Begedil (Potato patties)

My mum was a stay at home mum, so she cooked all our meals. We were sometimes given little tasks to help her, tasks that our small hands could handle. And it was never a chore because we always had fun playing with food. For the begedil, my job was to scoop some of the mashed potatoes and put them into the fist of my right hand and repeatedly press into them to make the patties compact. Then, I would roll them into balls between my palms. The potatoes were warm and a little greasy because of my mum's way of making them. She fries slices of inch thick potato before mashing them in a mortar and pestle. Frying adds more flavor to the potatoes but I decided to use a common short cut. I boiled the potatoes instead. Otherwise, I followed her recipe closely.

My siblings and I love hanging out in the kitchen when my mum was making begedil because we liked eating the crispy egg crumbs from the frying. We would stand behind her to avoid oil splatters (sorry mum) and as soon as she scooped out some begedils from the hot oil onto a plate, we would rush to grab the crispy egg crumb, put them on some tissue paper and wait for it cool down before we ate it. It's such a great memory for me - that's why I included a little egg crumb in the picture above. For me, begedil must be fried with a generous coating of egg to give it some texture. Of course, my mum managed to produce more egg crumb and it tasted better.

I find begedil to be best with mee rebus and kuah rawan, and generally with nasi padang. But we had left over salmon, so we had our potato patties with a salmon and spinach omelete.

Begedil

2 medium-sized russet potatoes
¼ cup cooked minced beef (seasoned with a little cumin or just salt and pepper)
¼ cup crispy fried shallots
¼ cup spring onion, sliced thinly
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
oil for frying

Peel and boil the potatoes. Mash the potato and add the beef, shallots and spring onion. Season with the salt and pepper. Mix well and shape into balls about 2 inches wide. Roll the balls well between your palms to ensure that the patties are compact and will remain intact when frying. Press the balls so they flatten a little on two sides. At this stage, you can freeze them. Do not defrost when you are ready to eat them - fry direct from the freezer.

Beat the eggs in a bowl. Heat oil to medium heat. Dip each patty in egg before frying them. After about 3-4 minutes, turn them over and fry until golden brown.

Makes 18-20.