By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- About 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(280)
- Notes
- Read community notes
These delicious cumin-scented potato pancakes are laced with leeks and crispy kale, adding a putatively healthy touch to the standard fried latke. You can serve them with Greek yogurt, sour cream or crème fraîche. But a chutney or yogurt blended with cilantro, mint and garlic would make for excellent eating as well. You might even try a salsa.
Featured in: Potato and Vegetable Latkes and Pancakes
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Ingredients
Yield:Makes 2 to 2½ dozen, serving 6
- 5cups, tightly packed, grated potatoes (use a starchy potato like Idaho or Yukon gold)
- 2large leeks, halved lengthwise, cleaned and sliced very thin
- ½pound kale, stemmed, washed, dried and finely chopped or cut in thin slivers (about 3 cups, tightly packed)
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground
- ¼cup chopped chives
- ¼cup all-purpose flour or cornstarch
- 2eggs, beaten
- About ¼ cup canola, grape seed or rice bran oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (27 servings)
58 calories; 3 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 2 grams protein; 120 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Meanwhile, place a rack over a sheet pan.
Step
2
In a large bowl mix together the potatoes, leeks, kale, baking powder, salt and pepper, cumin, chives, and flour or cornstarch. Add the eggs stir together.
Step
3
Begin heating a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil and when it is hot, take up heaped tablespoons of the latke mixture, press the mixture against the spoon to extract liquid (or squeeze in your hands), and place in the pan. Press down with the back of the spatula to flatten. Repeat with more spoonfuls, being careful not to crowd the pan. In my 10-inch pan I can cook 4 at a time without crowding; my 12-inch pan will accommodate 5. Cook on one side until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Slide the spatula underneath and flip the latkes over. Cook on the other side until golden brown, another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the rack set over a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. The mixture will continue to release liquid, which will accumulate in the bottom of the bowl. Stir from time to time, and remember to squeeze the heaped tablespoons of the mix before you add them to the pan.
Step
4
Serve hot topped with low-fat sour cream, Greek yogurt or crème fraiche, or other toppings of your choice such as salsa, chutney or yogurt blended with cilantro, mint, and garlic.
Ratings
4
out of 5
280
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Cooking Notes
janet
these are delicious only change I made was to put all ingredients after mixed into a colander to drain off extra liquid and I cooked them on an electric griddle on high this way I achieved crispiness and latkes didn't fall apart, tasted great with sour cream or homemade applesauce. cooking on griddle also eliminated extra oil so they weren't greasy, served leftovers with eggs next day
Deana
Amazing! I followed the suggestions and I added one shredded carrot and a half cup grated onion. I also use 3 eggs since it sounded like binding was an issue. I also added 2 pinches of cayenne pepper. I didn't have time to make sauce so I bought hot mango chutney and hot coriander chutney. Perfect complements. Will make again and soon!
linearlinear
Winner. Don't cook on overly hot pan because burns. Must finely cut kale to bits and remove any stem.
Ann Wakeman
First pressing just the shredded potato with the salt through a chinois strainer or squeezed thoroughly in a towel and then adding the other ingredients allowed no loss of egg and other vital flavors to the recipe...try that next time.
Rob
These are relatively labor intensive and somewhat messy to make. So I make the latkes up when convenient. But do not cook them. I put them on a sheet pan on top of parchment paper. Then freeze them. Once frozen, I put them in a ziplock back to pan fry or bake at a future time.
DianeTH
Really easy and tasty. I also added carrots, but otherwise followed recipe exactly.
bibi
Used ground cumin. 2 tsp was too much.
Nikki G
This is a great recipe, and my family enjoys it, nice that it includes some extra veggies too. I use this as a base recipe to use with whatever is in my fridge to fry up and it's been fun to experiment.
Andrew H
Easy to make. Do not skimp on the leeks, this is where the flavor comes from. I added onion and garlic salt.
Paula
I've made this twice and love it! I also made a cilantro, garlic and yogurt dressing for them. Second time I added celeriac.
Suzanne
I made these with leftover mashed potatoes and that worked well and resulted in no extra moisture. The cumin flavor is really delicious with the kale, potatoes and leeks. I left out the scallions because we didn't have any and didn't miss them. The leeks add plenty of onion flavor.
Rob
These are relatively labor intensive and somewhat messy to make. So I make the latkes up when convenient. But do not cook them. I put them on a sheet pan on top of parchment paper. Then freeze them. Once frozen, I put them in a ziplock back to pan fry or bake at a future time.
Sam
Have cooked twice, once as instructed, and once with alterations.Alterations definitely suited our families tastes a bit better, and love this as a starting point for future tweaks.Squeezed excess water out of shredded potatoes, and salad spin to dry the super thinly sliced kale.Swapped the cumin seeds for ground cumin, and added adobe seasoning and green chile powder (hatch or bust!) Mixed AP flour with cornstarch and used 1/3c3eggs to help with binding
LL
LL 7/22: Didn’t have cumin.
Andrea
These were great! Loved how the lacy edges crisped up. I also let the veggies drain to remove some moisture first and served with a bit of sour cream.
Sara
These are amazing!! I left out the leeks and cumin and added in a touch more egg. Otherwise, prepared pretty much like this. Excellent
Chloe
How are these low-carb? They're mostly leeks and potatoes, which are two high-carb vegetables.
Ann Wakeman
First pressing just the shredded potato with the salt through a chinois strainer or squeezed thoroughly in a towel and then adding the other ingredients allowed no loss of egg and other vital flavors to the recipe...try that next time.
Beej
My cast iron pan resists sticking food so I can use less oil than called for. Agree with others to let vegetable mixture drain in colander before adding egg and flour/cornstarch. No chives, so used minced garlic. These were delicious and intended to have as appetizer, but we scarfed them up for dinner with leftover pork carnitas. Great combo!
Ellen Leopold
I couldn't get the mixture to hold together even though I thought I had shredded the kale quite fine.
ANewMexican
I enjoyed these little cakes. A handful of modifications: Added the carrot, per suggestion. Increased to 3 eggs, per suggestion. Made 10 larger patties instead. Baked in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes; flipped half way through. I would add more salt next time and perhaps more spices. I loved the crispy leek pieces. Served 4 adults and a 4 year old.
Renee
If I were going to try this recipe again - and I’m not - I would squeeze the potatoes after grating (did that this time) and add salt to them and leave them in a collander for at least an hour before adding the eggs and flour. As I drained the liquid from the batch I made, I found lots of flour. The bindng agents are just coming out with the monstrous amount of liquid. That needs to be removed before adding other ingredients. The flavor was also a little bland. Definitely not worth the effort.
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