Thai Disco Fries

Also great with tots!

Sometimes, you just need dinner to feel like a treat—something fun and different and kind of indulgent. On Halloween, as I watched my daughter and her friends run down the streets in their costumes and then lay out and sort their haul, I, too, wanted something delicious and fun. Not a big sack of candy (the mini-Snickers my kid set aside for me was plenty of sugar), but something fun and a little bit different.

So, this weekend, while we recovered from Halloween, I played with a dish I’ve been thinking about ever since my trip to New York this summer: Thai disco fries. If you’re not familiar with the term “disco fries,” it’s a snack you’ll find in diners on the East Coast, especially in and around New Jersey, made of fries covered with gravy and melted mozzarella. (It’s basically a diner version of poutine, the Québécois dish of fries, gravy, and cheese curds.) I haven’t dug into the history, but I assume the dish is “disco” because it’s a great late-night food, ideal for soaking up a night of drinks (and adding fuel after dancing).

“Thai” disco fries is an idea I’ve borrowed from the popular dish at Thai Diner, in Lower Manhattan. Their fries are made with massaman curry—a mild, sweet versions often made for children that I adore—but the idea works with pretty much any kind of curry you like.

To keep things easy, I opted for good jarred sauces (like the high-quality curries made by Banyan Thai or the curry “simmer sauces” you can find at Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores). You could also buy a curry paste, like the kind made by Mae Ploy, and blend it with some coconut milk; this is how many Thai home cooks make easy weeknight curries; in fact, a restaurant I once worked at used this method for their popular curries (though I’m sure they bought a special brand of paste).

The fries are also topped with chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro, to round out the flavors. I happened to have some fried onion (the kind you buy jarred in Asian markets), so I added that as well. Altogether, it was a delightful, flavorful snack, perfect for a chilly fall evening.

This recipe works with a variety of pre-made curry sauces and pastes

Thai Disco Fries

I’ve left the amounts below flexible, so that you can expand and contract this dish to serve as many people as you like (and add as much or as little curry as you want).

Frozen French fries
Jarred (or leftover) curry sauce
Salted, roasted shelled peanuts
Fresh cilantro
Fried onions or shallots (optional)

1. Preheat the oven and bake the French fries according to the instructions on the packaging.

2. While fries are baking, heat some of the curry sauce in a small pan or in the microwave. (If your jar is room temperature, you can skip this step if you like.)

3. Roughly chop the peanuts and the cilantro.

4. When the fries are ready, spoon a small pool of curry sauce into a bowl. Pile the fries on top, and drizzle more curry on top (taste the sauce to check the spice level before deciding how much to add). Sprinkle the peanuts, cilantro, and shallots (if using) on top. Serve with more curry on the side, for dipping, if you like.

From the Archives: Playing with Leftover Curry Sauce

Curry freezes really well, so if you’re not going to use the rest of the jar right away to simmer some vegetables with tofu or meat, try decanting it into an ice cube tray. That way, you can defrost just a little bit at a time anytime a craving for these fries strikes. Alternatively (or additionally), you can use some of the leftover sauce to make another of my favorite snacks, which I shared right around this time last year:

Photos: Georgia Freedman (2)