Oven Roasted Potatoes

Dear Foodies,

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Since the time I discovered that we had ovens in our kitchens, I have been trying to use it when ever I can. Well, I think I'll have to explain a bit, though its common knowledge to many of you that almost all US kitchens come with a oven by default, me n my roomies never realized that for many months. Through the first year of a our stay, we used it as a rack for storing vessels !!! And I guess it wasn't in working conditions either, and well we weren't in the mood to explore the kitchen while there was a whole new world outside to explore !! :-) Only after we moved to a bigger apt, implying a one bedroom apt with an an extra dining room added to the kitchen-living-bedroom apt we had before, and should I mention 3 gals share it !! :-), did we start using the oven for purposes other than storage !! And need I also mention we were barely cooking the first few months, and trying hard to cook the basic dals and curries that go with rice, so you can imagine that we never found the need to look for a oven in the first place, we were blissfully happy to find a neat storage place though :-D !!

Well, so lately, I have used it for making guiltless chips out of green plantains, bitter gourd and potatoes. When I saw Nabeela's roast potatoes that she made along with her chicken, I wanted to try making it separately too. She also has a separate recipe for it here.

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I used a different mix of spices, I basically added those that I had with me. I cubed 2 potatoes, tossed them in some oil, a mix of olive oil and vegetable oil, roughly 1 tsp of each. Added some salt, red chilli powder, corinder powder and turmeric. I baked them in the oven, pre-heated to 350F, for about 20 mins, then increased the temp to about 400F-450F for another 10-15mins till they turned golden crisp. Instead of being part of our meal, we finished it off as a snack :-P ..hehe

The best part of using the oven for making this dish or the chips is, I found them to stay crisp for a longer time when compared to frying them in oil on a stove-top. This way of cooking also reduces the amount of oil drastically and there are no hassles of bubbling hot oil in the kitchen, just leave them in the oven and peacefully forget about them for awhile !!

I am going to send this platter to Pooja, for her 'Vegetable of the Week' event !!