Chive Tater Tots With Green Onion Ketchup - green onion

Method

• Heat the oil in a saucepan to medium. Add the spices and toast them for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes more, then add the onions and cook for a couple minutes more again. Add the salt and tomatoes, then sugar and vinegar.
• Let this mixture simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring and mashing the tomatoes a bit as you go. After about a half hour I blended with an immersion blender to see thickness and test for salt - if you don't have an immersion blender you should get one but until then, carefully transfer to a blender or processor and blend until smooth, then back to the pot to reduce down to the thickness of ketchup. Taste for salt.
• Once you have the ketchup nice and thick and smooth, allow it to cool for awhile. Transfer it back to the blender and blend those green onions in. This goes in the fridge until you start frying tots. It is way more than you need for the tots so yay! You can use it for other stuff!
• Put the potatoes, water and 1 tsp salt in the food processor. Pulse until it is coarsely chopped - you want texture, not a puree. Turn the mixture out onto a clean tea towel, roll it up and wring the moisture out. Wring hard. Put the mixture in a big bowl and put the tea towel in the wash.
• Line a 9x9 square pan with foil. Mix the flour, 1/2 tsp salt , pepper and soda into the potatoes. Whisk the egg and stir that in, then fold in the chives. Press the mixture into the pan - I used a spatula to smooth the top and tidy up the edges. Put the pan in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour.
• Fry time! Put a sheet pan in the oven and turn it to 200 (unless you intend to eat as you fry which honestly is a terrific idea) Your oil should be deep enough to float a tot, and between 375 - 400 degrees. I have a fry-daddy thing that makes this super easy. (I am gadget-y - Alton Brown would go apoplectic if he saw all of my stuff). Cover a plate with paper towels for draining.
• Get the tots out of the freezer. Cut them into about 1" squares. They might seem kind of soft and juicy, but they get it together in the oil. On a few I had to give them a little manual assist on the edges. Use a spatula to scoop them up 4 - 5 at a time and lower them into the oil. Fry them until they are brown and crunchy. Remove them to the paper towels, then either to the oven or straight into your face after a quick stop at the ketchup bowl.
• Oh a note on the ketchup - I took it out of the fridge before I started frying so it would not be ice cold on the nice hot tots. Oh and also I tried some tots seasoned with salt after frying and some not - the seasoned ones were a bit too salty for us but try one and see what your preference is.