Sweet potato and cabbage tikki with slaw

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

Potato tikkis are a beloved snack found all over India. My mother used to make them at home, placed between bread to cut like a sandwich for school. We didn’t have sliced meats or cheese, so that’s what I’d have for lunch. People often make toasties with them, too. Put the tikki between two slices of bread, add a little oil, ghee or butter to a pan, and sear on both sides until very crispy.

Everybody usually has some kind of potatoes and cabbage at home, and for me this is the best way of using them up. I make this sweet potato version for my daughters and they love it. Serve with cabbage, apple and walnut slaw for a more substantial meal.

INGREDIENTS For the tikkis

– 500g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

– 100g hispi cabbage,

finely chopped

– 2 spring onions,

finely chopped

– 1-2 small green chillies, finely chopped

– 1 tsp ground cumin

– ½ tsp chilli flakes

– 35g panko

breadcrumbs

– about 50ml sunflower oil, enough to shallow-fry

For the slaw

– 200g white cabbage,

thinly shredded

– 1 green apple (unpeeled), cored and cut into small dice or matchsticks

– 100g walnuts, chopped

into small pieces

– 25g caster sugar – seeds from 8 green cardamom pods, crushed

– 100g Greek yogurt

METHOD

Boil the potato chunks in a pan of salted water until soft but not mushy, then drain them. Return the potatoes to the pan to steam-dry and cool down.

Meanwhile, mix together the slaw ingredients.

Transfer the cooked potato chunks to a large bowl and mash them. Add the rest of the tikki ingredients, except the oil, to the bowl with half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of ground black pepper, and mix together. Divide the mixture into 10-12 equal golf-ball-sized portions and flatten each one slightly.

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, place the tikkis in the pan (in batches if necessary) and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, until crispy and golden. Serve with the slaw.