About Sweet Potato Chaat
Although I usually make the Shakarkandi Chaat for my Navratri fasting days, but it tastes just as fab any other time as well. In this recipe, everything is balanced – sweetness of the shakarkandi, faint pungency of black pepper powder, and tanginess of lemon juice and dried mango powder or amchur. That’s the flavor pairing, you would absolutely love. This is a super quick, low-fat, nutritious snack to enjoy any time of the day. Sweet potato is a superfood. This makes it obviously a better and more nutrient dense choice, when compared to the regular potatoes. Since shakarkandi is also naturally sweet and starchy, it qualifies as a great veggie to make amazingly delicious sweet dishes as well, in addition to the savory ones like this Sweet Potato Chaat. Check out these 2 sweet recipes that I have made with shakarkandi – Sweet Potato Halwa and Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun. While the halwa is also a great choice for your vrats or fasts, the gulab jamun serves as an equally decadent mithai (sweet) in your Diwali celebrations. In fact, I would say, better than your usual jamuns. This Shakarkandi Chaat also packs many essential nutrients in it and is an excellent health dish. Because these tubers are rich sources of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, this chaat automatically becomes a wholesome and hearty meal in itself. When I used to live in Gurgaon (now Gurugram), we used to have this Sweet Potato Chaat on many occasions during winters. It is a common street food sold on thelas (carts) in the chilly season in North India. The smoky flavor resulting from the roasting of the sweet potatoes is still fresh in mind. That charm was something else, very hard to express in words. For the Shakarkandi Chaat, the street vendors used to roast the sweet potatoes on coal, which would impart the lovely smokiness in the dish. This effect is something that can’t be mirrored if you roast this tuber in an oven or even steam it in a pan or pressure cooker. Nevertheless, this chaat is still scrumptious. For the spice powders in this Sweet Potato Chaat, I have used the ones that are commonly consumed during the religious fasting of Navratri days. But when not keeping a vrat, add whichever spice powder you like. This chaat recipe with shakarkandi is easily scalable. So, you can prepare it in larger batches as well.
How to make Sweet Potato Chaat
Cook Sweet Potatoes
- Firstly, rinse 260 to 270 sweet potatoes very well in water. Then, steam or boil them in a pressure cooker or a pan adding water as needed. If cooking in a stovetop pressure cooker, pressure cook for about 3 to 4 whistles, in water just about covering the sweet potatoes. Once the pressure drops naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid. Remove the boiled sweet potatoes using pasta tongs and set them aside to cool until warm. I steamed sweet potatoes in an electric rice cooker. In the picture, you see 4 sweet potatoes. But I only used 2 of them for the chaat. You can even peel sweet potatoes first and then steam them.
Make Sweet Potato Chaat
- After the sweet potatoes are cooked well, peel lightly and chop them in small bite-sized cubes. Take them in a bowl.
- Add ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder, ½ teaspoon dried mango powder (amchur powder) and edible rock salt (sendha namak). If making for non-fasting days, you can also add red chili powder and chaat masala powder. Some roasted cumin powder can also be added. You can add the spice powders less or more according to your taste preferences.
- Next, add ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
- Mix gently. Check the taste and add any of the spice powders or lemon juice, if required.
- Serve Shakarkandi Chaat immeditaely.
Expert Tips
Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. Sabudana Vada Recipe kuttu ki puri | vrat ki poori Samvat Rice Khichdi | Sama Chawal Khichdi | Vrat ki Khichdi Farali Pattice This Sweet Potato Chaat recipe from the archives was first published on April 2016. It has been updated and republished on March 2024.
