I was never fond of sweet potatoes growing up. Though I was never a fussy eater, there were certain things that I had a mental block for. Sweet potatoes fell in that category. Somehow, I didn't like "sweet" and "potatoes" together.


My fascination with sweet potatoes started a couple of years ago when I had them at a barbeque. Just a blob of butter, a dash of pepper and a sprinkle of salt on the perfectly roasted tuber. It was deliciously sweet and had that 'melt in the mouth' texture and between a few mouthfuls, I was hooked to the sweet potato.


Soon, as if to make up for all the years I scorned them, I was using sweet potatoes wherever I could. Combining them with potatoes. OR replacing potatoes with sweet potatoes.

Aloo chaat is something I make very often. It serves as the perfect snack in the evenings, especially on week ends when we like to nibble on something that is not too high in calories but is very satiating.

Replacing sweet potatoes in the chaat works perfectly: their naturally sweet taste is in fact nicely balanced with the tanginess of the chaat ; adding in chickpeas gives an added protein boost.

Sweet Potato and Chickpeas Chaat


Sweet potatoes: 2
Chickpeas: 1/2 cup




Coriander leaves: 2 tbsps
Chopped green chillies

Onion: 1, cut into cubes



Dry spice powders: Chaat masala: 3.5 tsps, Roasted cumin seed powder: 1.5 tsps

Black salt: to taste
Sugar: 1 tsp



Juice of half a lemon



Oil: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp






Method:




Soak the chickpeas in water for 6-8 hrs. Then, cook them till they are soft and cooked; about 3 whistles in the pressure cooker should be enough to cook them. Once cooked, drain the water and let them cool.


Cut the sweet potato into cubes and steam them till cooked but still firm.



In a bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, the chick peas and the onion, sprinkle the dry spice powders, salt and sugar and toss well so that the spice powders coat the sweet potato cubes and the chickpeas. Squeeze in the lemon juice and add the chopped green chillies and the coriander leaves and mix again.



Heat the oil , add the cumin seeds and when the splutter, pour over the chaat.



Serve topped with a dollop of sweetened yogurt.





Sending this to Lisa's No Croutons Required and MLLA - 21 hosted this time at Mirch Masala, event started by Susan.