Sweet Potato Bhajis
Crispy, golden sweet potato bhajis — an aromatic Indian-style appetizer of lightly spiced sweet potato and onion in a chickpea-flour batter, served with a cool mint-yogurt sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes large
- 1 onion large
- oil for frying
For the batter:
- 100 ml water
- 200 g chickpea flour
- 60 g Greek yogurt use soy yogurt for a vegan version
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper
- 1 teaspoon masala or curry spice mix
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon salt for the batter
- ½ teaspoon pepper
For the sauce:
- ½ cucumber large, grated
- ½ teaspoon salt for the cucumber sauce
- 300 g Greek yogurt use soy yogurt for a vegan version
- 1 teaspoon mint dried
Instructions
- Prepare the sauce first. Put the grated cucumber in a sieve and sprinkle it with salt. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then squeeze out the excess water. Transfer the cucumber to a bowl, add the yogurt and mint, and mix. Keep the bowl in the fridge while you prepare the bhajis.
- In a bowl, combine all the batter ingredients and mix well until completely smooth. You should get a thick, paste-like batter.
- Grate the sweet potatoes using a mandoline or food processor, or simply cut them into thin, narrow slices. Julienne the onion. Add the sweet potatoes and onion to the batter and mix to coat.
- Heat the oil in a deep fryer, or fill a pan with oil and wait for it to reach 160°C.
- Form small balls from the mixture and fry them for around 6 minutes, turning to cook both sides, until crispy and golden brown.
- Place the bhajis on paper towels to absorb the excess oil, then transfer them to a tray. Keep the tray in the oven at 100°C to keep them warm until all the bhajis are ready.
- Serve the sweet potato bhajis with the mint-yogurt sauce.
Notes
Serve immediately while still crisp. For a vegan version, swap the Greek yogurt in both the batter and the sauce for unsweetened soy yogurt. Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to 2 days and are best reheated in the oven or air fryer to bring back the crunch.