How to stop diced potatoes sticking?

[WaterPixie]

Made a gujarati Indian dish.

Used diced skin removed potatoes in non stick pan. It's called greenpan. Had it for a long time so it's not that non stick anymore.

Used lots of oil. Still potatoes stuck like a mothertrucker.

Diced potatoes varied. Some smaller than others. Used a knife.

Mum says potatoes need to be diced smaller, that's why it happened. She's the one that cooked it for me this time and she's been cooking for decades. When she makes this dish it doesn't stick.

Is she right?

I see from a YouTube video, that it's due to potatoes needing to be dried first, and the exact correct temperature pan.

When she cooks, she doesn't have nor use a thermometer to check pan temperature.

She doesn't ever dry potatoes. Yet. They don't stick.

 

[badjak]

Wash your potatoes.
It removes some of the starch that makes them stick

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I've also found my OH well often try to move things around a pan when he thinks they've stuck, when actually leaving them alone will cook them and unstick them at the same time. I know that when I use my tawa for most things that are a batter, if it's stuck and won't move, it's a clue that it's not yet cooked enough to be moved. Leave it longer until it unsticks and it's spot on.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I know that when I use my tawa for most things that are a batter, if it's stuck and won't move, it's a clue that it's not yet cooked enough to be moved. Leave it longer until it unsticks and it's spot on.

Spot on, SatNavSaysStraightOn. If the potatoes seem to be stuck, then just hang on a minute. When they've caramelised a bit on the bottom, you'll be able to move them around.

 

[WaterPixie]

Spot on, SatNavSaysStraightOn. If the potatoes seem to be stuck, then just hang on a minute. When they've caramelised a bit on the bottom, you'll be able to move them around.

My mum cooked them. As I said, she's been cooking for decades. She never has this issue. Yet when she cooked the potatoes I diced they stuck like crazy. Moving around the pan or not, she knows what she's doing given when she makes it and cuts the potatoes herself it doesn't stick. Once the potatoes were cooked, there was a very thick brown hardened layer of burnt potatoes underneath. It took forever to get off.

 

[WaterPixie]

I've also found my OH well often try to move things around a pan when he thinks they've stuck, when actually leaving them alone will cook them and unstick them at the same time. I know that when I use my tawa for most things that are a batter, if it's stuck and won't move, it's a clue that it's not yet cooked enough to be moved. Leave it longer until it unsticks and it's spot on.

What's OH?

 

[Barriehie]

(O)ther (H)alf

 

[karadekoolaid]

Once the potatoes were cooked, there was a very thick brown hardened layer of burnt potatoes underneath. It took forever to get off.

Cooked too hard. Lower the heat; you'll probably still get a brownish layer on the bottom, but that's the crispy stuff, so that's good!

 

[TastyReuben]

I’ve had diced potatoes stick a time or two…I just deglaze the pan with a little liquid, with the potatoes still in the pan, to unstick them and keep them (more or less) intact.

 

[Barriehie]

I’ve had diced potatoes stick a time or two…I just deglaze the pan with a little liquid, with the potatoes still in the pan, to unstick them and keep them (more or less) intact.

A splash of white cooking wine here.

 

[karadekoolaid]

A splash of white cooking wine here.

I avoid cooking wine like the plague. I'd far rather buy a bottle ( or a tetra-pak) of cheap-ish white wine.
I bought some "Cooking Sherry" last time I was in Cinci. Used it once then chucked it down the sink. Full of salt, and it ruined the dish!

 

[WaterPixie]

What is going on here?! Does no one have a definitive scientific answer?

 

[TastyReuben]

What is going on here?! Does no one have a definitive scientific answer?

As with most things in life, TMTOWTDI* - something a sociology professor once grilled into me.



*There’s More Than One Way To Do It - rarely is there ever one definitive answer, even in science.

You’ve been given some fine options, so it may be best to grab a bag of potatoes and put them to the test. Good luck!

 

[Barriehie]

I avoid cooking wine like the plague. I'd far rather buy a bottle ( or a tetra-pak) of cheap-ish white wine.
I bought some "Cooking Sherry" last time I was in Cinci. Used it once then chucked it down the sink. Full of salt, and it ruined the dish!

I say cooking wine but it's actually a bottle of Chardonnay for the white and Cabernet Sauvignon for the red. I don't drink wine so to me they're all for cooking...

 

[JAS_OH1]

I say cooking wine but it's actually a bottle of Chardonnay for the white and Cabernet Sauvignon for the red. I don't drink wine so to me they're all for cooking...

I do drink wine but I'd never cook with a wine I wouldn't drink, so yeah...it's cooking wine. But there are wines I would drink that I wouldn't cook with, like very expensive wines (generally gifts). Those are for drinking only.