How to make fluffy mashed potatoes from two ingredients: a simple secret

Mashed potatoes are a popular dish and are a frequent side dish for pork, beef, chicken, and fish, and they go well with vegetables. It turns out that the recipe for simple but incredibly tasty mashed potatoes with a minimal set of ingredients was discovered in the 70s of the last century.

According to The New York Times, the recipe was featured in the American television series Little House on the Prairie. It takes only half an hour to prepare the "perfect" mashed potatoes.

In particular, Ma Ingles from the series said that if there is no milk, you can use water. She called this the main secret of delicious mashed potatoes.

"Leave some water with starch after boiling the potatoes and add it to the mashed potatoes: add water one tablespoon at a time to the mass, mixing thoroughly until the mashed potatoes are smooth. Then add a little sour cream for flavor," Ma Ingles shared her secret.

The resulting mashed potatoes looked airy and white.

Ingredients for "perfect" mashed potatoes:

0.9 kg of potatoes;

Kosher salt (coarse table salt without common additives such as iodine) and freshly ground black pepper;

You'll also need ¼ cup of sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt.

Steps of cooking:

Step 1

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Place in a large saucepan, add two tablespoons of salt and cover with cold water to one inch (2.5 cm) above the level of the potatoes.

Step 2

Bring the potatoes to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for about ten minutes. Then check for doneness with a fork.

Step 3

Pour some of the water from the saucepan into a glass, and drain the rest. Keeping the saucepan on low heat, mash the potatoes with a special pestle or a wooden spoon (important).

Step 4

Actively stir in the water remaining after cooking, pouring it one tablespoon at a time into the potatoes until they are smooth and homogeneous. According to the recipe, this may require about half a cup of liquid. Add sour cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.