Potato Wafer

Everyone is familiar with potato chips, and most of us like those too. But these chips here are not regular potato chips. These are potato slices/chips that have been blanched and dehydrated under hot sun, and then freshly fried before serving. Every summer mummy would make these dehydrated snacks to store for the entire year. But, do you think this would last the whole year? Never... They are so delicious that they would not even last for 6 months :) These were the best tasting potato chips ever. Look at the various dehydrated recipes mummy would make: Potato and Sabudana Chakli, Potato Sev, Sabudana Papad. And we enjoyed helping her too: waking up early morning with the sunrise and helping peel potatoes, spreading the cloth or dupatta on the terrace and securing the corners of the cloth with heavy stones or bricks, and then running around to shoo away the birds while the chips would be drying out :) Yes, we grew up with all that fun during summer break, and were rewarded with yummy snacks. :) Those are the best childhood memories.

California summers can also be hot. When my parents visited us three years back, they felt this heat, and papa immediately suggested we could make potato wafers, papads, and dehydrated veggies. And we did! With a huge bag of potatoes from Costco, we started off making variety of dehydrated snacks to store them... just like the ant in the story stores seasonal food for later. :) The lattice designed chips were made by mummy in our Mumbai house, and the plain ones were made in California. Below is the video of how to make lattice or jali design using a crinkle blade slicer. It is really simple and worth a try.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. firm, raw potatoes.
2-3 liters water to blanch potato chips
2 tbsp. Salt
1 tsp. of alum

Peel, and wash potatoes in potatoes in cold water.
Slice them and place them in a container with water to prevent it from browning and sticking to each other.
Boil water in a large container. Add salt and alum to water.
Drain sliced potatoes and remove all the water.
Keep another container with cold water ready on the side.
Put few sliced potatoes in the boiling water and boil for 45 seconds to a minute.
Remove and shock them in cold water. This will prevent it from overcooking.
Separate each potato chip and pace on a clean cloth under hot sun heat. Dry it in hot dry temperature for 6-8 hours.
Remove each chip from the cloth and place in a large plate.
Place it again in hot sun heat for a day or two more till they dehydrate and get crisp.
Any traces of moisture will lead to fungus growth and spoil the chips.