Sweet Potato Sago Payasam

This dessert, I thought, is innovative and good as a gluten free recipe. If one wants to make it casein free which means without milk, either rice milk, almond milk or more of coconut milk can be used. Sweet potato and sago, as you all know, is good for health. In India we make a variety of porridges(kheer or payasam) for any auspicious or happy occasion. The sweet potato makes the payasam thick, it lends consistency. This dish is especially nutritious as jaggery (unrefined whole cane sugar) is used instead of white sugar, and it is rich in iron. You can try it.

This recipe serves six to eight people.

Ingredients	Quantity
Mashed Sweet Potato	½ cup
Cooked Sago	¼ cup
Powdered Jaggery	¾ cup
Coconut Milk	½ cup
Crushed Cardamom	1 tsp
Saffron soaked in Milk	1 tbsp
Fried cashewnuts and Raisins	2 tbsps

Method

1. Take a big pan and add the milk.Boil it till it thickens.


2. Add the cooked sago and cook it.Then add the mashed sweet potato,coconut milk and mix well and boil it together.


3. Cut off the heat and add the jaggery so that the milk does not curdle and melt it by stirring.


4. Then slowly reheat the mixture and once it is boiled well, add the saffron and cardamom powder.


5. Remove from heat and serve it hot or cold in a serving bowl garnished with fried cashew nuts and raisin on the top.

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Potato Canapes

This recipe is a typical Indian recipe like you have in a samosa.Since this is a fried recipe watch out for the calories. But once in a while ou can binge on these instead of samosas,try them!

Ingredients	Quantity
Canapes	6
Boiled and Mashed Potatoes	¾ cup
Chopped Onions	1 tbsp
Peas	2 tbsps
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Chopped Coriander Leaves	2 tbsps
Ginger Garlic Paste	½ tsp
Red Chilly Powder	½ tsp
Turmeric Powder	¼ tsp
Garam Masala Powder	½ tsp
Gram Flour (Besan)	3 btsps
Salt	to taste
Water	to make batter
Oil	for deep frying

Method

1. Take a pan and add one teaspoon of oil and heat it.Add cumin seeds and fry them.


2. Add the onions and ginger garlic paste and fry till light brown in colour.


3. Add the peas, turmeric powder,salt, red chilly powder and garam masala powder and mix.


4. Then add the mashed potato and a tablespoon of coriander leaves and mix well.Save the rest of the coriander leaves for garnishing.


5. Cook for a few minutes till all the ingredients are mixed well.


6. Take it out from the heat and cool it slightly.


7. Make a thick batter with gram flour,water and salt.


8. Heat oil for deep frying in a pan.


9. Take each canape and fill it up with the potato mixture and seal it with a spoon or more of the gram flour batter over it so that the filling does not fall out.


10. When all the canapes are ready with the filling,put each canape into the hot oil carefully with the gram flour side down first and fry till golden brown. Turn the side fry the other side and remove from the oil and drain them on a paper towel to remove extra oil.


11. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve it hot with green or tamarind chutney or even with tomato ketchup.

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Sweet Potato Gulab Jamuns

Gulab jamun is a favourite dish with most. But there are a few who cannot tolerate/digest casein or milk protein and gluten present in traditional Gulab Jamuns. Why should these people be deprived of this delicious dessert? So this recipe came to my mind, which is made with sweet potato and rajgira flour. Sweet potato is easily available and the same with rajgira flour.

Rajgira flour is made from the seeds of Amaranth or Amaranthus. This contains no gluten and is used in baking cakes and breads and for making pastas. Somebody called it 'pseudo grain flour'. When I made it, my granddaughter loved it and wanted more. That made my day! So you can try it too!

Ingredients	Quantity
Sweet Potato (Boiled and Mashed)	1 ½ cups
Rajgira Flour (Amaranth Seed Flour)	3 tbsps
Sugar	2 cups
Water	1 ¾ cups
Cardamom Powder (Elaichi)	1 tsp
Saffron (Kesar)	few strings
Rose Water	a few drops
Pistachios	a few
Oil	for deep frying

Method

1. Take a bowl and combine boiled and mashed sweet potatoes and ragira flour to make a dough.It should not be very soft but firm. If soft a little more of rajgira flour can be added but not too much. The gulab jamuns may become too hard if too much rajgira flour is added.


2. Make about thirty to thirty two balls with the mixture and keep it aside.


3. Make a syrup with sugar and water by boiling it together.Add saffron and cardamom powder to it and remove from the heat. But keep the syrup warm.


4. Take oil for deep frying in a pan and fry these gulab jamuns four or five at a time on low heat till they are golden brown and not dark brown.


5. Put these balls directly into the warm syrup and let them soak for ten minutes.


6. Sprinkle a few drops of rose water and finely chopped pistachios and serve.

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