Ratalyacha Khees/Savory Sweet Potato with Peanuts

Sweet potato features in the top 10 of my favorite comfort foods! This is really great, given the many nutritional virtues of this versatile vegetable. I say versatile as it can be enjoyed in many different ways, in a dessert, as a savory snack, a binding agent, or by simply boiling the vegetable and mixing it with milk and sugar (yumm!).

Ratalyacha Khees or Savory Sweet Potato with peanuts is one of the more popular fasting dishes in Maharashtra. It always brings back memories of my mom fasting and we EATING! Of course, it didn't really matter that the kids almost never fasted, but it sure made for a great excuse for us to gorge on those tasty, not reminding one of starvation treats ;)

This is an extremely simple and quick recipe to make, and is my submission to Nupur's A-Z of Indian vegetables 'R' letter event.

And yes, the mango in the picture is indeed The Alphanso mango!! We finally got our hands on this precious fruit last evening at $4 a pop, but oh SO totally worth it!!!!

Ratalyacha Khees
Ingredients
1. 2 sweet potatoes grated (I leave the skin on to increase the nutritional value)
2. 2-3 green chillies chopped
3. 1 cup ground peanuts (shengdanyacha koot)
4. 2 tsp olive oil or ghee
5. 3-4 sprigs of coriander finely chopped
6. 1 tsp lemon juice
7. 1 pinch sugar
8. Salt to taste

Method
1. In a pan, heat the oil/ghee. Traditionally we use ghee as oil is not allowed as a fasting food. But given that I cook this on any and every non fasting occasion, I use olive oil :)
2. To the heated oil, add green chillies and sauté till they change color
3. Add the grated sweet potato and saute for 1-2 minutes
4. To this add the ground peanuts, lemon juice and sugar
5. Add salt and coriander.
6. Mix well. Cover with a lid and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes or till the sweet potato is cooked. You may need to add some water if needed.
7. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Enjoy :)