Wash potatoes and boil for 30 minutes or until cooked. I dice the potatoes before boiling to speed up the cooking. Once the potatoes are boiled, let cool and peel them.
In a big bowl, mash the potatoes.
Take oil in a deep skillet or pan for deep frying and heat it.
Add chili powder, salt and crushed ajwain (or asafetida) to mashed potatoes and mix well. Add gram flour and mix well to make dough/batter. Dough should be soft, softer than chapati dough. If required add some water. Check note below.
Add 1 – 2 tsp. oil, make 3-4 balls and place one ball in the sev press. I used a small pan for deep frying and I had to fry the sev in 2 batches before refilling the press again. For the listed recipe, I had to fry the sev in 6 batches, refilling the sev press twice.
Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium high and press the sev over hpt oil to fill the pan. Fry the sev for 2 ½ – 3 minutes or until light golden brown, turning the sev 2-3 times. The sev may feel soft but will become crunchy once cool.
Remove the sev from the pan and drain on paper towels. Prepare the second batch by repeating the previous step.
Refill the sev press and repeat steps 6 & 7 until all the balls are pressed into sev and deep fried.
Let sev cool completely and store in an airtight container.