Spanish Potato Omelette | Tortilla Espanola | Tortilla De Patata

Tortilla in origin means a 'small cake or torte'.Spanish Potato Omelette (Tortilla Espanola) is a very filling omelette from Spain that you can make on a lazy weekend or for a weekday too, when you are left over with no good options for breakfast.Some time back, we had this omelette at a famous Mexican restaurant here and the kids loved it a lot that they order this every time we dine out at that place.And so, I tried to give this a try at home.The original recipe calls for frying the potatoes in oil for cooking, but here I modified it a bit to make the potatoes less starchy and to avoid the excess oil, too.My first trial wasn't a big success as I didn't separate the eggs and so the eggs didn't fully cover the potatoes.But this time I separated the yolks and white and made it which made it perfect like restaurant style.This can be served for a small family and if you wish to make larger batches, you can double the ingredients and make the omelette, but you can always make it in batches of this same size so that it gets evenly and quickly cooked.Give this a try, kids would definitely love the mildly spiced, fluffy texture with the small bites of cooked potato layered in between.

Preparation time ~ 10 minutes

Cooking time ~ 10-12 minutes

Author ~ Julie

Serves ~ 1 omelette

Ingredients
eggs 3; yolks & white separated
potatoes 3 or 4 medium-sized sliced thin
onion, 1 medium-sized chopped fine
salt to taste
pepper to taste
oil 4 tbsp(1/4 cup)

WATCH ON YOUTUBE-

Method

• Separate the egg yolks and egg whites in a bowl when cold, leave at room temperature till use.
• Peel the potatoes, wash and slice it thin or make small cubes. Peel, wash and dice the onions small.
• Heat a pan and add oil. Add the drained sliced potatoes. Sauté for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until half cooked. Then add the sliced onions and sauté until translucent and lightly browned. Switch off flame and drain this mix from oil. Reserve the oil to make omelette in the same pan.

OR

 Try this method to cook potatoes if you would like to reduce the amount of oil- 

• Cook the potatoes in 2 cups of water and a little salt until done.Drain water and leave aside.(Don't overcook the potatoes as it may become mushy, the pieces should be just cooked and pieces intact) 
• Add a tbsp of oil in a pan and sauté the onions until translucent.

• Add a pinch of salt and beat the egg whites in an oil free bowl until nicely frothy and doubled in volume.Add egg yolks to the same mixture and salt, whisk well.Add the pepper powder, give a quick stir.Mix in the cooked potatoes and onions.Adjust salt and pepper if required.
• Heat oil(2 tbsp) in the same pan (you used to cook onions)/iron skillet. Gently swirl the pan so that the sides and bottom are well coated.Add the mixture to the skillet and, using a spatula, gently bring the sides to the center to get a nice thick omelette and flatten the surface to get even thickness.Cook on a low flame, check for browning of the sides.Insert a skewer in the center of the omelette to fasten the process so that the steam escapes from the center, helps to cook faster in the center.When the steam escapes from the vent from the skewer, that means it's cooked from inside and needs a flip.(takes approx 7-8 minutes for this thickness)
• Now, slide the omelette in a plate with the uncooked side up.Invert the skillet on the plate and flip the omelette back to skillet, add a tbsp of oil through the sides.Gently cook the other side (for 3-4 minutes) on low flame.
• Slide it out on a plate, cut and serve to see the layers of potatoes intact in the fluffy omelette.Though it tastes good just like that,I served it with some green chutney or guacamole.

Servings ~ 1 omelette of 8" size

NOTES
* Separating the egg yolks and egg whites when cold, as it makes it easier to separate.
* You can add chopped green bell peppers too.
* Reduce or omit onions if you don't love the flavours.
* If you wish to try the original then add 6tbsp of oil in a pan, add the sliced potatoes and get it cooked in oil.Add the onions halfway through.Then, switch off the flame and let it cool a bit, combine with the beaten eggs.Add this mixture to the frying-pan and repeat the same steps as above.

Some of the related recipes that you may find it interesting are-
Mexican Red Salsa
Chicken Bean Rice Bowl
Guacamole
Sausage Tacos 
I HOP Spinach omelette

And finally,enjoy !!!