Simple hacks to remove starch from potatoes | The Times of India (2024)

Are you someone who loves gorging on crispy cheesy fries, wafers or creamy mashed potatoes, but feel guilty about the calories? Then we have some simple and wonderful hacks to make potatoes healthy by removing their starch content, which makes them rich in carbohydrates. Read on to know more about these simple hacks.

The presence of starch makes the texture of the potatoes soft and mushy, but at the same time it also adds on the carbohydrate content of potatoes. So, if you are planning to cut down on calories and enjoy your favourite potatoes without feeling guilty, then removing the starch content is the best thing to go for. In fact, removing starch makes the texture of fried potatoes or baked crispy potato delicacies even better. Here’s how you can remove the starch from your potatoes.

Starch is the sticky liquid released while cutting or slicing the potatoes and the best way to get rid of that is by soaking chopped or sliced potatoes in a large vessel of water.

Make sure the water is cold, washing it once or twice helps in removing the scratch on the upper layer of the flesh.

After washing them once under cold water, soak all the potato pieces in clean cold water, rinse again and repeat the process with clean water. You will gradually observe that the starch will settle down in the button and water will turn whitish in colour.

Finally, wash and allow the water to drain out and then bake, air fry or cook the potatoes.

Removing starch ensures that the fries or potato bites won’t crumble easily. The process may be time talking but the results will be worth the effort.

Another simple way of removing starch from potatoes is by simply blanching them in hot water. The best way to do this is by cutting the potatoes in small pieces and putting them in a vessel filled with hot water, the starch molecules of potatoes absorb the hot water till they fluff up and burst, which removes the scratch from the potatoes and mixes with the hot water.

Make sure you boil the water first and then drop the potato pieces, cook till the potatoes turn slightly tender. Drain the water and run them through cold water to retain the crunchy texture. Pat dry the potatoes and then use them for cooking your favourite delicacies.

You can also add a pinch of salt to accelerate the process of blanching potatoes.

Starch rich potatoes usually turn soft and crumbly, while frying or baking. So, if you are making delicacies wherein you want the potatoes to be crispy and crunchy, then removing starch is the best way to keep your wafers, fries, crispy potatoes, hash browns crisp and delicious.

But if you are making creamy potatoes, soups or mashed potatoes, then make sure you don't remove the starch as it may make the texture less soft and mushy.

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