These little guys are a little bit bad for you, and I don’t care. I’m not referring to the recipe, I think that’s pretty healthy. They’re vegetables so they must be healthy, right? Well yes, as long as you don’t cook them in a pound of butter so that you can get a photo of them bubbling away in the pan.
They’re from a new cookbook I found at Old Faithful last week. I’m determined to make every recipe in it. The book’s called Plenty by Ottolenghi and has some of the most beautiful photography and tastiest looking recipes I’ve seen in ages.
I’ve made some changes to this recipe since it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I wanted crispy, and the original recipe was more squishy. It was time to bring out the Panko.
What’s with that stuff anyway? I swear it has a never-fail ability to create perfect crunchy texture on anything and everything. And who doesn’t love crunchiness?
Make sure you don’t cook the yams too long, they’re better if they have just a little bit of texture to them still.
- 2¼ lbs sweet potatoes or yams
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- ½ red chilli, finely chopped (more if you want it spicier)
- Butter, for frying
- ½ panko (or more as needed)
- Sauce: 6 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Grated zest from ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Steam the sweet potatoes until almost tender. Drain and set aside.
- Whisk all sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- Once sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, place in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients (except butter and panko) and mix till combined. Do not over mix as they are better with a little texture.
- Melt some butter in cast-iron or non-stick frying pan.
- For each fritter, scoop out some batter and drop it into the panko. Turn to coat then gently place in the frying pan.
- Cook fritters on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until the crusts are brown and crispy.
- Remove from and place on a wire cooling sheet while you cook the remaining fritters.
- Serve hot or warm with a large spoonful of the sauce.
If you like this recipe, check these ones out too 
Mashed Potato and White Cheddar Cakes
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Yogurt is NOT vegan. It is made with milk. Still looks tasty and easily substitutable for Soy or Coconut yogurt. I’ll have to try this, as I adore sweet potatoes
You’re right, yogurt is definitely not vegan. The fritters, however, are vegan. They can be eaten with many different dipping sauces depending on your taste and preferences. I think that ketchup, aioli (egg free for vegan) or even just a squeeze of lime juice would be nice with them!
On Fridays, I share my favorite food finds in a series called Food Fetish Friday – and I love this post so I’m featuring it as part of the roundup (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and it’s always fun to be following along with your creations…
No objections at all! In fact, thank you very much for sharing it!
Wow! Sweet potatoes are my weakness. And these look SO yummy!
Thanks, Michelle!
These look delicious!
I love how crispy these look. I bet they would be great as an appetizer too.