My question is very similar to this one here How to best cook potatoes to be used in a curry? I am trying to enhance the potatoes flavour by masking it's own natural flavour with as much spiciness as possible, however, no matter which method of cooking I choose, the flavour of the potatoes always come through better than the flavours of the masala blended around the pan. Is there any known preparation tricks that I may be missing?
Best way to infuse flavour into boiled potatoes
boilingpotatoes
Related Solutions
Best thing to do is to keep them out of the light in an cool dark dry place. I usually put them in a hessian bag to try and keep the moisture away.
Don't store them in the fridge or anywhere that gets direct sunlight.
Clean your potatoes. Peel if desired.
Slice in half, lengthways.
Place flat sides down on your cutting board. Cut again in half, lengthways. This would be for very large wedges. For slightly smaller, cut in thirds, lengthways, on a 60 degree angle, from the outside of the potato to the centre line where it hits the cutting board.
For even smaller, slice in half again after the second half cut.
Best Answer
There's a couple of pieces here: preventing getting the flavour in; and how to flavour them.
The structure of a potato is quite dense and contains a lot of dry matter. It's also protected by starch, which in a cooked potato manifests as a gluey layer (I make that sound much more unpleasant than it actually is!). An easy win is to rinse off the excess starch. Place the potatoes under running cold water and keep rinsing until the water runs clear. This literally opens the floodgates to accept more flavour into the spud.
That said, the dense texture is still going to block out most flavourings. Order any aloo dish from an Indian restaurant, cut a potato in half and nibble at the interior. It will just taste of potato (no bad thing!). The flavour is all on the exterior.
Your best bet to impart flavour is to work on the coating. You should season your cooking water, and coat your potatoes in an oil-based flavouring afterwards whether it's roasted or fried. For example, after parboiling in salted water, you could have a garam masala-rich tomato gravy that they are then simmered in.