Sweet Potato Tikki (GF, Vegan)
One of my dreams is to write a book of recipes that reflect my grandma’s food and mine together. I did think of just writing her recipes down, as that would take up a whole book in itself but with some of the allergies and dietary requirements that have occurred in our family over the last few years, I thought my adaptations might have some added value
As I look through my photos of my gran, and me we are holding hands in most of them, like an old married couple. So I take that as a message from here that she liked to do things hand in hand
If you have someone in your life that you think it a kindred spirit, make sure you take all the time you can to spend with them as when they are gone it feels like a piece of you is too! My way of getting that connection back is to cook and this is where this recipe came from, hand in hand
I love the combination of ingredients that go in a Tikki, which is an Indian Potato cake that my grandma used to make as an appetizer. I decided to adapt it to use sweet potatoes for the healthy benefits and by also adding some pumpkin seeds for protein and crunch
I love sweet potatoes not only for the vibrant colour and sweet taste but also as they are high in the antioxidant beta-carotene, which helps to keep the bodies defences up and is great for fighting off diseases like cancer. This means you are actually eating your medicine, cool, right. Garlic and Ginger are also great health foods, which my grandma knew and so added to near every single food we ate!
I’m lucky that Mr B likes food with strong flavours and so ate this up without hesitation!
Ingredients
- 750g sweet potatoes
- 1 tbsp. grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ chilli, chopped
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil
- 100g chickpea flour
- 1 tsp. cumin powder
- 10g fresh coriander, chopped
- 3 tbsp. sunflower seeds
Method
- Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks. Boil for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain and mash roughly with a fork
- Meanwhile grind the ginger, garlic, chilli and salt until smooth using a mortar and pestle
- Heat up the oil and sauté the onion until softened, add the spice mix for a couple of minutes until fragrant
- Add the mashed sweet potato, coriander, sunflower seeds and flour and combine well. Allow mixture to cool
- Shape 10 round cakes with wet hands
- Line the baking tray with parchment paper and brush with a little oil. Place the cakes on the tray, brush with more oil and bake in a preheated oven for c. 25 minutes
- Serve with a blend of vegan mayonnaise, garlic and coriander
