Purple Potato Latkes with Garlic Sumac Sour Cream

by Lora Wiley-Lennartz
I won’t be lighting any Channukah candles tomorrow night as Dr. B and I will be winging our way to Germany at sundown. 10 short Days in Germany to spend Christmas with his family, pick up clothing, take care of some small business, and then back in NYC for New Year’s Eve. This Jewish girl is dreaming of all those beautiful German Christmas markets. Is that wrong? Maybe these latkes will help assuage my guilt.
Last year I made Chinese 5 spice Latkes in deference to the Jewish Christmas Day tradition of eating out at a Chinese restaurant. The Star of David Shapes were an added step but worth the result.
Now that we are living in the States I was able to get purple potatoes at the farmers market. Never saw those in Germany. I added sumac to both the latke batter and the sour cream to spice things up again.
The result was crispy and delicious. The sumac adds another depth of flavor. I barely had them out of the pan when Dr. B demanded some and had to fend him off for a bit so I could photograph them. His only complaint was they needed more salt but I’ll leave that up to your discretion.

Purple Potato Latkes with Garlic Sumac Sour Cream

Course Dinner
Cuisine Jewish
Keyword almond bread, Hannukah Recipes, Jewish food, Jewish recipes, latkes, potato latkes, purple potatoes, sour cream, spelt flour, sumac
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

For the Garlic Sumac Sour Cream:

  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 teaspoon ground sumac

For the Potato Latkes:

  • 2 pounds purple potatoes
  • 1 cup chopped sweet onion
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup spelt flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground sumac
  • Peanut oil for frying

Instructions

Make the Garlic Sumac Sour Cream:

  1. Mince the garlic clove

  2. Mix all ingredients together.

  3. Place in the refrigerator

Make the Latkes:

  1. Place a layer of paper towels next to the stove.

  2. Peel potatoes. Grate or shred in a food processor

  3. Mix the chopped onion together with the shredded potatoes

  4. Using a sieve squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the potato/onion mixture.

  5. Add eggs, flour, salt, and sumac and mix thoroughly.

  6. Add about ¼ cup of peanut oil to a frying pan and heat.

  7. When the oil is sizzling, form a small ball out of the mixture. Place it in the pan. Flatten with a spatula.

  8. After a few minutes, flip the latkes to brown on both sides.

  9. Transfer to the paper towels.

  10. Gently pat off excess oil.

  11. Transfer to a platter and serve warm with the prepared sour cream

You may also like

4 comments

Joanne December 20, 2011 - 12:26 pm

Haha not wrong at all! Christmas markets may be called Christmas markets but at heart, they're really non-denominational 😛

These latkes are such a pretty color and sound delicious!

Safe travels and happy holidays my love!

Reply
angela@spinachtiger December 20, 2011 - 3:03 am

I just realized you are back in NYC. My husband and I might be coming some time next year. Our friend has offered his apartment when he is at his other residences. If so, I would love to meet you.

Reply
Paula December 20, 2011 - 2:33 am

I never had a latkes. I think I would really enjoy them. Yours look pretty tempting!

Reply
Lauren December 19, 2011 - 8:16 pm

I've never even tried sumac. I actually had no idea it was even edible! The latkes look wonderful and I could never refuse sour cream!

Reply

Leave a Comment

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.