Come the winter months, you can find roadside vendors in Delhi hawking their sweet potato fare ...shakarkandi chaat. Shakarakandi or Kachaloo is the hindi name for Sweet Potato and the Shakarkandi Chaat is an ideal in between meals snack. Frankly, I had never tasted Sweet Potatoes and was not a big fan of trying them out. I don't think anyone in my household also liked sweet potatoes, so I never stumbled upon them in the kitchen. A chance encounter with some wonderful looking sweet potatoes got me thinking that I just had to pick them up and get them home. So there they were ...sweet potatoes...on my kitchen counter and none of us with a clue as to what will become of them. After some thinking, we decided it was going to be some chips ...I mean who hates chips (even the calorie conscious do)...they were just going to be the perfect introduction to sweet potatoes. The entire family loved the chips, they didn't even last an hour. We have since moved on to trying other recipes with the sweet potato and I'm sure you will shortly catch me visiting one of the roadside vendors for my own portion of the Shakarkandi Chaat.
Sweet Potato Wafers (Chips)
(Makes 4 generous portions)
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes - 4 in number
Water - To parboil
Oil - To Deep Fry
Salt - Optional
Method:
1. Wash & Peel the sweet potatoes.
2. Cut into fine round slices (preferably using a mandolin)
Note: If they are too hard and you are finding it hard to take out slices, parboil them in hot water to soften a little bit. Take care not to turn them mashy.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Fry the Chips till they turn golden brown.
4. Remove from the wok and drain on absorbent paper.
5. Season if you wish. I have found them perfect even without salt and other seasonings. I have tried tossing them with chili flakes and I love the sweet spicy combination..maybe you could try that.
2 comments:
The chips look awesome, did they taste sweet? I love sweet potato chats...was a staple snack for me when I used to live in Delhi. Here in London I keep making it at home. Once upon a time I used to be like you guys...never thought sweet potatoes can make it to my plate. But now I am a happy convert!
You have been introduced to a lovely vegetable my friend :-)
classic...
picturebite.com
Post a Comment