Konkani Style Sweet Potato Stir Fry (Kanga Upakari) - An Age Old Tea Time Snack

Konkani Style Sweet Potato Stir Fry (Kanga Upakari) - An Age Old Tea Time Snack

I was sipping my cup of tea and wondered what did my grandparents have as their tea snack during their days. They didn’t have biscuits, cookies, cup cakes, cakes back then. 

I asked my granny and she listed out tea time snacks of their time for me.

  • Mugadali phaan - Split mung bean stir fry.
  • Phovu - Spicy, seasoned beaten rice prepared many ways. The most popular way it’s still made till date is this. Other ways of making it are extinct. Shall blog about them.
  • Chane usli - seasoned chickpeas - made using white or black chickpeas. 
  • Charburo - Spicy puffed rice done many ways. The most popular way it’s still made till date is this. Other ways of making it are extinct. Shall blog about them.
  • Badge usli - Cowpeas stir fry.
  • Kulitha usli - Horse gram stir fry.
  • Upittu - Upma/Seasoned semolina.
  • Kanga upakari - Sweet potato stir fry.
  • Chanedali usli - Split chickpeas stir fry.
  • Oodi phaan, hapolu phaan, shevai phaan during the monsoons. Rice fritters (tadla oodi in Konkani, plain rice fritters made using only salt, sun dried just to make a stir fry out of them), rice papads (tadla hapolu), homemade, sun dried rice noodles were all stir fried to make delicious snacks out of them.

Essentially all are healthy snacks. Majority of them are protein rich, healthy pulses turned out into a delicious snack. And they’re easy to make, quick dishes involving less prep. Thanks to cookies, biscuits and chips, most of these snacks have ben forgotten as tea time snacks. 

One such age old tea time snack from my grandparents time is sweet potato stir fry. Called as kanga upakari in Konkani. Do you still make them as a tea time snack? I’m curious to know how many of us still do. 

Sweet potato stir fry is spicy, sweet and is absolutely delish. It is also highy nutritious. Sweet potatoes for good for us. Kanga upakari was usually served for evening tea with spicy, seasoned beaten rice called as teek phovu/kalel phovu in Konkani. But I love mushy seasoned sweet potatoes on their own. This sweet-spicy sweet potato dish is an absolute delight to your taste buds. If you eat it with spicy, sweet, seasoned beaten rice (teek phovu/kalel phovu) then there'll be a myriad of flavours and taste in your mouth. Give this dish a try and then you’ll know what I'm talking about. :)

Without much prep involved this healthy snack gets ready real quick to satiate your hunger pangs and taste buds. :)

Ingredients:

  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 dried red chilli
  • A pinch of asafoetida powder
  • A tablespoon of grated coconut (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons of oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon of urad dal
  • 2 leaflets of curry leaves

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Preparation Method:

1. Peel, cube sweet potato and keep it aside in a bowl of water. Water helps prevent sweet potato from oxidizing and turning black.

2. Heat a non stick pan, add in oil, mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start popping, add in urad dal and fry them until they start to brown.

3. Then add in dried red chillies pieces, curry leaves, asafoetida powder and let them sizzle for few seconds.

4. Then add in peeled, diced sweet potato, 1 cup of water, salt and cook closed on a medium flame. Add in more water in between if required.

5. Once sweet potatoes are cooked through and are soft, add in grated coconut, mix well and remove it off heat.

Serving suggestions:

1. Serve sweet potato stir fry (kanga upakari) hot as a snack or as a tea time snack. You can make them soft and mushy if you wish. I love them that way. All you need to do is overcook them a tad more to get a mushy sweet potato dish.

2. Serve sweet potato stir fry (kanga upakari) hot as a tea time snack along with spicy, seasoned beaten rice called as teek phovu/kalel phovu in Konkani. 

Need more tea time snack recipes from Udupi, Mangalore? Here you'll find recipes for goli baje (Mangalore bonda), Mangalore buns, chattambade, biscuit roti etc. 

Tags: sweet potato, kanang, kanga upakari, upakari, stir fry, tea time snack, traditional snack, Konkani food, Konkani recipe, Konkani cuisine, GSB Konkani recipe, vegan, vegetarian recipe, South Canara Konkani recipe, Konkani cooking, GSB Konkani cuisine. 

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