Dishoom is a popular chain of Indian restaurants in the United Kingdom. The menu pays homage to the Irani cafés of Mumbai—eateries where everyone is welcome, from business executives and students to taxi drivers and writers. My lunch was miles above average, including a long-cooked dal with tangy amchoor (powder made from dried unripe mangos). I also was impressed with a dish so simple and appealing that it made me wonder why I never thought of it: okra fries with a coating of chaat masala—a spice blend that also features the tart flavor of amchoor.

That evening, at Hyderabadi Spice in East Ham, I had a similarly seasoned dish, this time with french fries instead of okra. Spiced fries are a winner.

The challenge with this recipe is not the spice mix itself. Rather, it’s how to fry the potatoes. The culinary “givens” for french fries include soaking them in water before cooking, using some sort of starch coating, and frying them twice. I also reviewed a recipe from cookbook author J. Kenji López-­Alt that calls for parboiling the fries in a vinegar-­water solution (to slow the breakdown of pectin, which produces a crispier exterior) and freezing the fries after the first frying step, which provides a fluffier interior, according to López-Alt.

We started by parcooking the potatoes in acidulated water and found that, indeed, López-Alt was correct. The fries did turn out better, the vinegar soak resulting in a blistered outer surface that makes them crispier, as well as seasons the fries. From there, we compared single-­frying to double-frying and, oddly enough, frying once in 375°F oil turned out crispier fries, as long as they were parboiled first.

We also tried starting the potatoes in cold oil, a method I had liked many years back. This took 40 minutes and resulted in second-­rate, somewhat soggy fries. (The science of this approach is that potatoes are filled with water, and oil cannot penetrate the potato until some of this water is boiled off, which will not happen until the oil comes up to temperature.)

Freezing does offer the convenience of advance prep (you freeze them before frying), but we found that the benefit was marginal. We do let the fries sit coated with the potato starch-spice mixture while the oil heats, which produces good results without freezing. After frying, we finish the potatoes with an extra sprinkle of the spice blend.

For the spice blend, we used cumin, chili powder, ground ginger, salt and pepper. And we found we could approximate the tangy flavor of amchoor from the vinegar soak.

Now we had a solid recipe for french fries with a crispy masala coating. Old dogs, new tricks.

Christopher Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."