‘Shakarkandi’ a winter delight

Rawalpindi

Vendors selling sweet potatoes (shakarkandi) are now everywhere in the markets attracting scores of customers who are really fond of having this delight in the winter evenings.

“I daily buy 15kg of sweet potatoes from Sabzi Mandi and give it hot steam in a large drum of boiling water. Then I bring them to the market and when the customers demand I roast sweet potatoes over coal making a delightful winter food for them,” said Yasin Khan, a vendor in Commercial Market (Satellite Town).

He said the customers start arriving as soon as he reaches his spot at the market in the evening time and sometimes it becomes difficult to serve large number of customers anxiously waiting for their turn.

Tariq Ansari, a customer, said he frequently visits the market to eat sweet potatoes because the way they roast it makes them a very delicious product, adding “The sweet potatoes roasted on coal have a charm that cannot be ignored in the winter season.”

It is pertinent to mention here that a plate of roasted sweet potatoes is sold between Rs40 and Rs60 and the vendors roast them on the spot making the product more attractive for the customers.

Rehan Khattak, a customer, said it is nice to see that the vendors are wearing plastic gloves and serving the customers in disposable plates and this practice should also be adopted by other people doing similar businesses.