How to fry up the crispiest, lightest, most delicious gluten free latkes? Try ghee!
Hanukah is the Jewish celebration of light. It’s a holiday that commemorates a miracle — a tiny bit of oil lasted far longer than anyone expected and kept the lights glowing for eight days, giving Maccabee soldiers time to defeat their oppressors. It’s a beautifully empowering and hopeful story, and it’s remembered and celebrated in a few ways — lighting the menorah, singing songs, playing games, and eating oily fried foods like donuts and latkes!
There are a number of ways to make the traditional potato pancakes we call latkes and as we’re apt to here at Full Moon Ghee, we’ve taken to replacing the traditional oil latkes are normally fried in with ghee. Ghee is the perfect cooking oil for such a recipe as it has an extremely high smoke point and so it can withstand the frying without burning and smoking.
A few tips to help you achieve perfect gluten free latkes
It’s not very difficult to turn a latke into a gluten free latke, as many recipes don’t actually include wheat of any kind. Latkes are pretty much just shredded onions and potatoes, eggs, and some salt and pepper. However, some people claim that by adding flour into the mix you get a crispier and lighter latke, which is why we’ve included the addition of white rice or sweet rice flour.
Ultimately though, we’ve found that the key to achieving the most perfect potato pancake really depends on how much moisture you can remove from the potatoes and onions before plopping them into the pan. Once you’ve grated the veggies, place them in a dry kitchen towel and wring them out. Wring them out until you can’t possibly squeeze another drop of liquid out of them, then they’ll be ready for the egg and seasoning.
The temperature of the oil also matters. If you place the latke mixture into the pan before the ghee has gotten good and hot, the latke will end up absorbing the ghee resulting in a soggy oily pancake. If the ghee gets too hot, you can burn the outside of the latke before the inside cooks. Start with medium-high heat, and then adjust as you go.
And now onto the recipe!
Gluten free ghee fried latkes
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds (about five medium potatoes) Russet potatoes, peeled
- 1 small onion, peeled
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup white rice or sweet rice flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ghee for frying, about 1/3 cup
- sour cream and applesauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. (Skip this step if you plan on serving your latkes right from the pan.) Line two baking sheets with paper towels or one large cooling rack.
- Using a food processor with the medium grater attachment or a box grater and your hand, grate the onion and potatoes.
- Place half the onion and potato mixture on a kitchen towel. Roll the towel around the grated onions and potatoes. Wring towel to draw excess moisture out of the potatoes and onions.
- Add the eggs and stir with a fork to combine. Add the white rice flour, salt and pepper to potato mixture and stir to combine.
- Heat about 2 Tbsp of ghee in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat until it simmers but does not smoke. (Add ghee as needed between batches.)
- Working in batches, drop a scant 1/4 cup of potato mixture into the hot oil. (The latke mixture should sizzle when it hits the oil.) Using a fork or spatula, flatten the mixture a little in the pan. Fry no more than three to four latkes at a time. This will ensure your oil doesn’t get cold. Cold oil = greasy latkes!
- Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. (Don’t flip more than once to prevent the latkes from falling apart.) Transfer to baking sheet. Serve at once or keep warm in the preheated oven.
- Serve the gluten free latkes with applesauce and sour cream, if desired.
Check out the Full Moon Ghee store!
