Crispy Podi Sweet Potato Salad
Crispy, creamy and full of fun textures and flavours: this South Indian inspired salad is anything but boring!
With crunchy podi coated sweet potatoes, a cooling curd dressing and a spicy, nutty tempering: every bite of this salad is something exciting!
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Thinly sliced sweet potatoes are coated in a flaxseed-podi mixture and airfried till crispy, adding a beautiful spicy crunch. The salad itself is a mix of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onions, chickpeas and panfried tofu, making it hearty and filling. The dressing is simple with just curd, lemon juice, salt and pepper but what takes it up a notch is the tempering with mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chilli and peanuts sizzling in ghee. Everything is tossed together and finished with some extra podi and pumpkin seeds and you’ve got a salad that’s fresh but hearty, crunchy, creamy and packed with SO much flavour.
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How is this salad wholesome and well balanced?
- Protein: Tofu is a great lean source of protein and chickpeas bring in both protein and complex carbs, making this bowl super satisfying. The curd in the dressing also adds protein and is a great source of probiotics as well!
- Healthy fats: Flaxseeds, peanuts, ghee and pumpkin seeds add healthy, good fats that keep you full and give the salad some amazing textures.
- Complex carbs: Sweet potato and chickpeas make sure you’re getting slow digesting and fibre rich carbs.
- Fibre: The mix of veggies and chickpeas packs this salad with fibre, keeping everything balanced.
- Flavour: The podi adds spice, the tempering and sweet potato gives it crunch and the creamy curd dressing ties everything together. There’s a good mix of crispy, creamy, spicy and fresh- all in one bowl!
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Crispy Podi Sweet Potato Salad
Crispy, creamy and full of fun textures and flavours: this South Indian inspired salad is anything but boring!
servings
1-2
prep time
15 min
cook time
25 min
Ingredients
Crispy Sweet Potatoes
- 2 tbsp podi
- 1 tbsp flaxseed powder (ground flax)
- 1/4 cup hot water
- salt to taste
- 1 sweet potato, thinly sliced
Salad Dressing
- 1/2 cup curd (or yogurt)
- salt pepper
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 green chilli, chopped
Tempering
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp peanuts
- pinch of hing
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 dried red chilli
Salad
- 5 cherry tomatoes (or 1 regular tomato), chopped
- 1/2 cucumber, chopped
- 1/4 cup lettuce, chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup boiled chickpeas
- 1/2 cup tofu, chopped
Garnish
- pumpkin seeds
- podi
Instructions:
- We start with the sweet potatoes: Thinly slice a sweet potato with it's skin on (I like to use a mandolin for thin, even slices). Soak the slices in cold water while you prepare the marinade to prevent discolouration.
- For the podi coating: Mix podi, flaxseed powder and hot water and let it sit for 5 minutes to form a gel. Drain the sweet potato slices, coat them well with the podi mixture and transfer them in a single layer on a greased parchment paper.
- Airfry at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway until crispy and golden. You can also bake thme in your oven at 180°C for 35-45 minutes.
- Prepare the tofu: Chop tofu into small cubes and panfry them on a pan with no oil till all sides are golden. I don't season the tofu because it will end up soaking all the dressing later but you can if you want to.
- Chop the vegetables: I prefer them diced and fresh. I did tomatoes, cucumber, onion and lettuce. Feel free to add any veggies of your choice!
- For the dressing: Mix curd, salt, pepper, lemon juice and a chopped green chilli in a bowl.
- Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, combine the chopped vegetables, boiled chickpeas, tofu and lettuce. Pour in the creamy curd dressing.
- Make the tempering: Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let them pop. Add curry leaves, hing, peanuts and a dried red chilli. Cook till crisp and fragrant and add the hot tempering on the curd dressing.
- Combine and serve: Add the crispy sweet potatoes and toss everything well. Serve fresh and garnish with extra podi and pumpkin seeds. So So GOOOD!
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I tried this salad and my god the flavours are so good. I just don’t know how to eat salads which resulted in a huge mess for me (while eating it) but in looks and in taste, this is probably one of the best salads out there.
