Do you know that sweet potato, a starchy root vegetable, is a bundle of nutrition as it is highly rich in Vitamin A & C, and is an amazing source of fiber? Indulge in deliciousness with Sweet Potato Fritters made with Indian spices in a simple homemade way! These crispy and browned Sweet Potato Tikki are perfect for any fasting day!

Sweet Potato Fritters or Tikki is a delicious and flavorful Indian snack made from boiled and mashed sweet potatoes mixed with Indian spices. It is a popular street food and appetizer that combines the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes with a blend of spices and herbs.
The classical recipe of sweet potato fritters involve simple steps like mashing boiled sweet potatoes and mixing them with ingredients like bread crumbs, onions, green chilies, ginger, and a variety of aromatic spices. The mixture is then shaped into small patties and shallow-fried until crispy and golden brown. However, this recipe of sweet potato tikkis is made with a gentle twist by skipping the bread crumbs and adding Ragi (Finger Millet) flour to make them gluten free and perfect for anyone who is fasting for Navratri, Ekadashi or follows a gluten free diet for health reasons.
I have always love sweet-potato ever since I can remember. Being in India, you can never miss the popular shakarkandi snack, made by slowly roasting raw shakarkandi over the burning coals. One of the popular from blog includes- Sweet potato pie without egg.
Though I love deep fried tikkis, you may shallow fry or pan fry them as well for making their healthy version.
Why Would You Love This Recipe?
- Gluten Free Healthy Snack
- Kids friendly
- SuperIndulging as each bite of the browned crust in ghee melts in mouth!
- Rich in Savory, Spicy and Tangy Flavors.
- Can be made in advance
- Simple ingredients
- Two-ways Recipe: Pan-Fried and Deep-Fried
- The Best Sweet Potato Fritters Ever!
Ingredients
- Sweet Potato- is the prime ingredient of this recipe. I have boiled and mashed pink sweet potato. The white one would work well too. The same recipe can be used with potatoes to make Aloo Tikki.
- Indian Spices- include Red Chilly powder, Garam Masala, Amchur (Raw Mango Powder). You may skip or adjust red chilly powder as per your taste. These are mildly spicy fritters. But as I understand, my level of spicy may not match with yours. If you don't have amchur, you may use lemon juice (1 tsp).
- Green Chilly- Freshly chopped green chilies add amazing spicy kick to these tikkis. You may skip them if you don't like the heat.
- Salt- Use Sendha (Rock) Salt if you are making these tikkis on a fasting day. The table salt works well too.
- Ragi Flour- Using Ragi Flour makes these tikkis gluten free. Other gf flours that can be used in this recipe are: buckwheat and gram flour. You may use APF as well if you are not making it gluten free.
- Ghee- is my favorite when it comes to pan-frying. You may use mustard oil or any other vegetable oil for deep frying as frying in ghee can be very smoky.
- Mustard Oil (Optional)- Use mustard oil or any other oil for deep frying.
Variations
- Use Another Flour- Ragi Flour is dense and if you are not looking for a healthy version, you may swap it with APF for a light and not-so dense tikkis.
- Add Greens- Make these Sweet Potato Fritters vibrant in color and texture by adding coriander leaves, boiled peas, beets and carrots.
Expert Tips
- Make sure to make thin round balls if you are pan frying. Use less of ragi flour to bind them or else the flour might be raw when cooked in a pan. You may close the pan with a lid to enhance better cooking.
- While deep frying, the oil/ ghee should be hot or else the fritters would fall apart. Once placed in the oil for frying, let the flame be slow so that fritters are well cooked from within.
FAQs
Sweet Potato In India is called Shakarkandi. A popular street snack- shakarkandi chaat is loved by many!
Yes, Sweet potato made in India is a very healthy. Boiled and topped with mild spices and lemon juice, shakarkandi is a great snack.
Sweet potatoes when cooked in pressure cooker need 1-2 whistles on full and they would be very soft. Don't release the pressure after switching off.
Detailed Recipe
Step 1 Wash, Boil & Mash
Wash sweet potatoes under tap water. Remove the mud. Boil sweet potato for 1-2 whistle. Once it cools off, drain water and keep it in sieve/colander. Peel off the boiled sweet potato and mash it in a bowl with a fork or spatula.
Step 2 Spice It
Add spices like red chili, green chili, salt, Ajwain, Garm masala, Lemon juice, to it. Gradually add ragi flour (or any other flour) and make a smooth mixture. Mix really well. Add ragi flour as required. Make sure the mixture is not very soft or very hard. It should be smooth enough to make a flat tikki by hands. It could make around 8 tikkis.
Step 3 Fry It
You can pan fry or deep fry these tikkis. I have done both. Since I am a foodie, I loved the fried version. You may choose this as per your preference.
In case you pan fry these tikkis, use less flour and make thin tikkis so that its not raw in the middle. This is because when we deep fry, everything gets cooked easily.
Also for deep frying, add tikkis to hot desi ghee / mustard oil, not cold (or else they might break), slow the flame and cook on slow flame for 5 min and then flip.
For pan fried, you may cover the pan with a lid for better cooking. Each side takes 3-4 min on simmer for cooking.
5) Serve hot sweet potato tikki with green dhaniya chutney and saunth. Enjoy with tea!
Stories from Kitchen
Do you also love going to tikki wala bhaiya in local markets and binge eating chaat, tikki, gole gappe? Shakarkandi Chaat is my favorite and we still go to local markets where they are roasted over coals and topped with spicy masala and lemon juice.
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Sweet Potato Fritters Recipe | Sweet Potato Tikki Indian Style (Gluten Free)
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- pan / heavy bottomed kadai
Ingredients
- 250 gm Sweet Potato or shakarkandi boiled , cooled, peeled and mashed
- ½ cup ragi flour gluten free flour or vrat flour
- 2 teaspoon red chilli
- 2 teaspoon Chaat Masala
- 1.5 teaspoon Amchur 2 teaspoon Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Garm Masala optional
- 5 tablespoon Desi ghee for pan frying
- 6-7 tablespoon mustard oil for deep frying
- ½ teaspoon Ajwain (Carom seeds) optional
- salt as per taste use sendha salt if making for vrat
- 1-2 fresh green chilly minced
Instructions
- Wash sweet potatoes under tap water. Remove the mud. Boil sweet potato for 1-2 whistle. Once it cools off, drain water and keep it in sieve/colander.
- Peel off, mash in a bowl with a fork or spatula. Add spices like red chili, green chili, salt, Ajwain, Garm masala, chaat masala, Lemon juice or Amchur to it. Gradually add ragi flour (or any other flour) and make a smooth mixture.
- Mix really well. Add ragi flour as required. Make sure the mixture is not very soft or very hard. It should be smooth enough to make a flat round rall by hands. It could make around 8 fritters.
- You can pan fry or deep fry these fritters. I have done both. Since I am a foodie, I loved the fried version. You may choose this as per your preference.In case you pan fry these fritters, use less flour and make thin round balls so that its not raw. This is because when we deep fry, everything gets cooked easily.Also for deep frying, add fritters to hot desi ghee / mustard oil, not cold (or else they might break), low the flame and cook on slow flame for 5 min and then flip.For pan fried, you may cover the pan with a lid for better cooking. Each side takes 3-4 min on simmer for cooking.
- Serve hot sweet potato fritters or tikkis with green dhaniya chutney and saunth. Enjoy with tea!
Notes
- Make sure to make thin tikkis if you are pan frying. Use less of ragi flour to bind them or else the flour might be raw when cooked in a pan. You may close the pan with a lid to enhance better cooking.
- While deep frying, the oil/ ghee should be hot or else the tikkis would fall apart. Once placed in the oil for frying, let the flame be slow so that tikkis are well cooked from within.
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Serving size: 2 tikkis | |
Servings: 4 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 256 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 12.8g | 16% |
Saturated Fat 7.5g | 38% |
Cholesterol 19mg | 6% |
Sodium 11mg | 0% |
Total Carbohydrate 33.1g | 12% |
Dietary Fiber 4.3g | 16% |
Total Sugars 0.7g | |
Protein 2.2g | |
Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
Calcium 15mg | 1% |
Iron 1mg | 3% |
Potassium 698mg | 15% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
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