I really enjoy when I can blend my husband’s Persian foods with Jewish holidays. We found a perfect combination with Kotlets.  Kotlets are a small beef, potato and onion patty that is fried to crispy goodness. As my husband described them to me, his mom made them with potatoes that were mashed. But I have also seen them with grated potatoes.  Next time I will make the mashed potato version, but for our Hanukkah version – grated potatoes it was!

I used advieh and turmeric to get the flavor we wanted. If you do not have advieh, cinnamon is similar, but use less of it.

We ended up with enough to serve 6 – 8 people as a main dish. It was a fun way to start Hanukkah and celebrate our diverse household.

They were gobbled up before I got a good picture of a plate – but we ate them with parsnip fries, cucumber tomato salad and torshi (gardiniera).

Kotlet Latkes

1 – 1 1/4 lbs potatoes

1 large onion

1 pounds ground beef

½ tsp advieh

1 1/2 – 2 tsp turmeric

1/2 – 1 tsp Kosher salt

4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup oil, more if necessary

Directions

Peel the potatoes and boil in salted water until just tender, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool until you can easily handle them, then grate the potatoes.

Peel and grate the onion, squeeze out the excess water.

Mix all the ingredients (except the oil) together in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix them together really well.

Form the patties by take a handful of the meat mixture, about the size of a large egg, and form it into a flat oval (or egg-shaped) patty. It should be 1/3 – 1/2 inch thick. Repeat until all the meat mixture is made into patties.

Heat ¼ cup oil in a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the patties on both sides, about 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, then about 3 minutes on the other side.

Drain on paper towels. Enjoy!

Serves 6 – 8.