Sweet potato farmers have been practicing new recipes to maximise the use of their crop.
Every Sunday for the next few weeks we will add another recipe to this page so you too can try them at home.
The improved orange-fleshed sweet potato is high yielding, rich in Vitamin A, and they taste good too! Year on year more families benefit as existing farmers share vines with an average of five other families.
This weeks recipe from Malawi is Sweet Potato Fritters.
Sweet Potato Fritters
Ingredients
- 2 cups of grated sweet potato
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 5 cups of baking flour
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons of yeast
- 2 teaspoons of lemon rind
- 1 litre of water or milk
- 2 cups of cooking oil
Method
- Put the grated sweet potato in a bowl and add the salt, sugar, flour and egg. Mix together and add the yeast and lemon rind. Mix and then add the water or milk until you have a dough mixture – you won’t need all of the liquid.
- Leave the dough in a bowl. Wet a clean cloth with warm water and cover the bowl for 10 minutes for the dough to rise. Kneed again and then cut the dough into small pieces. Roll out and twist together ready for frying in oil.
- Heat the oil up in a deep frying pan, add in the dough pieces and once golden brown on one side, carefully turn them over. Repeat until the dough has been used up.
For week two of sharing sweet potato recipes from Malawi we have Sweet Potatoes with Beans and Spinach.
The farmers learnt that this meal is particularly ideal for babies being weaned, for pregnant women and new mums and the elderly as it is full of nutrients.
Sweet Potato with Beans and Spinach
- 5 sweet potatoes
- 2 cups of beans
- 2 onions
- 3 tomatoes
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
- 2 handfuls of spinach
Method
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Cook the sweet potatoes until soft. In a separate saucepan, cook the beans as per packet instructions.
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Fry the onions and tomatoes in oil. Season with the salt and cook until soft.
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Add in the sweet potatoes and beans. Cook together for five minutes so they potatoes soak up the juice from the tomato mixture.
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Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Mix together and serve.
It’s week three and a sweet potato recipe featuring fish.
In Malawi usipa is a readily available fish at markets. Usipa are small sardine-like fish and in Malawi are an affordable source of protein for many.
However, whilst affordable compared to other options, families can still only buy so much so by incorporating them into this recipe, the whole family can benefit.
Sweet Potato with Usipa
Ingredients
- 8 sweet potatoes
- 3 tomatoes
- 2 onions
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
- 2 cups of cooked usipa
- 2 handfuls of spinach
Method
- Clean, peel and dice the potatoes and boil the potatoes until soft. Drain.
- Fry the onion and tomato in the oil. Season with salt. When cooked, add the usipa and spinach until wilted.
- Add this mixture to the sweet potatoes and mix together.
- Note: You could use any fish or meat, just cook as necessary before adding to the vegetable mixture.
It’s week four and two simple sweet potato recipes which Malawian families are being encouraged to prepare for their children due to the added nutrients from groundnuts and milk.
Sweet Potato with Groundnut Flour (Futali)
Ingredients
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 2 cups groundnut flour
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup milk (alternative option)
Method
- Clean, peel and dice the potatoes and boil the potatoes until soft.
- Add in the groundnut flour, tomatoes and onion and simmer for five to 10 minutes until vegetables are soft.
- Serve with green vegetables.
- Alternatively, instead of adding in tomatoes and onion add in milk with the groundnut flour and mash together.
