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Sweet Potato Balls - crispy deep fried sweet potato dough balls coated with sesame seeds. This Malaysian snack is great for afternoon tea.
Sweet Potato Balls Recipe
Sweet potato ball is an amazing snack available in Malaysia, in the morning or afternoon market. They are commonly sold by street vendors.
Called “番薯旦” in Chinese, they are made with sweet potatoes, flour and sugar.
They are usually coated with sesame seeds and deep-fried. You can find similar versions in Indonesia and Thailand.
These taste of home sweet treats were my favorite childhood food, ones that I grew up eating. They are great as munchies for breakfast or afternoon tea.
Making them at home brings back lots of sweet childhood memories to me!
Making these sweet dough balls are very easy. First, boil the sweet potatoes until the inside is cooked through.
Next, peel off the skin and keep the sweet potatoes. Mash and combine well with flour, sugar and water to form a dough.
Roll the dough into balls and coat them with sesame seeds. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.
How To Make Sweet Potato Balls
Step 1. Boil the sweet potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes, or until they are cooked through. Peel off the skin and discard it. Then, mash the sweet potatoes.
Step 2. Combine the mashed sweet potatoes with flour, sugar, and water to form a dough that isn’t sticky to your hands.
Step 3. Divide the dough into small, equal portions and roll them into balls. Coat the sweet potato balls with sesame seeds. Heat a shallow pot with 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) of oil. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the sweet potato balls until they’re golden brown. Remove them and drain well on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
As a general rule of thumb, you should use the sweet potatoes with pale yellow color flesh inside. This type of potatoes make the best sweet potato balls. Avoid using orange or purple color sweet potatoes.
Absolutely. Use air fryer to make healthy sweet potato balls that are not deep-fried. Just follow the method in the recipe card and fry in an air fryer. However, you can’t oven baked.
This recipe is only 264 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Sweet Potato Balls
Serve them as appetizers or snacks, with other Malaysian sweet or savory treats.
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Sweet Potato Balls
Ingredients
- 1 lb (500g) sweet potatoes
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 – 2 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons white sesame seeds
- oil, for deep frying
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Boil the sweet potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes, or until they are cooked through. Peel off the skin and discard it. Then, mash the sweet potatoes.
- Combine the mashed sweet potatoes with flour, sugar, and water to form a dough that isn't sticky to your hands.
- Divide the dough into small, equal portions and roll them into balls. Coat the sweet potato balls with sesame seeds. Heat a shallow pot with 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) of oil. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the sweet potato balls until they're golden brown. Remove them and drain well on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Your recipes are great.
The air frier tip is very welcome.
Thank you.
Purba
Rasa thank you for giving us a delicious recipe. We will make it and enjoy. Thank you. Luana of Hilo, Hi
Can we bake it in oven instead of fried it? Thanks
You can but it’s not going to be good.
Thank you for this amazing recipe. My grandmother used to cook this when I was a little and this brings back a lot of great memories. I have made this today and it turned out amazing. Thank you!
My daughter told me about this delicious sweet potato balls. I quickly searched the recipe and I found yours. It was amazing, all her friends loved it too. Thank you for sharing
Due to health reasons, will it be less tasty if sesame seeds are omitted?
Yes you can skip the sesame seeds.
Why are the sweet potatoes green? You recommend yams, the lighter color potatoes and they are more a dark yellowish color. The orange ones are the true sweet potatoes and were brought here by slaves from Africa.
I didn’t recommend yams for this recipe. The recipe calls for sweet potatoes, yellow flesh. It’s not green in color.
There are many starchy tubers in this world with obscure English true names. Boniato, for example, is a white-fleshed sweet potato commonly used in Latin American cooking. I imagine that there is no commonly used English word to refer to the type of sweet potato in Malaysia.
How many cups of sweet potatoes?
Thanks!
1 pound of sweet potato. I don’t know how many cups.
We used to make these every year – and stuff a marshmallow inside :)
Yummy, sounds yummy!
Looks yummy! Can I use whole wheat flour instead?
Hi Sara, you can but it won’t taste very good with whole wheat flour.