Sweet potato tikki – Boiled, mashed sweet potatoes are spiced with few Indian spices and shaped into tikki (patty) and shallow fried in the pan. This makes a healthy and filling snack during vrat (Hindu fast) like Navratri, Ekadashi and any other upvas.

5 sweet potato tikki arranged in a plate with cilantro chutney on side

❤️ About This Sweet Potato Tikki Recipe

During the Navratri fasting or vrat, people eat farali food and potato is the most common ingredient in many dishes. So sometimes you (at least me) may get tired of having potatoes in every meal. That time sweet potato gives nice change and different tastes. But of course, you can make the same recipe with regular potatoes and will be called aloo tikki instead.

This tikkis are vegan and gluten-free.

This makes a great snack that can be served with chai (or coffee) or with your choice of chutney.

🧾 Ingredient Notes

Here is the pic of the ingredients used in this sweet potato tikki recipe. All the ingredients are very common in Indian cooking, nothing fancy.

ingredients used in sweet potato tikki includes sweet potato, singhara atta, oil, peanuts, lime, cilantro and spices.

Sweet potatoes: Here I have used Indian sweet potato which has white flesh. You can use orange sweet potato which is very common in American grocery stores. Just keep in mind that the orange one is less sweet compared to the white one.
Singhare ka atta (Water chestnut four): This flour is allowed during the vrat (fasting days). It acts as a binding and also soaks up the excess moisture. So you’ll be able to shape into tikkis. You can use other fasting flours like rajgira atta (amaranth flour) or kuttu ka atta (buckwheat flour). If making on regular days, you can add rice flour or powdered oats.
Rock salt: The regular table salt is not allowed during vrat, hence rock salt is used which is allowed.
Chaat masala: Here I have used my mom’s homemade chaat masala (made especially for vrat). The store-bought chaat masala has already added table salt which is not allowed during fasting. So you can skip or use the one without salt.
Lime juice (or lemon): It balances the slight sweetness of sweet potatoes and adds a nice tang to the tikkis.

👩‍🍳 How To Make Sweet Potato Tikki? (Pics)

1) Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes well and get rid of the dirt. take into a pressure cooker with enough water so they are submerged in the water. Cover the lid, put the weight on and cook it on medium heat for 5-6 whistles. The number of whistles and cooking time purely depends on the size of the sweet potato, so cook accordingly.

2) Let the pressure go down by itself, drain all the water and let them cool to touch. Then remove the skin.

3) Mash it really well using a potato masher.

4) Add rest of the tikki ingredients (amchur powder, chaat masala, cumin powder, red chili powder, fennel seeds powder, sendha namak, green chilies, cilantro leaves, lime juice and crushed peanuts). Mix everything well.

5) Add singhare ka atta.

6) Mix and make a dough ball. The quantity of the flour depends on the sweet potato type and how much moisture is present in it. Only add enough flour so that you are able to form the tikkis.

Collage of 6 steps showing sweet potato in a cooker, boiled, peeled, mashed, added spices, added flour and mixed.

7) Now grease your hands with oil or ghee. and start shaping the tikkis.

8) Shape all the tikkis.

9) Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a nonstick pan on medium heat. Once hot place the tikkis and fry

10) Once get light brown from the bottom side then flip it and cook another side as well. Remove it to a plate and serve.

collage of 4 steps showing shaped tikki, all of them on a plate, frying in a pan, flipped.

💭 Expert Tips

You can boil the sweet potatoes into the instant pot (manual 15 mins). Or you can bake into the oven until soft and mushy.
Do not over-boil the sweet potatoes which contain more moisture and it may hard to shape into tikki.
The amount of flour may vary depending on the moisture content of your sweet potatoes.
After shaping the tikkis, you can freeze them and shallow fry as needed. Or you can cover with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for a day or two and shallow fry at the time of serving.

🍽 Serving Ideas For Sweet Potato Tikki

During fasting days, serve with farali chutney.
On regular days, it can be enjoyed with your choice of dipping sauce like ketchup, green chutney.
Make chaat: Using this sweet potato tikki, on normal days you can turn this into a chaat. Drizzle some cilantro chutney, tamarind date chutney and red garlic chutney. Sprinkle chopped onions, tomatoes. Garnish with sev and cilantro.

Close up of sweet potato tikki in a rectangle plate.

Check Out Other Sweet Potato Recipes

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