These traditional Persian-style potato patties are made with sibzamini—“apples of the earth,” a.k.a. potatoes. The patties’ scent and color comes from saffron, a staple in Persian cookery, which is ground into a powder to draw out intense color and flavor. Adding a bit of water to the powder makes the magic happen: A pool of intense vermillion forms, to be added to your eggs and potatoes. A combination of baking powder and baking soda lightens the batter as it cooks, making for fritters that are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
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What you’ll need
Spider
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Citrus Juicer
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Microplane Grater
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Large Straight-Sided Skillet
$200 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
Makes about 16
Ingredients
Yogurt
1
1
2
1
Fritters and assembly
1½
1½
1
4
1
1
½
¼
2
1
Preparation
Yogurt
Step 1
Whisk together yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt in a small bowl. Chill lemon yogurt until ready to serve.
Fritters and Assembly
Step 2
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and pour in cold water to cover by 2"; season water with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer potatoes until fork-tender, 20–25 minutes. Drain and let sit until cool enough to handle. Peel potatoes; transfer to a large bowl and coarsely mash with a potato masher or fork.
Step 3
Using a mortar and pestle or a teacup and the back of a spoon, grind saffron to a powder. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in 1 Tbsp. warm water; let sit 1 minute. Whisk in eggs, baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt until well combined. Gently stir egg mixture into potatoes to combine (the batter should be thick).
Step 4
Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Working in batches and adding more oil between batches if needed, drop batter in heaping tablespoonfuls into pan and flatten to 3" in diameter. Cook fritters until crisp and golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack set inside a paper towel–lined baking sheet; immediately season with salt.
Step 5
Transfer fritters to a platter; scatter dill over and arrange lemon wedges around. Top lemon yogurt with lemon zest and serve alongside.
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Reviews (21)
Back to TopThis recipe does not require saffron. It’s meant to be simple and golden fried in a pan. Anyone who tries to tell you to put saffron is a poser and ahmagh!!
Anonymous
11/9/2022
For those freaking out about saffron: A) Spanish saffron isn’t very good and is over priced given its poor quality if you were thinking of using it; B) saffron is traditionally used in traditional Persian recipes; C) Persian saffron is much stronger than Spanish so less is required. Most people who regularly use saffron grind a whole pack in a spice grinder. This isn’t a good solution if you use it once a year as it will fade like any other ground spice. A teaspoon of ground saffron is way too much and would taste medicinal. Somewhere btwn 1/4 and 1/2 tsp of ground saffron would suffice. There’s nothing quite like saffron to take a simple dish to the next level. If “potato pancakes” aren’t your thing then don’t dress them up. Hell, don’t make them at all!
Heidari
Tehran
12/5/2021
For anyone freaking out about the saffron, you can stretch it to a point with some tumeric dissolved in water. It would be delicious even without the saffron, but please Google traditional Persian recipes before advising weird additions or replacements. Less is more
Saskia
Santa Monica
12/5/2021
... 'no' dice cucharada de 'azafrán en polvo' (mucho dinero), sino 'moler' seria en grano (barato en dinero) en un mortero; en fin ''lean bien' o, ir a un curso de análisis y comprensión de texto ... ( una bromita, no vayan).
Anonymous
12/1/2021
Swap out saffron for a little smoked paprika or regular paprika if saffron is out of your budget
Alyx Coe
11/26/2021
This recipe, like it says is based on Persian cuisine AND saffron is commonly used in their recipes. Don't use it if it's too expensive for you. My goodness!
jlgrinage
11/24/2021
Holy smokes, that is a gold-mine worth of saffron. This peasant budget won’t stretch that far.
CaramelloBee
Brisbane, QLD
11/22/2021