What is Sabudana?

Sabudana also known as sago, are starch balls that are obtained by processing the tuberous roots of cassava plants. Also known as Tapioca pearls, these are very commonly used in India and across several Asian countries. “Sabudana” is a Hindi word for tapioca pearls. These are also known as Javvarisi in Tamil, Sagibiyyam in Telugu and sabakki in Kannada. In India, mostly these are used to prepare festive and fasting foods like Sabudana khichdi, vada and Sabudana kheer. Sabudana is a highly processed, carb laden ingredient with low essential nutrients like vitamins and proteins. Yet they are consumed widely during vrat/upvas/ fastings in the belief that high carbs will keep us full and provide a boost of energy throughout the day. As per the tradition, many Hindus fast during Ekadashi & Navratri. Some people consume only milk, some only fruits, while some consume a single meal per day. Apart from Sabudana khichdi and Sabudana kheer, these crisp vadas are a special food eaten during the Navratri & Ekadashi fastings.

About Sabudana Vada

Sabudana Vada is a traditional Maharashtrian snack, where patties made of soaked tapioca pearls, mashed potatoes, roasted peanuts, spices and herbs are deep fried until crisp and golden. During the fasting days, based on the region a lot of ingredients like lentils, certain spices, garlic and onions are not consumed. So the fasting foods like this sabudana vada are made without using any of these ingredients. Since sabudana is a pure starch, peanuts are used here to add some nutrition. Potatoes bind all of these together. Many people prefer to eat these with yogurt, Coriander chutney or Green chutney (without garlic). These are best served hot & also go well with hot tea/chai. This fail proof recipe will give you not only delicious but also crisp sabudana vada that do not soak up much oil. If you are a beginner, do read all my tips and make these like a pro. Making these is simple and straight forward and you can also prepare these ahead so you can straight away shape and fry them. This saves some time on the day you prepare these vadas. You can prepare ahead the following:

Prepare ahead

Soak sabudana overnight, drain and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days. Roast peanuts and crush them coarsely. Store in an air tight jar upto a week.Boil and cool the potatoes. Make sure your boiled potatoes are just cooked and not mushy otherwise sabudana vada will soak up lot of oil.

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How To Make Sabudana Vada (Stepwise Photos)

Soak sabudana

  1. Add half cup sabudana to a wide bowl and rinse them at least twice. While you rinse, rub them well and rinse. Using a wide bowl is very important as it makes a difference to the soaked sabudana. Drain the water completely and soak them in half cup water for about 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Soaking time depends on the kind of sabudana. Some get soaked quickly some take longer time to soak.
  2. Cover and keep them in a cool place.
  3. Once they are soaked, they double in size and become fluffy. They will soak up all of the water.
  4. It is important to check if the sabudana is soaked correctly and are ready to fry. Any negligence at this step may lead to burst of sabudana in the oil while frying the vadas. So gently press down the soaked sabudana to ensure they are not hard inside and soaked well. When you press down they should ideally get mashed fully and be like flour. It should not have a hard center which will likely burst the pearls while frying.
  5. Drain up the water completely. To ensure there is no excess moisture in the pearls, drain to a colander and set aside. If there is any moisture left in the sabudana the vada will become soggy and will soak up oil. Too much moisture in the sabudana can burst them so it is important to drain off any excess moisture and let them air dry for a while until you prepare the peanuts.

Roast Peanuts

  1. Add 1/4 cup peanuts to a heavy pan and begin to roast them on a medium heat until golden & aromatic.
  2. When they turn aromatic and done, you will see the skin loosens on its own. Turn off and cool them.
  3. Rub them gently and peel off the skin if possible. Then add them to a grinder jar. I did not remove the skin. It is optional.
  4. Make a coarse powder. Just pulse them once in a blender. We want a coarse powder.

Boil Potatoes

  1. Boil 2 medium potatoes in whatever way you like. You can boil the whole potatoes in a cooker for 2 to 3 whistles with 1 cup water or cube them and boil in a pot, by covering the cubes with water. The potatoes must be just fork tender and not mushy. We don’t want soggy potatoes here so don’t overcook them. To check insert a fork , it should easily go in, meaning it is cooked.
  2. Cool and mash them well.

Make Vada Mixture

  1. To the bowl of mashed potatoes, add sabudana and mix well.
  2. Add crushed peanuts, half teaspoon jeera, 1 to 2 chopped green chilies, 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves, 1½ teaspoon lemon juice (optional) and ½ teaspoon powdered rock salt. If you want you can also add 1 teaspoon of grated ginger.
  3. Mix everything well. If sticky, then just grease your finger lightly. Mixing well helps in binding the dough well and prevents the sabudana vada from breaking while frying.
  4. Make 10 to 12 equal sized balls from the dough.
  5. Grease your palm and flatten the balls gently to give the shape of a vada. If they break towards the edges, you can just stick them back. Place them in a plate or foil. Do not make them too thick or too thin. The vadas will puff up after frying. Very thick vadas don’t cook inside and very thin vadas may break.

Fry Sabudana Vada

  1. Heat oil in a pan until oil turns hot enough. Check by dropping a small portion of the dough to the hot oil. The dough must rise and not sink. This is the right temperature. Next, take 1 tsp of the dough and shape to a small vada or ball and drop in the hot oil. In case the vada doesn’t break then you can go ahead and fry all of them If the ball disintegrates in the oil, then add 1 tablespoon flour to the mixture and mix well. If you are fasting then add kuttu ka atta otherwise you can add rice flour. This step is optional only to ensure the vadas don’t get disintegrated in oil. Shape the mixture to vadas. Gently slide 2 to 3 sabudana vadas to hot oil. Let them fry on a medium heat for a few minutes and firm up. Do not touch them or disturb them until they firm up & become golden. Otherwise they may break. Deep fry them in batches of 2 to 3 on a medium heat.
  2. When one side of the vada turns firm and golden then flip them to the other side. Fry until golden & crisp on both the sides. Before you fry the next batch, ensure the oil is moderately hot enough again and not very hot. Serve sabudana vada with green chutney or farali chutney.

Pro Tips

  1. Soaking sabudana : There are different kinds of sabudana available in the market, some soak up well in just 2 hours while some need 5 to 8 hours of soaking time. Adjust the soaking time as needed until the sabudana turns soft, without any hardness inside.
  2. Checking sabudana: After the soaking time, press few sabudana pearls in between your thumb and forefinger. They must get mashed easily. Sabudana if not soaked well can burst in oil. So make sure they are soaked well and not hard from inside.
  3. Potatoes : Using old potatoes is essential to make perfect sabudana vada. Using newly harvested potatoes often cook up to a mushy texture which can ruin the vadas. Boiled potatoes help in binding the mixture. So boil them with care without making mushy or soggy. Soggy potatoes often break up the sabudana vada while frying due to excess moisture.
  4. Peanuts : Crushed peanuts help in absorbing the excess moisture if any. So I prefer to powder it. However you can just crush them coarsely in a mortar pestle if you prefer crunchy peanuts in the sabudana vada.

How to prevent them from breaking

  1. Using flour : Earlier I had never used flour to make my sabudana vada. It is only a optional ingredient. But lately I have made them many times with flour and felt they are less greasy and more crisp with little flour added. If your vadas break then you can fix it by adding 1 to 2 tbsps of flour to absorb excess moisture. If making the vadas on fasting days, then you can add some kuttu ka atta or rajgira flour.
  2. Temperature of oil : Sabudana vada can break while frying if the oil is not hot enough. Always check if the oil is moderately hot enough to fry. Also fry on a medium high flame. Frying them on a very high flame will brown them too quickly. Frying on a low flame will make them oily.

Faqs

Variations

For a healthier option, sometimes I make these with whole grain flour. If you are fasting, then you can easily add some buckwheat flour (kuttu ka atta), amaranth flour or even millet flour like sama flour. You can make these pretty much with any healthy flour like ragi flour, jowar flour or bajra flour. I use about ¼ fine flour in this recipe. Though you can add more, sabudana vadas will pick up the flavor of the flour. I basically use whatever whole grain flour I have at home.Potatoes can be easily swapped with sweet potatoes or raw banana. Whatever you use ensure you don’t overcook this binding ingredient. Also with raw banana, you have to mash the mixture very well and knead it a bit so there is enough binding.Stuffed sabudana vadas: You can also make stuffed sabudana vadas by stuffing your favorite ingredients. At home we love stuffing some fine chopped cashews and raisins. This only adds some sweetness to the vadas but also adds nutrition.

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Sabudana Vada recipe first published in September 2015. Updated and republished in June 2022.