Receta Diwali snacks – Sweet potato tikki stuffed with spicy peas
Morning was bright and shiny, the air was crisp and the sky looks beautiful with islands of fluffy clouds scattered on it, just the way an early Autumn morning should feel fresh and crisp. But for past one week something was bothering me persistently. As the fresh gingerly flavor of morning tea wafts around the kitchen, I declared to DH that my heart skips the beats…. He smiled mischievously and before his mind raced along the wrong track, I warned him midway …”It is medical.” That single word changed the beautiful morning into gloomy and downcast.
By mid afternoon I hit the panic button and we ended up in a cardiac center and was subjected to series of test. After 48 hours the cardiologist declared that he couldn’t find anything interesting! However he did prescribed few tablets that I brought home, not because I was keen on taking those medicines but because they were so cute – pink color heart-shaped mini tablets ! Seeing my excitement, DH told me I should get checked my wiring in the brain. Off to neurologist now !
Getting heart aches in mid thirties is certainly not welcoming idea. I cursed my lounge sofa for this, the day it had entered in my house it had converted me into a couch potato. I guess that blips in my ECG was early warning sign for me. Cutting down fats from the diet, toning down the spices will never work from me. I am not a diet person.
With exceptional will power (I am still working on it) this Diwali I decided to ditch the sweetmeats for healthy and nutritious snacks. And what better way is to celebrate the festival of light with this healthy and nutritious sweet potato tikkis! So this Diwali make it a notch higher in health quotient. Detoxing after the festival period doesn’t work always the way we loved to believe.
I don’t have to rave about the nutritious benefits of sweet potatoes or its country cousins, they are all good, all superfood. A variation from the Punjabi aloo tikki and chole, this sweet potato patties or croquettes are stuffed with spicy green peas mixture. A perfect amalgamation of sweet, savoury and spicy taste. Serve it with hot tamarind sauce or with spicy and tangy beetroot sauce, you are sure to win accolades this festival season.
The best way to make potato tikki or patties is to go slow with the spices, taste it and add according to your palate. Lots of scope to personalize the flavours. And if you have some leftover peas masala mixture then stuff it immediately into parathas or kachoris. Else use it to make sandwiches with little shreds of cheese to dress it up.
Sweet potato tikki stuffed with spicy peas Author: Adapted from Calcutta Cookbook Recipe type: Appetiser Cuisine: Indian
Sweet potatoes : 500 gm Rice flour : 2 tbsp All purpose flour : 2 tbsp Oil : 1 tsp Salt to taste Roasted Cumin powder : 1 tsp Chilli powder : ½ tsp or less Green peas : 1 cup Oil: 1 tbsp Roasted cumin powder : ¼ tsp Roasted fennel powder: ¼ tsp Roasted chilli powder: ¼ tsp Black pepper powder (freshly ground): ¾ tsp Salt and sugar to taste Oil for shallow frying
Boil and skin the sweet potatoes and mash with all the ingredients mentioned for the dough. Knead to make a soft and pliable dough. Cover and keep aside. Grind the fresh green peas to a smooth paste. Do not add water while grinding the peas. Heat the oil in a pan and add the peas with salt, sugar and all the roasted spice powders mentioned in the ingredient list. Fry gently on a low heat for 10 minutes till the peas comes off the sides of the pan in a mass. Divide the sweet potato mixture and the green pea mixture into approximately 12 balls. Take a ball of sweet potato in your hand, shape it into a small cup and stuff it with pea filling (approximately 1 tsp of pea mixture). Close the edges, roll it on your palm to shape it like small spheres. Lightly press the stuffed balls between your palm and shape it like tikkis or patties. Mould the rough edges with your fingers gently so that stuffing mixture should not comes out of it. Let the patties rest for 10-15 minutes in the fridge. This will ensure their binding strength. Heat the oil in a pan till its smoking point, reduce the heat and shallow fry the patties few at a time till it turns golden brown. Drain and serve the sweet potato tikkis hot or at room temperature with the tamarind sauce or beetroot sauce. To make the roasted chilli powder:
Dry roast 3-4 Kashmiri or Bydagi dry red chilles till they become crisp enough. Take caution not to burn them. Discard the seeds and grind the chillies finely in the mixer. 3.2.2802
Happy Diwali !
Play safe!
Sukanya
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