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

1. When making these tikkis for vrats or Hindu fasting, use arrowroot flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour or water chestnut flour as the binding ingredient.
2. While making the cutlets, if the mixture feels a little loose, add some more of any of these flours that you are using.
3. You cannot add regular salt in this recipe when making it for consumption during religious fasting. Add rock salt only in that case.  
4. Add a bit more of the lemon juice if you don’t have dried mango powder (amchur powder).
5. Adjust spice powders and lemon juice as per personal preferences.

More Fasting Recipes To Try!

North Indian Food

Arbi Sabji | Arbi Recipe | Ghuiya Ki Sabji

Navratri & Fasting Recipes

Sabudana Khichdi Recipe

Navratri & Fasting Recipes

Rajgira Puri

Navratri & Fasting Recipes

Sabudana Kheer | How to make Sabudana Kheer

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This Sweet Potato Cutlet recipe post from the blog archives first published in October 2012 has been republished and updated on 30th July 2022.