Maharashtrian Sabudana Khichdi Recipe

Sabudana, or sago in English, is a starch extracted from the pulp of the trunk of the sago palm, a type of palm tree. It is often eaten rolled into small balls and cooked in water. Indians cook it as sabudana khichdi (simply soaked and garnished with potatoes, spices, and roasted peanuts), street food addicts enjoy it as sabudana vada (fritter) at the end of the day, and a starter menu might include a few sabudana nipattu (fried flatbreads).

Far be it from me to bring you traditional Indian recipes made from these very amusing little white balls, even if they remind me of the tapioca of my childhood, and in particular the tapioca soup, called during our family dinners "frog eye soup", which left us very perplexed.

Sabudana khichdi is a popular Indian dish made with tapioca pearls (sago), spices, potatoes, curry leaves and roasted peanuts. Popular especially in northern and western India, it is a popular fasting dish during Shivratri and Navratri.

It is also vegan and gluten free, as it does not contain wheat but only tapioca. In India it is found everywhere, both in homes and around as street food, especially during these two holidays, when truly everyone eats it. "Both those who fast and those who do not follow it eat this dish.

Sabudana khichdi is one of those great Indian veggie dishes that you almost never find on the menu of restaurants, yet it has everything to please and make a nice little veggie lunch, in addition to being quick to prepare.

It's also an original way to eat tapioca (which in my family was always eaten with milk, sweetened, or in cream like my mom makes). Here the tapioca is not cooked in liquid, but pre-soaked and then sautéed in a pan. This is the only difficulty of the recipe: soaking the tapioca.

Depending on the size of the grains and the quality of the tapioca, it will absorb more or less water. The one I bought was very fine balls, and when cooked, they disintegrated a little, to give a tapioca-like texture, which is ultimately quite pleasant in contrast with the crunchy peanuts and the tender potato cubes.

The term khichdi is derived from Sanskrit khicca, a dish of rice and pulses. Essential for the success of the dish: rinse the tapioca pearls well, rich in starch, otherwise they will stick together. On

the blog you can find the recipe for Bengali style Khichdi with short grain rice, moong (shelled and split peas), ghee, cumin, ginger, pepper, curry leaves and roasted cashew nuts.

This is not the first time I prepare a recipe based on tapioca pearls, in fact you can also find them as the protagonists of Sabudana Thalipeeth. Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Servings: 3 servings
Calories: 381

Ingredients:

2 cups Tapioca
1 Potato
1 cup Peanuts
3 tsp Ghee
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
5 Curry Leaves
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Red Chilli powder
2 Green Chillies
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Cilantro Leaves

Recipe Method:

Wash the tapioca well with water and soak them overnight.

Take a pan and dry roast some peanuts till brown and pulse them into a coarse powder and set them aside.
Place a pan, Heat some ghee in it. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves, Chopped green chillies and finely chopped potatoes, Turmeric powder and salt and stir well. Close the lid for 2 minutes till the potatoes cook well.

Add sugar, red chilli powder and tapioca and toss well on medium flame until the pearls are cooked and become slightly transparent. Add little water. Add the roasted peanut powder to it and toss well for another minute until its all mixed well.

Switch off the stove and add a dash of lemon juice and few coriander leaves and serve warm.