Traditionally, Dangar, or fritters, is made out of leftover seafood in a Goud Saraswat Brahmin household. But on Fridays, many Goud Saraswat Brahmins eat vegetarian and they look for vegetarian alternatives. Vegetables with interesting texture are preferred. On my visits to Goa, I learned quite a bit about Goud Saraswat Brahmin cuisine and some of the dishes typically made in their kitchens. This is one such dish. I loved its texture and flavours and wanted to bring it to O Pedro, given that you won’t usually find it at restaurants.
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Serves
6
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Cook Time
00 h 45 m
(Plus 10 minutes to fry and plate)
Ingredients
For Sweet Potato Tikki
- ½ kg sweet potato, baked in an oven until soft, and peeled
- 1 cup semolina
- ¾ cup finely chopped onions
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup rice flour
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup poi saag, blanched in hot water
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp finely cut coriander leaves
- 1½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp black sesame
- 1 tsp white sesame
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- Oil to fry
- Salt to taste
For Raw Mango Chutney
- 1 cup fresh coriander
- ½ cup sunflower seed oil
- ¼ cup raw mango, roughly cut
- ½ tsp chaat masala
- 2-3 medium-sized green chillies
- Salt to season
- Sugar to taste
For Kachumbar
- ½ cup finely chopped onions
- ½ cup finely chopped tomatoes, deseeded
- ½ cup finely chopped raw mango
- ½ tsp chopped green chillies
- 1 lemon, halved
- Salt to season
- Sugar to taste
Preparation
For Sweet Potato Tikki
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, on a medium flame.
- Toss in the finely-chopped onions and sauté until translucent.
- Add the powdered spices and let them bloom. Remove from heat.
- Mash up the baked sweet potatoes and gently mix it with chopped poi saag leaves, coriander, black and white sesame, and spiced, sautéed onions, to form a homogenous mixture.
- Season the mixture with salt.
- Shape the sweet potato mixture into tikkis of 25 gm each and reserve in a cool place.
- In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour and water to make a batter. Season it with salt.
- Combine the semolina and rice flour in a shallow tray with lofted sides.
- Dip the tikkis in the batter and coat with the semolina rice flour mix.
- Once the tikkis are done, reserve in a cool space for at least 1 hour.
- Heat oil in a frying pan, on medium heat.
- Release a few drops of leftover batter into the oil to check the temperature. If they rise quickly to the surface after touching the base, the oil is ready.
- Fry the tikkis in small batches and drain on a kitchen towel.
For Raw Mango Chutney
- In a large blender jar, grind together coriander, roughly-chopped raw mango, green chillies and chaat masala.
- Once the mixture starts to turn into a paste, start streaming in the sunflower seed oil little by little from a height until the mixture transforms into a smooth, fluffy paste.
- Season with salt and sugar.
- Refrigerate for a while before serving.
For Kachumbar
- Mix all chopped ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Squeeze the juice of one lemon and season with salt. Add sugar to balance.
To serve
- Sprinkle the kachumbar over the tikkis and serve with the chutney.
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