Love eating sweet potato? Mumbai home chefs reveal unique tricks to make the root vegetable

With the change in season, now is the best time to incorporate sweet potato in your meals. Mumbai’s home chefs reveal sweet and savoury tricks with the much-loved root veggie

Shakarkandi sheera

Have you ever tried sweet potato sheera? It’s the same as rava sheera but with shakarkandi instead. Boil or roast and peel the vegetable, add jaggery, elaichi powder and cook the mixture like sheera. I love making sweet potato millet paratha, a healthier version of aloo paratha.
Chhaya Savla, founder of Desi Elements, Lonavala

PIC COURTESY/YOUTUBE

Handy hacks

Ditch the aloo in the ragada patty and add sweet potato and beetroot instead; it is much healthier, and offers the same texture with a prettier colour. You can skip the sweet chutney and add only spicy chutney. With the right amount of spices, it creates the perfect balance of sweet and savoury.
Hetal Chedda, founder, Not a Chef

Sweet potato brownies

Ingredients
>> 1 and 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potato
>> 1/2 cup almond butter or peanut butter
>> 1/4 cup oat flour
>> 1/4 cup cocoa powder
>> 1/2 cup honey
>> 1 tbsp oil (olive or coconut)
>> 1 tsp vanilla essence
>> 1/4 tsp baking soda
>> 1/4 tsp baking powder
>> 1/2 cup chunks or chips of dark chocolate
>> A pinch of salt

Method

Pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius. Mix all ingredients together, and stir in chocolate chunks. Pour the mix into a nine by nine-inch baking tray that is greased or lined with parchment paper. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Top with melted chocolate. Let it cool before slicing.
Tip: Add a pinch of coffee powder to the batter.
Recipe courtesy: Pearl Henriques

Brownies and fritters

Swap sweet potato for flour in baking. It keeps the brownies moist and fudgy, is  a great binding agent, and is a substitute for almond flour which can be expensive. Add a bit of oat flour to this mix so that it holds up to the texture and consistency needed for baking. The sweetness from shakarkandi adds to the brownies but may not level to the amount you require for desserts or bakes. You can always add honey or apple sauce but ensure that the apples are sweet and the sauce isn’t too runny. Try the popular East Indian sweet potato fritters. Here, replace bananas with this root vegetable. Make a batter with flour, egg, milk and sugar and fry it with ghee. Or the traditional chach, a delicacy made with ratalas [sweet potatoes], coconut milk, jaggery, sabudana and elaichi.

Pearl Henriques, founder, Pinch Of Salt

Madhura kizhang (sweet potato) ulartiyattu

I always look at sweet potato as a satiating root vegetable perfect for the drop in temperature when our bodies can take on its hardiness. Whenever I approach ingredients, I tend to explore the cuisine of my own region, and this is one dish I like to make with shakarkandi. It’s usually made with tapioca (Malayalam: kappa) but the sweet potato is a softer root vegetable with a shorter cooking time. You can eat it as a sabji with dal and rice and it becomes a complete meal or as an evening snack with a little papadam and pickle.

Sweet potato brings a lot more flavour to this dish with its natural sweetness and the savoury seasoning of coconut oil, mustard seed, dried chillies and curry leaves, haldi and fresh grated coconut and a light sprinkle of chilli flakes —this balance of sweet and spice makes it a thrilling dish. Retain the skin of the shakarkandi for added health benefits.

Chef Marina Balakrishnan, chef and founder of Oottupura

Shakarkandi in the city

>> Baked sweet potato
At: Black Olive, off New Link Road, Andheri West; The Nature Bar, Goregaon and Lower Parel. 
Cost: Rs 220; Rs 249 
Call: 9833393294; 8889210888

>> Sweet potato mash
At: Smoke House Deli, multiple venues.
Cost: Rs 245 
Call: 9152017981

>> Sweet potato, black bean sauce 
At: Foo, multiple venues.
Cost: Rs 415 
Call: 9321915409

>> BBQ rubbed sweet potato chips
At Woodside Inn, multiple venues.
Cost: Rs 495
Call: 8451957787

>> Crispy corn and sweet potato burger
At 1 BHK Brew House Kitchen, Oshiwara.
Cost: Rs 555
Call: 7710027104

>> Roasted sweet potato croquette
At: Trunks and Leaves, Kandivali West. 
Cost: Rs 339
Call: 9090411411

>> Cajun fish and sweet potato chips
At: Sage, Kandivali East. 
Cost: Rs 335
Call: 9999791188

>> Sweet potato salted wafers
At: Tewari Brothers Mithaiwala, multiple venues. 
Cost: Rs 171 (200 gms)
Call: 9999791188

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