Baked Sweet Potatoes with Chili Garlic

~About 5-6 servings~

I was thinking about cooking with sweet potatoes, but hesitated because I’m not a huge sweets person.  The natural sweetness seemed to be begging for a pairing with spicy heat.  When my brother suggested cooking them in chili oil with some garlic, I was a little skeptical about how garlic would pair with the sweetness  But the savory, garlicky nuggets went perfectly with the almost caramelized tasting sweet potatoes.  I usually just add dried red chillies whole to dishes, but I broke them up here so they could properly challenge the sweetness of the sweet potatoes.  Breaking the chillies releases more of the heat b/c the seeds get released.

4 medium sized sweet potatoes, washed
1/2 yellow/white onion, roughly diced
4-5 cloves garlic, diced
3-4 dried red chillies
1 teaspoon chat masala
Salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Poke a few holes in the sweet potatoes to prevent them from exploding in the oven.  Place on a cookie tray and bake for about 1 hour.  They should be tender but not mushy.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool until you can handle them.  Slit them in half and use a spoon to scoop the insides out into a small bowl.  Lightly mash them with the back of a spoon.  I left a few pieces chunky for texture.

2. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the onions and saute for about 5-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and continue cooking until the onions are glassy and the garlic is soft but not browned.

3. Add the red chillies and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes.

4. Add in the sweet potatoes and mix well.

5. Sprinkle with the chat masala and salt to taste.  I used about one and a half teaspoons of salt.

Chat masala gives a tangy, tart taste to the sweet potatoes.  If you don’t have it in your spice cabinet, try a teaspoon or so of lemon juice.

Aloo Chaat Style (Breakfast) Potatoes

~2-3 Servings~

We’ve made these Aloo Chaat Style potatoes for breakfast, but as I was writing this post we had them again as an afternoon snack.  Hence the “(breakfast)”.  I wouldn’t hesitate to serve these either for breakfast or just as a snack.

3-4 Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons chaat masala
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
Cilantro for garnish 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the potatoes in a big mixing bowl.  Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes.  Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the chaat masala, the red chili powder and the salt over the potatoes.  Mix well until the potatoes are evenly coated with oil and spices.  Save the mixing bowl because you’ll use it again.  Spread the potatoes out on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil in a single layer.  Place the tray on the bottom rack of the oven (or whichever is closer to the heat) and bake for about 25 minutes until the potatoes are tender (poke them with a fork to a test).  Flip the potatoes halfway through the baking if the tops are getting too browned.  When tender, switch to high broil and broil for 10 minutes.  Flip the potatoes halfway through the broil if the tops are getting too browned.  It’s important to bake then broil these because it makes the potatoes soft on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside.  Transfer the potatoes from the baking tray back into the mixing bowl.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon chaat masala over the potatoes.  Squeeze about 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice over the potatoes.  Garnish with cilantro.  Serve hot.