These are my mother’s latkes and they are the best. Latkes are a lot of work and I could make them, but something special happens when you are an adult and your mother still cooks the traditional Jewish food you love. These latkes are make with arthritic hands, an old food processor, and lots of love!
All during Hanukkah friends love to share their latkes techniques, do you use matzoh meal or flour, peanut or corn oil, yukon gold or baking potatoes, hand grated or food processor. Then there are the friends who share their recipes of latkes made with sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots…Me, I am a latke purist. A latke should be made with simple ingredients, yukon gold potatos, onion, egg, salt, matzoh meal, and be fried in lots of oil, served with homemade applesauce and sour cream.
Latkes from my Mother’s Kitchen
Ingredients:
4 medium potatoes, cut in wedges
1 large onion, cut in wedges
3 tablespoons matzoh meal
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
vegetable oil for frying (lots)
applesauce, sour cream
Directions:
- Spread grated potatoes and onion on a kitchen towel and roll up jelly-roll style. Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer potato mixture to a bowl and stir in egg and salt.
- Place shredding disc of food processor into mixing container. Closely pack potato and onion wedges into feed tube.
Process while using food pusher to press potatoes and onion onto shredding disc. Transfer to mixing bowel. - Place steel cutting blade into container.
- Add matzoh meal and salt,and eggs. When necessary scrape down sides of mixing container with rubber spatula .
- Add shredded potatoes and onion and process for a few seconds until mixed.
- In one or two 12-inch skillets, heat oil to a depth of approximately 1/4 inch.
- Drop potato mixture by large spoonfuls into the oil. Flatten each mound slightly and fry in batches over medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides.
- Drain on paper towels, changing the towels frequently as they absorb the oil.
- To keep the finished pancakes warm and crisp while you fry the rest (or to reheat them if they were fried in advance), place them on a rack set over a cookie sheet in a preheated 300 degree oven.
- Between batches add more oil to the skillet if needed, and make sure that it is hot enough before dropping in more potato mixture.
Serve hot with applesauce and sour cream.