Sri Lankan Sweet Potatoes with Cardamom and Chiles

Sweet potatoes keep coming in our CSA bushels, and they are a welcome site. My favorite use of them is making oven fries seasoned with various chile powders. I’ve taken to dipping those oven fries into harissa instead of ketchup which brings another layer of smoky, spiciness. It’s not that I’ve gotten tired of that routine. In fact, I’ll probably roast some wedges and serve them exactly like that later this evening, but with last week’s sweet potatoes, I felt the need to try something new. I found this Sri Lankan dish in Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. It’s made with an aromatic and spicy mix of ingredients that accommodates sweet potatoes like it was meant to be.


First, peeled and chunked sweet potatoes were boiled with ground turmeric added to the water. Next, oil was heated in a large frying pan, and dried red chiles were added followed by whole cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick. Then, I ran into an issue with needing curry leaves. I can never find curry leaves, and I’ve considered growing my own plant, but a suggested substitution was holy basil or any basil. I do have Thai basil and opal basil and Genovese basil plants and they're all still doing well, so I used Thai basil here. About 20 leaves were added to the frying pan with the spices, and the amazing smell of those ingredients cooking together was a happy moment in the kitchen. It got even better when a big pile of sliced onions was added. After the onion slices browned, the drained sweet potato chunks were added and cooked for five minutes or so until tender but still holding their shape. Last, crushed red chiles, salt, and lime juice were added just before serving.

The alluring cooking smells translated into a very flavorful dish. The sweetness of the potatoes and the sweet savoriness of the browned onions were met with chile heat and warm spices. Of course I’ll continue to make my regular oven fries from time to time, but now there’s a new sweet potato dish to add to the rotation.

Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower with Red Onion, Capers, and Chiles

Last weekend, I flipped through the A16 book looking for something interesting and seasonal for a dinner meal. I decided on a braised fish dish and this warm roasted potato salad to go on the side. The fish was fine, we were happy with it, but it wasn’t something I was compelled to shout about from the rooftops. This potato and cauliflower dish, however, was very shout-worthy. Kurt and I agreed this was a big winner, and then we raced back to the kitchen for seconds.

Chunks of potatoes were tossed with olive oil and salt and then roasted in a 450 F oven. Throughout this book, it's common that seasoning will be with salt only if chile flakes are used later in the dish. The cauliflower was chopped into florets and tossed with a generous quarter cup of olive oil and some salt. It was then sauteed with that oil until the cauliflower just started to brown. Then, the saute pan went into the oven where the cauliflower roasted until browned but not limp. As the vegetables roasted, more olive oil was heated in a saucepan. Capers were fried in it, and then chile flakes were added with sliced red onion. When the onion had softened, the mixture was taken off the heat, and red wine vinegar was stirred into it. That mixture was the warm dressing which was then tossed with the roasted potatoes and cauliflower.

It’s a simple combination of things that obviously go together well, but the olive oil and careful seasoning at each step and the warm caper, chile, onion, vinegar dressing all made it outstanding. As I said, this was the highlight of our meal served warm and crisp just from the oven. However, this could also be made in advance and served at room temperature. As a third option, if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers the next day, it’s also delicious as a cold salad taken right from the refrigerator and topped with tuna.