Sweet Potato Cutlet | Sweet Potato Tikki
When it comes to Indian religious festivals, food for fasting or vrats is as important as any other aspect of the celebrations. During such times, many dishes like this Sweet Potato Cutlet or the Sweet Potato Tikki, are made with a variety of vegetables and fruits, minus onion, garlic, etc. This Sweet Potato Patties is the perfect snack for your Navratri Vrat. It does not require much time and efforts, and is delicious too.
About Sweet Potato Cutlet
The root vegetable sweet potato or shakarkandi can be a welcome change when you are tired and bored of having the regular potatoes, day in day out. The best part is if you are a potato lover, you can make the same recipes with sweet potatoes too.
The same goes for this Sweet Potato Cutlet, popularly known as Sweet Potato Tikki as well in India. The bonus point here is that it is a perfect snack for your fasting days.
Though Sweet Potato Cutlet is one of the most loved dishes during vrats or fasts in India, it can also be had on regular days or turned into a chaat with yummy toppings. Also, if you want to enjoy the veggie itself in this form, here’s a simple yet scrumptious Shakarkandi Chaat for you.
Don’t think that the list of interesting shakarkandi recipes got over at that. Because there’s a lot more you can make with sweet potatoes, than you can actually think. For instance, if you want to have something sweet with shakarkandi, try the Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun or Sweet Potato Halwa. You’ll love these too!
The best way to relish this Sweet Potato Tikki is to have it with a Phalahari Green Chutney, coconut chutney or sweet tamarind chutney.
More On The Recipe
While there’s no doubt that the procedure to make these patties of sweet potato are quite simple, there are a few things that you should keep in mind while preparing the Sweet Potato Cutlet especially for fasts.
This is what you should remember:
- Bind the Sweet Potato Tikki with arrowroot flour. In case you can’t source it, use buckwheat flour or water chestnut flour or amaranth flour. For non-fasting days, you can use cornflour/cornstarch or rice flour too.
- Add edible rock salt or sendha namak in the recipe, instead of regular salt. On regular days, you can also use black salt.
- You can add lemon juice in place of dried mango powder or amchur. You can adjust this as well as the spice powders according to your taste likings.
How to make Sweet Potato Cutlet
Cook Sweet Potatoes
1. Rinse 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes (shakarkandi) well in water.
2. To pressure cook take the sweet potatoes with water almost covering them and ¼ teaspoon salt in a 3 litre pressure cooker.
Pressure cook on medium heat for 3 to 4 whistles till they become soft. Let the pressure drop naturally in the cooker and then only open the lid.
You can also boil them in a pan with water and salt or choose to roast them in the oven till they are soft and tender.
3. Drain the water, allow the sweet potatoes to cool.
4. When they become cool, peel them.
5. With a potato masher, mash the sweet potatoes well.
6. Measure lemon juice, spices and keep all the ingredients ready for making Sweet Potato Cutlet.
7. Add the following spices and seasonings:
- 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon dried mango powder (amchur powder)
- 1 teaspoon ginger-green chili paste
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- edible rock salt (sendha namak) as required
If you are not making these tikki for religious fasting, then instead of rock salt add regular salt.
Feel free to adapt the recipe by omitting any ingredient that you do not include in your fasting food.
8. Next, add 2 to 3 tablespoons arrowroot flour, amaranth flour, water chestnut flour or buckwheat flour. I have used buckwheat flour.
9. Mix well.
Make Sweet Potato Cutlet
10. Shape into medium size cutlets, tikkis or patties.
11. Pan fry the cutlets in 2 to 3 tablespoons oil, till both the sides are well browned.
12. Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve Sweet Potato Cutlet with a chutney.
Superfood Sweet Potato
A perfect vegetable for your vrats, shakarkandi (sweet potato) is considered as a superfood. Because of its health benefits, this tuber is often preferred over its counterparts like potatoes.
Inspite of being popular in Indian cuisine, sweet potato is actually not from India. While Central America is known to be the native place of sweet potatoes, China is the biggest producer and consumer of this root vegetable. In India, Odisha is at the top of this table.
Shakarkandi is low in carbohydrates, and also a powerhouse of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants like beta carotene. This nutrient composition has effective cleansing properties and is known to reduce the chances of certain cancers. It is also great for your immune and digestive system, skin, bones, brain, vision and reproductive health.
Whether fasting or otherwise, you must include sweet potatoes in your diet. This Sweet Potato Cutlet is one of the easiest and delectable ways to do so.
Expert Tips
- When making these tikkis for vrats or Hindu fasting, use arrowroot flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour or water chestnut flour as the binding ingredient.
- While making the cutlets, if the mixture feels a little loose, add some more of any of these flours that you are using.
- You cannot add regular salt in this recipe when making it for consumption during religious fasting. Add rock salt only in that case.
- Add a bit more of the lemon juice if you don’t have dried mango powder (amchur powder).
- Adjust spice powders and lemon juice as per personal preferences.
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes (shakarkandi), medium-sized
- 1 teaspoon ginger-green chili paste
- 2 to 3 tablespoons arrowroot flour or buckwheat flour or water chestnut flour or amaranth flour
- 1 teaspoon Chaat Masala
- ½ teaspoon dried mango powder (amchur powder)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon crushed roasted cumin or cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon Red Chilli Powder or cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
- rock salt – edible and food grade, (sendha namak) or black salt as required
- 2 to 3 tablespoons oil for frying or add as required
Instructions
- Rinse the sweet potatoes thoroughly in water.
- Roast them in the oven till they are soft and cooked.
- You can also boil them in a pan with water and salt.
- Or else pressure cook with enough water and salt till they become soft.
- To pressure cook place the sweet potatoes in a 3 litre pressure cooker. Add water as needed covering the sweet potatoes.
- Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles on medium heat. When the pressure drops naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid.
- Drain the water, let them cool and peel.
- With a potato masher, mash the sweet potatoes well.
- Add all the ingredients except oil. Mix well.
- Shape into medium sized cutlet, tikkis or patties.
- Pan fry the patties with oil till both the sides are well browned.
- Garnish with some coriander leaves.
- Serve Sweet Potato Cutlet with a chutney.
Notes
- If the mixture feels a little loose, then add some more arrowroot flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour or water chestnut flour.
- When making these cutlets for Hindu fast or vrat, add edible rock salt only. Don’t use regular salt for fasting food.
- If you are not making these tikki for religious fasting, then instead of rock salt you can use regular salt.
- If you don’t have dried mango powder, then add a bit of lemon juice.
- The spice powders and lemon juice can be adjusted as per your taste preferences.
Nutrition
This Sweet Potato Cutlet recipe post from the blog archives first published in October 2012 has been republished and updated on 30th July 2022.
Just wanted to say this since long…
As Lata Mangeshkar Ji is known for greatest and most influential singers in India. … For me you are for cooking…no second thoughts if I have to try anything new..or to learn something from scratch..? more love and power to you.
Thanks so much Mahek for this generous comment. Lata ji is a legend and I am not. But thanks again for this thought and thanks for the best wishes too.
My husband and I really loved it!
I just made this for my baby: no green chilli added sesame seeds for crunch and baby is gobbling it up!!! ?????????? You’ve saved the day again ??
Happy to hear! Thanks for the rating as well.
I am your big fan Dassana. You have made cooking so simple and easy. Can i add chopped onions and coriander leaves to this?
thanks parvathy. of course, you can add onions and coriander leaves in the tikki recipe. many variations can be made.
I am a big fan of your recipes. Am planning to try the tikkis today, however I do not have any of the mentioned flours. Can I use maida / besan or any other substitute? looking fwd to your response.
thanks charuta. you can use any flour for binding. like maida, besan or rice flour. if using besan, then lightly roast it and then add. rice flour and maida can be added without roasting.
Interesting! I ‘ll make it for Ekadasi.
surely try and let us know how it was anuradha 🙂
Awesome..I really liked it!!!
thankyou motirani 🙂
Hi Dassana!!! I have tried so many awesome recipes from ur blog n each time it’s a hit… I was so not into cooking but ur recipes n the compliments I get on that is turning me into a hobby cook… I love trying ur recipes.. Thank u! Would be trying this tikki in the evening today! 🙂
thanks priya for sharing your positive feedback and experience. glad to know this.
Awesome recipe!!! tried this today with Almond Meal\Powder as I didnt have any other flours mentioned in the ingredients. They turned out awesome… A must try recipe
welcome anu. thanks for sharing your positive feedback.
Hi
I’m newly married and don’t really have a genius record in cooking. But your blog has come as a saviour for me. Since my entire family is a foodie so in order to impress them your blog is a huge help.
Today while going through the blog I came across navratra recipes. Voila! It has made my day again. I was thinking of trying out this recipe today. Can you tell me what should be the consistency of the tikki. Looking forward to your response.
Thanks.
thanks garima. glad to know. the consistency of the sweet potato tikkis is like aloo tikki.
Hello,
I want to try this recipe and was wondering if I can use rice flour or any other flour than the 3 you mentioned?
thank you,
Amy
you can use rice flour or corn starch, if not fasting. if fasting for navratri, then you will have to use either of the flours mentioned.
Thank you for your reply.
welcome amy
Aww.. love the aloo tikki, Awesome recipe! Will try it for sure.. You do have a nice blog!
its nice
thanks pratibha.
I love the use of sweet potatoes in this traditional recipe!
the golden brown color of ur tikkis is fantabulous…just perfect…
I am unaware about water chestnut flour or buckwheat flour….what are they…
Dassana….step by step pictures of the recipes ….is that feature…which makes ur blog really special and interesting…please do make them part of ur post….
CHEERS 🙂
dear renuka, i think you must be familiar with their hindi names. water chestnut flour is singhare ka atta in hindi. buckwheat flour is kuttu ka atta. commonly used flours during fasts.
when it is a difficult or complicated recipe, i do make a step by step. but when the recipe is easy like this one, i don’t do step by step. step by step photographs take a lot of time and effort. it takes me two days to make one post, if i do step by step… that also working 2-3 hours everyday.
whenever possible, i do try to add step by step pics. moreover when cooking also, taking pics at each step takes a lot of time. i do it all alone, as there is nobody to assist or help me. in fact even my camera has flours, besan on it…. i have to clean my camera & lens periodically.
i have lots of step by step recipes in the drafts from months of may onwards. i don’t get time to work on the pics and posts 🙁
Those look delicious. I love Indian snack food. Have you done a post on what exactly the Indian fasting season means in terms of food restrictions? If not, you should. I confess I am always baffled since I feel like you shouldn’t be eating anything (under what I understand the word fasting to mean)!
dear laura, i was thinking about doing a post, but not yet. will do it some time. in india generally when we mean the word “fast” it means abstaining from meat, poultry, sea food and alcohol. but there are some indian festivals like the navratri and ekadashi (11th day of full moon and no moon cycle) where food made from cereals, lentils and legumes including onions and garlic are not eaten. even products made from these, like pasta, breads, tofu, pappadoms etc are not eaten. so it is not like we don’t eat anything. we eat satvic food and this helps in not only detoxifying the body, but also in purifying the mind and the emotions.
Thanks for reply. 🙂
I have never cooked with sweet potatoes and I know I have missed a lot of nutrition from it. However, I love the golden brown color of your tikkis:)
I have never tried this kind of sweet potato tikkis. sounds interesting. Looks very appetizing. Does this taste more sweet that spicy?
obviously, it has a sweet taste due to the sweetness of sweet potatoes. the tikki is not spicy at all. it is little tangy and sweet.
ok. thanks for replying. I am planning to make this soon.
These look delicious. I wonder if anyone has noticed weight gain during navaratri. All bloggers seem to be preparing these delicious snacks all the 9 days.
Perfect for the rains here…my next post is also on tikkis 🙂 Like the sweet potato in tikkis.
I left 3 comments last night on sabudana khichdi, arbi tikki and vegan fruit cream but none of them went in moderation as it normally goes. Please check the spam folder, might be went there as I left 3 comments and probably spam defender found spam (I am not spammer Lol) 🙂
Love seeing all fasting recipe on your blog. I love all kinds of tikkis, pattices and cutlets. Will be trying this sweet potato tikki soon. Beautiful clicks. Love your photography.
i did not receive any comment from you on any of the three posts except for the pingpack which is automated… i checked the spam folder and this above comment – one of it has gone there. there are no other comments. i must have deleted yesterday night the spam comments 🙁 usually i don’t check the spam comments as i get lots and i just delete them. i wonder why it is behaving so strange. will look into this.
me too love all kinds of tikkis and patties. thanks for liking the pics. i am not able to get good clicks for all these navratri posts as i just make them and click them. bad for me 🙁
Looks absolute yum ….I love these too ….wish can have it