Thursday, October 7, 2010

Sri Lankan Sweet Potatoes with Cardamom and Chiles

Sweet potatoes keep coming in our CSA bushels, and they are a welcome site. My favorite use of them is making oven fries seasoned with various chile powders. I’ve taken to dipping those oven fries into harissa instead of ketchup which brings another layer of smoky, spiciness. It’s not that I’ve gotten tired of that routine. In fact, I’ll probably roast some wedges and serve them exactly like that later this evening, but with last week’s sweet potatoes, I felt the need to try something new. I found this Sri Lankan dish in Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. It’s made with an aromatic and spicy mix of ingredients that accommodates sweet potatoes like it was meant to be.


First, peeled and chunked sweet potatoes were boiled with ground turmeric added to the water. Next, oil was heated in a large frying pan, and dried red chiles were added followed by whole cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick. Then, I ran into an issue with needing curry leaves. I can never find curry leaves, and I’ve considered growing my own plant, but a suggested substitution was holy basil or any basil. I do have Thai basil and opal basil and Genovese basil plants and they're all still doing well, so I used Thai basil here. About 20 leaves were added to the frying pan with the spices, and the amazing smell of those ingredients cooking together was a happy moment in the kitchen. It got even better when a big pile of sliced onions was added. After the onion slices browned, the drained sweet potato chunks were added and cooked for five minutes or so until tender but still holding their shape. Last, crushed red chiles, salt, and lime juice were added just before serving.


The alluring cooking smells translated into a very flavorful dish. The sweetness of the potatoes and the sweet savoriness of the browned onions were met with chile heat and warm spices. Of course I’ll continue to make my regular oven fries from time to time, but now there’s a new sweet potato dish to add to the rotation.



29 comments:

  1. Oh, this looks delicious. Thank you for that link to the book! I have been on a cookbook buying kick lately. Have you used many of the recipes in this book?

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  2. Roxan: Thanks! I have cooked from World Vegetarian several times. It's a great resource for looking up specific vegetables in the index and finding several ideas for dishes from different parts of the world.

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  3. I love Sri lankan food very much.

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  4. There aren't enough savory dishes in my repertoire that use sweet potatoes, so this is a great addition. I hear you about curry leaves being hard to find. I usually buy a bunch whenever they're available, then freeze them. I heard curry plant is one of those things that thrive indoor, so growing one yourself is probably a good idea.

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  5. Wonderfully spicy! That dish must taste mouthwateringly good.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  6. I love this time of the year, since it begets delicious things like the humble sweet potato! And I'm particularly fond of the sweet/spicy combo, so this sounds wonderful.

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  7. I'm always looking for a different way to use sweet potatoes. Thanks for the mouth-watering recipe!

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  8. Everyone should be eating more sweet taters. They are a favorite!!! This beats roasted sweet taters any day. The turmeric is nice.

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  9. Mmm! I love finding new ways to eat sweet potatoes! They're so moreish and every time we eat them, we always say that we should eat them more! :)

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  10. For me sweet potatoes are a great snack while I have a craving. Love that combo of spices.

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  11. I love sweet potatoes! This looks and sounds so fantastic. I love the flavors of fall!

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  12. i would be so happy if someone delivered a box of sweet potatoes to my door every week. So. Happy. This recipe sounds amazing. My next batch of sweet potatoes is being made into these.

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  13. Looks simply amazing, I can tell this is going to be made a lot this fall. Cannot wait to sample.

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  14. Lovely sweet potatoes - excellent flavors with cardamom and chiles!

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  15. I'm a huge fan of sweet potatoes and love roasted sweet potato & chips & Sri Lankan food, so this one has got me really interested. Thanks Lisa.

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  16. I love sweet potatoes. My favorite way is just peeling, dicing and roasting them with olive oil, salt and pepper until they are nicely caramelized. I've been looking for something new. This really looks yummy, Lisa!

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  17. love this sweet and spicy combo. yes I heard it's quite challenging to find curry leaves there but basil sounds like a good complement too.

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  18. This sounds just delicious Lisa! And a nice change from the usual, classic ways (stuck in a rut) I eat sweet potatoes.

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  19. I'm all for any kind of sweet potato so this one is a winner with me. :)

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  20. This is a great way to use sweet potatoes which are one of my favorite things. Randy just can't wrap his brain around the fact that they are just that mushy stuff around Thanksgiving. I keep trying though. Curry leaves are hard to find around here. There are 3 stores nearby that sometimes have them but, of course, never when I need them.

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  21. I have a couple of Madhur's cookbooks and just love them. The flavors are always so punchy and satisfying.

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  22. I love Madhur Jaffrey and I love that you made this dish! My boyfriend is Indian, and I can assure you I will be making this dish for us over the next few weeks. Thank you for sharing this!

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  23. I love any recipes that come out of Madhur Jaffrey's and this one is no exception. I was thinking about potatoes with spices all week and this version sounds heavenly with a cold glass of beer!

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  24. I love sweet potatoes both sweet and savory and this is a fabulous dish! Great flavors to zing up any grilled meat meal. Yum!

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  25. what a great sweet potato recipe!! I tend to always think sweet with them, but savory sounds so much better! I would never thought of it, thanks so much for the inspiration!!

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  26. A very healthy dish! I have never had sweet potatoes cooked this way...looks so tempting!

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  27. Love baked sweet potatoes very much. It's even much better baked with cardamom.

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  28. I love sweet potatoes myself...and this is such a simple and flavorful dish :)

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  29. Mmm, cardamom is one of my favorite spices and I don't see it used a lot. It's got such a strong flavor that I guess you either love it or hate it, but I know I'll love these sweet potatoes. Like you, our basil is still doing well, and I think that would be a fine substitute. (The only curry plant I've ever seen was growing in the kitchen window of an Indian friend -- she used it to make amazing dishes!)

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