Shakarkand bharta - Mashed sweet potatoes with garam masala and lime juice.
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The next in the mashed series is the sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are not so common in our cuisine. The only dish that I remember is a kind of halwa made by my grandmom. In my family, mom does not like sweet and savoury combined. She can eat sweets provided they are just desserts. She hates carrot poriyal or sambhar because the carrots impart a slightly sweet note to the dish. She does not like raisins in pilaf. So these mildly sweet veggies were rarely made at home.
It's only after travelling abroad I really started appreciating this veggie. My first encounter with this highly nutritious veggie was in the form of fries. So who would not want to give that a try? Then slowly it started finding its way in my kitchen in the form of roasts or a simple saute. Then one day experimentally I used the leftover sweet potato in the roti dough. Yes, I got a soft roti and beautiful orange hued roti. Since then I make sure to reserve some boiled sweet potatoes whenever I make it.
Apart from the dry veggie sides, I use these to make parathas. This mashed mixture with little more additional spices is what I use for a paratha stuffing. After trying Aloo bharta I wanted to give the same treatment to this veggie. To my surprise, this was almost on par with aloo ( almost because we are always biased with aloo, arent we ?). Shakarkand (sweet potato in Hindi) bharta made a great side dish to roti/chapati. With few raw onion rings & chillies, I completed my meal.
Garam masala seasoned Indian style mashed sweet potatoes.
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato
- 1 tablespoon butter you can also use any neutral oil
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 green chillies, slit lengthwise
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (adjust as per your choice)
- Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
- Some chopped onion for garnish
Wrap the sweet potato in a foil and bake in a 400F preheated oven for about 1 hour. Peel the skin and mash the sweet potatoes well. I prefer baking instead of boiling because baking imparts a nice flavour and produces a perfect texture. Sometimes when boiling, the veggies tend to absorb more water and it becomes moister.
In a pan add the butter. Once the butter is hot, add the cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Once they splutter, add the green chillies, garlic and onion.
Saute until the onions turn pink. Then add the salt, garam masala and the mashed potatoes. Mix it well and check for seasoning.
Turn off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves, finely chopped onions and squeeze lime.
- If you are a vegan use oil. But try to use butter as it blends well with the sweet potato and gives a smooth taste.
- The sweetness of the sweet potato is balanced by the green chilli, garam masala and the acidic lime juice. So use them as per the sweetness in your veggie.
- You can also use orange juice instead of lime. I prefer the puckering acidic lime rather than the orange.
This post is a part of the Blogging marathon and this week's theme is under Mashed. So the next three posts are going to be about different mashed recipes using different veggies.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#83
Sapana says
I too love sweet potato in all forms and this bharta sounds too good to try soon.
Sasmita says
A different and really interesting share , will try soon
Soniya says
Love sweet potato and can have it anytime of the day.. this looks super delicious. Can't wait to try it!
Uma Srinivas says
Looks so delicious, never tried this way before. I like sweet potato dish.:)
Jagruti says
This recipe sounds interesting and delicious! need to try very soon.
Afroz says
I really love sweet potato dishes, be it fries or potato salad or kheer. Its so nutritious and tasty at the same time.
Trupti says
What a unique recipe 🙂 I got to try this.... thanks for sharing
Jayashree says
Thats true, we hardly make any dishes with this. I should try this bharta.
Lathiya says
Wow this looks delicious... will try when I get sweet potato next time
Vanitha Bhat says
Bharta with sweet potatoes sounds delicious! I am sure they taste great in a paratha too 🙂 Thanks for sharing 🙂
Vaishali says
This recipe sounds fantastic . I just roast the sweet potatoes and add spices and lemon , or make halwa but this definitely sounds very delicious !
Harini says
My kids love sweet potatoes and I am sure this mashed version will be appreciated as well.
Priya Suresh says
Never tried bharta with sweet potatoes Nisha, such an interesting dish, seriously feel like making this mashed sweet potatoes soon. Well done.
Jayashree says
I don't use sweet potatoes much in my cooking but your post makes me want to try it.
Jyoti Babel says
Bookmarking this. Need to try it as it sounds quite delicious.
Pavani says
Nisha, your pics are tempting me to try this dish right away. Healthy and delicious.
Srivalli says
Nisha, the pictures are simply too good!..awesome clicks girl...Sweet potato is quite common in our home as just boiled and enjoyed as such..I was exposed to different dishes only recently and I loved everything, this bharta is surely sounding so good..thanks for the update on the theme, so sweet of you!