Quick-fried Potatoes with Blackened Chillis

Growing up in Cal, most of the packaged foods that American children are used to (like chips and soda) were forbidden in our house, and this potato dish was what I considered comfort snack food. If dinner was running late, I remember devouring these steaming hot and fresh from the kitchen, to hold us over till mealtime. The golden, slightly squidgy potatoes, spiked with the smoky heat of blackened chillis, is the kind of irresistible dish that pleases everyone, and no matter how much you make, it will always be gone in minutes.

Ingredients 

4 tbsp Vegetable Oil
8-12 Whole Dried Red Chillis
2 lbs Potatoes
Salt (to taste)

1. Wash and dry potatoes. Leave the skin on and cut into approximately 1/8” slices. 
2. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a large skillet or frying pan over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add chillis and sauté briskly for 1 min until they are blackened. Remove chillis from pan and set aside on a large plate. 
3. Add remaining oil to pan and heat. Add potatoes and fry briskly for about 10 mins until lightly golden and cooked through. The potatoes should cover the pan in one layer only. If the pan is not large enough to accommodate all the potatoes, then fry them in batches. 
4. Remove potatoes to plate with chillis. Using your hands, crush the whole chillis roughly into small pieces and mix with potatoes. Sprinkle salt and toss well. Serve immediately.