Sweet Potato Stir Fry

This Sweet Potato Stir Fry is a classic from my Mom’s South Indian recipe repertoire. Made with just a handful of pantry staples, it tastes delicious and simple to whip up. Sweet Potato Stir Fry is mildly sweet, spicy and aromatic and goes well with just anything. In South Indian Cuisine it is eaten alongside rice, curry, dal, rasam or sambar. But they taste great and can be eaten as such like a snack.

In India, other than fire roasting, sweet potatoes are used to make a curry, cutlets, chaat snack, sambar and stew.

Here I have sliced the sweet potatoes in food processor for convenience you may chop them to bite sized pieces if you want.

This Sweet Potato Stir Fry recipe requires basic spices like mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fresh ginger and garlic that add a flavor. However if you do not have them, you may simply omit.

Ground spices like turmeric, red chili powder/ flakes and garam masala are good enough to flavor this root vegetable. Since I always stock up on fresh curry leaves, I love to throw in a sprig of the leaves for a unique herby flavor.

There is no substitute for curry leaves but dried curry leaves or even fresh mint leaves work here. You can also use any of your favorite herbs, but add them during the last stage instead of adding them to the oil like curry leaves.

Related Recipes you may like
Sweet Potato Curry
Butternut Squash Curry
Cauliflower Stir Fry
Pumpkin Sabzi
Zucchini Stir Fry

Photo Guide

How to Make Sweet Potato Fry (Stepwise Photos)

1. Peel the sweet potatoes. If you have large ones cut them to half lengthwise. Then slice them thin like potato chips. Add them to slightly salted water immediately. This step avoids them from discoloring and burning. Chop onions and ginger.

2. Heat a nonstick pan with oil. Then add mustard & cumin. When they splutter add grated ginger and curry leaves. Fry till the ginger smells good.

3. Add onions, sprinkle salt. Fry till they turn lightly golden. Don’t need to brown them.

4. Drain off the water completely from sweet potatoes and add them to the pan. Sprinkle turmeric.

5. Fry for about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring evenly. Cover and cook on a low flame till they are cooked fully and turn tender. Keep stirring in between.

6. Ensure the sweet potatoes are cooked fully before sprinkling red chili powder, garam masala and little more salt. Adjust spices and salt now.

9. Stir and fry till the masala is blended well. If the sweet potatoes look too dry then you may add little oil at this stage. Do not over fry otherwise the masala gets burnt.

Garnish sweet potato stir fry with coriander leaves. This time we served it with plain rice and tamarind rasam.

Pro Tips

• I have sliced the sweet potatoes like we do for chips. This way they cook quickly and evenly. If you have a processor that can slice then do it. You may also dice to equal sizes and use.
• Keeping the chopped sweet potatoes in water is important. They absorb some moisture and don’t burn while stir frying.
• Ensure you use a large wide pan to prevent them from clumping up.
• I use onions here. You may skip if you don’t prefer. But caramelized onions taste good and add flavor.

Related Recipes

Photo Guide

Recipe Card

This post was first published in December 2014. Updated in 2023 December.