Due to heartbreaking tales I have seen on some poor Malaysian female engineers homepage in the middle of a cold winter night (actually 3 o’ clock in the morning before I went to sleep on my 60th anniversary), I had to take some time the next day, write down the recipe and convince my wife to make some, to be able to make a life reportage of how this is done in an average German household.

Unfortunately after those kartoffelpuffer’s were ready and already eaten, I made a handling error with the smart card of my camera, and all pictures were gone, thous resulting in the sad fact, we had to do it all over again:

-Wife convincing

-Making of a second set of kartoffelpuffers 2 days later

-Eating them again

-Far too much as usual

-Growing fat

-Need some Schnaps (home made plum brandy)

-Getting drunk

Well, lets get busy now.

Get some potatoes, about .75 to 1 kg for 2 to 3 persons (if I am invited you will need more).

You should try to get a yellow cooking kind, not from early harvest, the older the better. They should have a fairly rough skin.

After washing and peeling dry them with a towel or kitchen paper.

Have the potatoes grated with an electric or manual device. We use the shown combination. It is a hand mixer with a grater as accessory. Don’t make them too coarse, about 2 mm thickness will do it.

(Wena : So jealous of this contraption! Need to get one one day.)

Don’t make them too coars, about 2 mm thickness will do it.

(Wena : Once an engineer, always an engineer. See the details he goes into? 2 MM!)

Cut 1 or 2 medium sized onions into not too fine pieces.

Get some parsley, one egg, smoked bacon pieces (if you like it, I do, but then reduce salt).

(Wena : For the Muslims, you can substitute the bacon for turkey/chicken ham)

Add 1 max. 2 table spoons of white flower. Do not attempt to bind the water that builds up in the potatoes with additional flower. Pour the water and starch off every now and then.

Add salt and pepper and mix thoroughly, use your hands as best tools. It is not harmful if you had cleaned them before, if not, they will be clean afterwards.

(Wena : Yes, I did use my hands! )

Water and starch will develop, get rid of it.

Pour it away.

(Granny : Aiyo! Wasting egg only!)

Have a good frying pan ready with any kind of grease or oil you prefer ( pork, cooking oil, we usually use sunflower and olive oil). Fill in about 5 mm high, make it really hot. Put in your mixture with a table spoon.

Distribute and press it flat rather fast between 6 and 10 mm of hight, as you like. Watch your hands, the hot oil might splash back.

Fry until edges turn from yellow into light brown.

Turn around carefully.

Fry as desired.

Drip off the excess oil. Replenish oil, if necessary.

Place on plate with paper towel to soak off the oil. Get ready to eat them.