Homemade chips (fries)

Making your own fries – 45 minutes

You can opt to make your chips with or without skin. You can cut the chips as thick or as thin as you like, and you can cut them with a chip cutter or with a chef's knife.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick slices of about 1.5 centimetres. Then, cut the slices into thick strips of about 1.5 centimetres for thicker chips, as shown in the photos below.

Place the chips in a bowl of cold water while you are cutting the remaining potatoes; this will prevent the potatoes from discolouring.

Meanwhile, heat sunflower oil, or another neutral oi, in a deep fryer or thick-based saucepan to a temperature of 160 degrees Celsius.

Remove some of the chips from the water and dry them well with a clean tea towel.

Do not fry too many chips at once, as the oil will cool down too quickly and the potatoes will start to absorb the oil. This will result in greasy chips, and you don't want that.

Blanch (pre-fry) the chips until they are glistening but haven't taken on any colour. This will take about 5 minutes at a temperature of 160 degrees Celsius. Repeat until all the potatoes are blanched/pre-fried.

Spread the blanched chips on a large plate or baking sheet and let them cool a little.

Increase the temperature of the oil to 180 degrees Celsius. Then deep-fry the chips again, in batches, until they have become golden brown and crisp. Repeat until all the chips are nicely golden brown, then drain on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.

Serve immediately with a little salt, mayonnaise, and/or ketchup. Enjoy!