all of the potato pieces have been fried a second time, and are spread out on your cooking sheet, sprinkle a little sea salt or fleur de sel over them. Your potatoes are done!

Cook the chickpeas

  • Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet or frying pan. Add the chickpeas, salt, and pepper, and stir.
  • Fry the chickpeas in the pan for 15 minutes over medium heat, or until they have browned and the liquid in the pan is mostly gone. If the chickpeas start popping and going crazy, turn the heat down to medium low.
  • Flip the chickpeas every five minutes or so to keep them from sticking to the pan, and to give different sides of each chickpea a chance to brown in the pan. Once each chickpea has browned, they are done!

Make the salsa

  • For the salsa, simply combine everything in a medium sized bowl. Whisk everything together with a fork, and adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve!

  • I love to serve these Lebanese potatoes and the chickpeas over a bed of greens, with the Lebanese salsa drizzled over the top, and garnished with some fresh feta. YUM!!!!!

Notes

This meal is completely vegan if you don’t sprinkle fresh feta over everything at the end.
Use crushed Aleppo pepper in the salsa if you have it or can order it. If not, chili pepper flakes will work great too.
I prefer to use Yukon gold potatoes, but really whatever white potato you have on hand will be tasty. Use a fryer skimmer for the potatoes! A fryer skimmer will get more potatoes in the oil faster, and keep you from getting too close to that hot oil!