GUJARATI SABUDANA NA VADA
WHAT IS SABUDANA?
Sabudana is essentially tapioca pearls or sago that is famous in India, but also famous all over Asia as well. You will see it popular amongst Indians as a fasting food, usually eaten during the Mahashivratri and Navratri festivals. Sabu literally means soap and dana means seeds. They look like white pearls, are chewy in texture when soaked for the right time, in the right amount of water and cooked well. They get sticky and mushy in texture like soap when soaked in more water than recommended.
Asians typically use sago pearls to make a cold tapioca pudding, which I love! They usually make it with tropical flavors and it tastes really delicious!
Mom made sabudana na vada quite often as an appetizer, when we had guests over, or simply as an after school snack, or a Sunday light dinner, many a times. We typically ate it with ketchup, or cilantro chutney, along with pipping hot masala chai. What makes it gujarati is the addition of sugar and lemon to the vadas, to give it that sweet and sour taste, which is typical of Gujarati cooking. I mean we are known to add sugar to any and every savory dish out there!
SABUDANA NA VADA INGREDIENTS:
The typical ingredients in sabudana na vada are as follows:
Sago pearl or tapioca or sabudana : These are soaked in hot water for about 2 to 4 hours, when the sago pearls soak in all the water and plump up nicely to get that typical chewy texture that we are looking for in the vadas.
Boiled potatoes: Boiled potatoes are typical in the vadas. I like them mushy, but if you prefer your potatoes slightly meaty, you can keep them half mushy and half tiny pieces. You require it to be slightly mushy so that you can bind the vadas.
Coarsely to almost finely ground roasted peanuts: Again for the roasted peanuts, some folks prefer coarsely chopped peanuts to get a bite out of the peanuts. But I like an almost ground mixture, as it distributes throughout the vada mixture.
Green chillies and ginger: Aadu/Marcha or ginger and green chillies is a vital part of the Gujarati food, and is seen in all savory dishes. We cannot live without aadu/marcha combination. So both are added to the vadas to give it that fresh spicy taste.
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is required to give it that characteristic sour taste that goes perfectly with the peanuts, and the green chillies in the vadas.
Cilantro: Cilantro is a must to provide a fresh herby taste to the vadas.
Sugar and Salt: In the Gujarati culture, salt does not exist without sugar. They balance each other and help to bind all the flavors together. So a bit of sugar is required to round up the overall taste of the vadas.
ARE THE VADAS HEALTHY?
Sabundana na vadas, although they are gluten free and vegan, are full of starch and carbohydrates. They do not really have much nutritional value, but because of its high carb content, are known to be good to provide energy during the fasting period.
It does contain peanuts which provides the protein content.
Vadas are typically deep fried in hot oil. I shallow fry them on both the sides and that works out well for me. That is how my mom made them as well. She would then drain them on a paper towel to drain off the excess oil, which helped them to be slightly better than deep frying the vadas.
TIPS TO HELP MAKE THE BEST VADAS:
- Soak the tapioca pearls for atleast 2 to 4 hours in hot water. Hot water helps to make the pearls softer, faster.
- Boil, cool and peel the potatoes while the tapioca pearls are soaking. This is all part of the preparation for the vadas.
- The vadas do not take time to assemble. It is a matter of putting the ingredients all in a bowl, mixing and moulding the vadas.
- The vadas are usually deep fried, but I shallow fry them and they taste just as delicious! With less oil used in the process.
- Shallow fry them on medium to high heat so as to have an even browning on the vadas.
- Vadas can be stored in an aluminum foil for upto a week. Put them in a toaster oven to crisp them up again before serving.
Hope this recipe and tips inspires you to make these amazing vadas. We love them, especially my kids and a little planning can help to whip these up pretty quickly once the tapioca pearls are soaked and potatoes are boiled.
If you do make this recipe, please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram, and/or leave a comment on this blog post!
XO
Amisha
Gujarati Sabudana Na Vada
Ingredients
- Makes about 12 vadas
- Sabudana Vada:
- 1 ½ cups (225 g) sabudana (sago pearls)
- 1 cup (236 g) hot water
- 2 medium potatoes(300 g), boiled, cooled, skin removed
- 2 green chilis
- 1 inch ginger
- ½ cup (60 g) roasted coarsely chopped peanuts (leaning towards fine)
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Oil for shallow frying
- To serve:
- Tomato ketchup
- Cilantro Mint Chutney
Instructions
- 1. In a strainer bowl, add the sago pearls, and run it under the tap, to wash off the excess starch. Place the sago pearls in a medium bowl. Pour the hot water on top, mix gently and set it aside for 2 to 4 hours.
- 2. All the water will be absorbed within that timeframe.
- 3. Add the sago pearls into a large mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes, not completely so it has a bit of small pieces to it. Add it into the bowl.
- 4. In a small food processor, add the ginger and green chilis, and grind into a paste. Add it into the bowl.
- 5. Add all the remaining ingredients, peanuts, cumin seeds, salt, sugar, cilantro, lemon juice into the bowl and mix with your hand under it is a cohesive mixture. You can taste it to ensure that the salt and lemon juice is adequate.
- 6. The total weight is around 850 g. You can weigh it to check it yourself. Divide the mixture by 10 or 12. I divided by 10 to get 85 g per vada. Make a ball of each vada and then gently squoosh it between the palms of your hands to flatten it into a disc that is about 3 inches in diameter. Repeat the process for all the vadas.
- 7. In a shallow frying pan, on medium to high heat, add vegetable oil, upto about 1 ½ to 2 inches in height. Wait for 5 minutes for the oil to heat up.
- 8. Slowly add about 4 vadas at one time into the pan. Be careful as the oil may splatter. Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes per side. It should get slightly brown but not burnt.
- 9. Keep a plate on the side with a paper towel or a parchment paper.
- 10. Using a spider skimmer, remove each vada and place it on the plate on the side. Repeat the process for all the vadas.
- 11. Serve immediately, while hot, with tomato ketchup and cilantro mint chutney.
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