Purple sweet potatoes from Odisha trending

The sweet-scented spuds from Sanjog Sahu’s Mati Farms are a summer surprise at chefs’ tables and will soon find a prominent place in restaurant menus

Chindi Varadarajulu, chef and owner of Chennai-based Pumpkin Tales, is delighted with the purple sweet potatoes she has sourced this summer. They have brought back memories of her childhood in Singapore, she says. The potatoes, a deep purple with a sweet fragrance when cooked, are from Mati Farms, a farming enterprise in Odisha — the state leading in sweet potato production across India. “I have been actively looking for them for the past year. They are versatile and lend vibrancy to the simplest recipes,” says Varadarajulu. Earlier this month, Delhi-based farming initiative Krishi Cress, that offers locally-grown exotic produce, also added these spuds to their list. A client, beauty columnist and influencer Vasudha Rai, immediately took to Instagram to share her experience — delicious breakfast bars with the sweet potatoes, Medjool dates, coconut oil and pistachio. Sanjog Sahu, the young farmer behind Mati Farms, couldn’t be more delighted. “Tie-ups with like-minded partners are gratifying, and have enabled us to tide over problems during these unprecedented times,” he says.