Simple and delicious sweet potato bolani recipe. Savory Afghan hand pies with cilantro and green onion, served with a garlic yogurt sauce.
This bolani recipe was originally published in Jan 2015 and updated May 2019.
Hi, Rhubarbarians! Remember that Global Feasts series I did at the very beginning of this blog? Well, THIS was my favorite recipe from Global Feasts: Afghanistan. It's a super tasty sweet potato mash with some aromatics, stuffed into some bread and then fried. OH YES.
This recipe comes from Afghan Culture Unveiled. Humaira was so kind and let me share her recipe with you. I altered a few minor things, like using lavash bread instead of tortillas, and made a super easy garlic yogurt for a dipping sauce. But the main idea for this sweet potato bolani recipe is totally hers. She loved the idea of the Global Feasts series. Thank you, Humaira!
More favorites from Global Feasts: Afghanistan
Sweet potato hand pies
They're herby and oniony, just a tad sweet, and yes..... fried. Fried little sweet potato turnovers with cilantro and green onion. SO simple. And so good. Like little Afghan hand pies.
What is bolani?
Bolani is a Persian flat bread from Afghanistan that is stuffed with vegetables and baked or fried. It is usually stuffed with potatoes or lentils and can be served with yogurt and mint. It is usually served for special occasions.
The easy way to make sweet potato bolani
Rather than making our own dough with this recipe, we opted for the easy route and used store bought lavash bread. You can use tortillas or egg roll wrappers as well.
Here's the game plan:
- First, roast your sweet potatoes
- While that's cooking, make your garlic yogurt sauce
- Create the filling with the mashed sweet potato and aromatics
- Create a quick binder with flour and water
- Prepare your bolani with the sweet potato filling and close together with the binder.
- Fry them up!
- Serve and enjoy
Pro tip: Roast the sweet potato ahead of time and store in the fridge until you're ready to make your bolani. This will cut your time by over an hour!
Sweet potato bolani recipe
Recipe
Sweet potato bolani recipe with garlic yogurt sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet potatoes
- 1 cup full fat plain yogurt (plant based yogurt if vegan)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup whole scallions, finely chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon water
- 6 10-inch square lavash flat breads
- fresh cilantro for serving optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Roast sweet potatoes in the oven, skin on, until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, make your garlic yogurt. Mix together garlic and yogurt, and set aside. Keep cold.
- When potatoes are cooked and slightly cooled, cut in half and scoop out flesh into a large bowl. Discard skin. Add cilantro, scallions, olive oil, and salt, and mash with a fork until well combined and mashed.
- In a small bowl, mix together flour and water to create a paste.
- Place your lavash bread on a flat surface. Fill with ¼ cup potato mixture, leaving ½ inch border around the rim. Using your finger. spread a bit of the paste around the border and fold bread in half. Press around the edges, sealing the sweet potato inside the bread pocket. Repeat with remaining lavash bread and sweet potato mixture.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Fry the bolani in hot oil, two at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Lay on a paper town to soak up oil.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with garlic yogurt sauce
Nutrition
If you make this bolani recipe, please let me know on social media or in the comments below! Leave a star rating in your comment or tag me on Instagram with #Rhubarbarians.
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Hope you have a great day, friends!
Trish
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Ken
Very tasty and easy to make. I used extra sourdough starter with flour to make the breads and it turned out great. Not a fan of Cilantro so substituted Italian parsley. OH and what is that great looking side dish in the bowl in the pictures ???
Trish Bozeman
So glad you liked it! That side dish is haft mewa. Recipe here! https://www.rhubarbarians.com/haft-mewa-afghan-fruit-nut-salad/
Dana
These sound absolutely delicious. I could plow through that entire tray myself right about now. I especially love how simple the flavors are. The sweet potato really shines through!
Debra
OOh....I'm always down for something with sweet potatoes and cilantro and this looks amazing. Love some of the "short cuts" you give, making this totally doable for me as well. We have never tried bolani and I'm really looking forward to it.
Tracy
Wow this sounds so amazing! I love all your time saving tips- perfect for our busy household! I can’t wait to try this, my family loves sweet potatoes and are always looking for new ways to eat them!
Donna
Oh my goodness these had me salivating the moment I started reading about them. SO GOOD! Love the flavours in here, so fun for something a bit different
Sandra Shaffer
I'm always looking for ways to use sweet potatoes and this recipe is so unique! I've never had bolani before, so thank you for introducing me to a new appetizer. Although, this could certainly be a complete meal for me!
Jenni LeBaron
Yes to all of this! I love how simple these look to put together and they have the best combination of savory flavors and fantastic textures. These will for sure be a winner at any summer gathering, that is, if I don't gobble them up myself first!
Gloria
What a delicious way to use sweet potatoes. I have never tried this before. I am a bread lover...ALL kinds of bread. Sounds like one more to add to my "must try" list.
kraylfunch
You seriously make my favorite foods! i always leave hungry and dying to try the recipe! I bought those glasses in blue and white and now I totally want the orange!
Patricia Bozeman
Thanks Krayl! I LOVE these glasses. I would definitely buy them in every color, if I didn't already have 2 cupboards full of glasses. ha! Sigh.......
Marianne Rogers
This looks awesome! What a cool way to use sweet potatoes ( a staple where I'm from -- the Southeast US ). I've loved your Global Feasts series so far. It's so refreshing to find some really unique and diverse recipes from different cultures. Can't wait to see them continue!
Patricia Bozeman
Thanks so much, Marianne! I'm loving the series too. It's just as refreshing to cook and eat unique food!