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Uses Of Sweet Potatoes, Shakarkand

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Uses of Sweet Potatoes, Shakarkand

16 Uses of Sweet Potato, Shakarkand

Sweet potatoes popularly known as shakarkand in India is a naturally sweet root vegetable. It is found throughout the year though especially during winters. The sweet potato has yellow or orange flesh, and its thin skin may either be white, yellow, orange, red or purple. Roadside vendors across India sell roasted shakarkand sprinkled with lemon juice and chaat masala.

Mumbai Roadside Sweet Potato Recipe

Scroll below to find the uses of Sweet Potato.

1. Sweet potatoes, in India, are best known to be served roasted and sprinkled with masalas and sold by roadside vendors. This chaat form is famous throughout northern India, especially during the winters. Another famous chaat called Kadak is served cooked in dabeli masala and is native to kutch.

Aloo Aur Shakarkand ki Chaat

2. Oondhiya is a famous Gujarati shaak/subzi made with fresh winter produce. Among the many vegetables used in this dish, sweet potato is one. All the different components come together to make a flavorful dish with various textures.

Oondhiya ( Pressure Cooker )

3. In south India, sweet potato is boiled, peeled, chopped and added to vegetable preparations. It is also stir fried and then tempered with mustard seeds, chilies and curry leaves. This dish is famously called Sweet potato poriyal or Sakkaravalli Kizhangu Poriyal.

Grilled Sweet Potato, Low Salt Recipe

4. A healthy alternate to the sugar laden puran poli is a Sweet Potato Puranpoli. Because the vegetable is naturally sweet, the filling of the puran poli does not require a lot of sugar, making it healthier.

Sweet Potato Puranpoli

5. Vrat or Upvas are those days in the year where many Indians do not eat certain vegetables, pulses and grains. The food of those fasting days is called Faraal and Sweet potato is one of the main ingredients used for faraal food. A few faraal recipes perked up with this vegetable are Sweet Potato Khichdi and cutlets. Boiled sweet potato with milk is also a common faraal dish.

Sweet Potato Khichdi, Vrat, Upvas

6. Shakarkand is an excellent option for people on a diet who do not want to cut down on their sweet cravings! Due to the naturally sweet flesh, it can replace the unhealthy sugar and ghee in their diet. A few Indian desserts where shakarkand can be used is a Sweet potato Rabdi, where grated sweet potato is boiled with milk to get a delicious rabdi or a Sweet Potato Halwa.

Sweet Potato Rabdi

7. Boiled sweet potato can easily be mashed, combined with other ingredients and be formed into cutlets.

8. Bhaja Pithe is a traditional sweet recipe from West Bengal. A mix of coconut and sugar is stuffed inside a dough made from dal, sweet potato and rice flour, and is deep fried. This is usually served as a dessert.

Sweet Potato Halwa ( Low Calorie Healthy Cooking )

9. Speaking of desserts, a really innovative way to use sweet potatoes is to make gujab jamun with it.

10. Shakarkand has similar properties to a potato but is healthier as it is rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. One can reap its benefits by cooking it in a healthy way too. Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Grilled Sweet Potato are two ways in which you can enjoy the taste of the vegetable and take advantage of its health benefits together.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Evening Snack

11. Apart from oondhiya, you can add sweet potato to many other vegetable preparations like Gajbaje, a Konkan special.

Gajbaje, Mixed Vegetable in Coconut Curry

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12. Rotis and pancakes are one way of adding sweet potatoes into your diet. Sweet Potato Roti is a new type of roti with the pleasant flavor of sweet potatoes, perked up with spice powders. By making use of grated sweet potato we can make a shakarkand chilla or rosti with a unique texture.

Sweet Potato Roti

13. Purée cooked sweet potatoes with bananas, maple syrup and cinnamon. Top with chopped walnuts.

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14.Starch obtained from sweet potatoes are used to make glass noodles which are consumed in the East-Asian countries.

Sweet Potato and Sesame Croquettes

15. In the western countries, sweet potato pies and baked sweet potatoes are common snacks during the holiday of Thanksgiving. They are also put in muffins and cakes to give them a natural sweetness.

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16. Roasted sweet potatoes are an excellent addition to salads and also add a thick, creamy texture to soups like a Spring onion and sweet potato soup.

Sweet Potato and Spring Onion Soup by Tarla Dalal