A new twist on Hannuka’s potato latkehs: The kids look forward to the same latkehs year after year, but adults sometimes want something a little different.  Surfing the Net for an alternative recipe, this recipe from The New York Times caught my eye. It’s as easy to make as the traditional recipe, but it’s just different enough to make those traditional potato fritters interesting again.

For a Middle-Eastern taste twist, forgo the expensive imported maple syrup and use native Silan date syrup. Here’s a riveting little story about how sheep keep the weeds down in a Jericho date farm.

Apple-Potato Latkes With Cinnamon Sour Cream

Ingredients:

Coarsely grate the apples, potato and onion. Put the mixture in a clean dish towel and squeeze to wring out as much liquid as possible. For the crispiest pancakes, you want the least moisture.

Working quickly, put the mixture in a large bowl, add the flour, eggs, salt, baking powder and pepper, and mix until the flour is absorbed.

In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour in about 1/4 inch of oil. Once the oil is hot (a drop of batter placed in the pan should sizzle), drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan, cooking 3 to 4 latkes at a time. Use a spatula to flatten the scoops into disks.

When the edges of the latkes are brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes, flip them. Cook until the second side is deeply browned, another 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the latkes to a plate lined with recycled, crumpled newspaper sheets to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with dollops of the cinnamon sour cream on top.

Yield: about 1 1/2 dozen latkes. Enjoy!

More recipes for the Festival of Lights from Green Prophet:

• Conventional potato latkehs
• Sufganyot: jelly donuts
• Baked Sufganyot

Photo by Andrew Scrivani via the New York Times