
Homemade yam fries recipe is really easy to make, this is one of the popular street foods in Africa you fine mostly by the roadside sold along with akara, plantain chips and other common street foods. I decided to take these yam fries to another level by giving them some nice shapes hence the name, heart shaped golden yam fries. This yam recipe is also called yamarita, I have made it before but using a different method. You can see here to make Hausa yamarita.
I really love these easy fries, they are crispy and tasty, the combinations of spices make these fries fantastic and they are far healthier and appetizing than the roadside ones. If you dont have white yam at hand to make this recipe, you can make use of sweet potatoes or Irish potatoes, they work well too.These heart shaped yam fries are very good fries for breakfast and dinner, very little effort and ingredients are needed to get them done. After making these fries, you will definitely want to make these over and over again.
What gave these yams this lovely heart shape are my cookie cutters (love shaped cookie cutters), I used the big and the medium cutters to achieve this very outcome. I actually cut these before cooking or frying the yam. All you need to do is to cut your raw yam into thin round shapes and peel the brown skin. When done, place the cookies cutter over the peeled yam and exert a little pressure with the help of a rolling pin to enable it cut through the yam then force the yam out of the cookie cutter, its as simple as that.
These yam fries pair well with chicken stew, fish stew, pepper stew (Buka stew) or anything chilled from smoothie to yoghurt or soft drink.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for making yam fries
- 1 kg white yam
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- -teaspoon cayenne pepper
- -teaspoon nutmeg
- -teaspoon curry powder
- -teaspoon onion powder
- Salt to taste
Steps on how to make yam fries
- Cut yam into thin circular shapes and peel off the brown skin.
- Place the cookie cutter on the peeled yam; use a rolling pin to push the cutter through the yam to form a heart shape.
- Pull the yam to remove from the cookie cutter, and repeat the same process until you are done with the whole yam.
- Rinse the shaped yams, place them in salted water and boil for just 10 minutes to slightly soften them. Drain the yam from the liquid and set aside.
- Beat two eggs into a bowl season with a pinch of salt, curry, cayenne pepper, onion powder and whisk to combine. Also, season the dry flour with the same ingredients and stir well.
- Take the boiled yam one at a time and deep in the egg wash, remove and coat with the dry flour and set aside. Repeat this until all the yams are coated with the egg and flour.
- Heat a pan on a stove and add some cooking oil deep enough to fry all the shaped yams. Add the yam to the oil and fry. Flip the yam once one side is golden and fry the other side until you have a perfect crisp yam fries.
- Remove the yam from the oil and drain on pepper towel, serve with stew and sweet drink.
Simple steps to make yam fries with pictures
1. Cut yam into thin circular shapes and peel off the brown skin.
2. Place the cookie cutter on the peeled yam; use a rolling pin to push the cutter through the yam to form a heart shape.
3. Pull the yam to remove from the cookie cutter, and repeat the same process until you are done with the whole yam.
4. Rinse the shaped yams, place them in salted water and boil for just 10 minutes to slightly soften them. Drain the yam from the liquid and set aside.
5. Beat two eggs into a bowl season with a pinch of salt, curry, cayenne pepper, onion powder and whisk to combine. Also, season the dry flour with the same ingredients and stir well.
6. Take the boiled yam one at a time and deep in the egg wash, remove and coat with the dry flour and set aside. Repeat this until all the yams are coated with the egg and flour.
7. Heat a pan on a stove and add some cooking oil deep enough to fry all the shaped yams. Add the yam to the oil and fry. Flip the yam once one side is golden and fry the other side until you have a perfect crisp yam fries.
8. Remove the yam from the oil and drain on pepper towel, serve with stew and sweet drink.