A popular Maharashtrian comfort food and a typical dish made during fasting (vrat), sabudana khichdi is easy, quick and simple to make (quick, except the overnight part!).
I sometimes make sabudana khichdi as a one of the meals of the day even if I am not fasting, and even though it looks little - it does get quite filling. Wiki says that is because of sago’s carbohydrate & peanuts’ protein & other contents that makes the sabudana khichadi filling, have high energy content, and a complete dish.
Everyone has their own style of cooking sabudana ki khichdi, and below is one that I follow, inspired from madhura's recipe.I sometimes make sabudana khichdi as a one of the meals of the day even if I am not fasting, and even though it looks little - it does get quite filling. Wiki says that is because of sago’s carbohydrate & peanuts’ protein & other contents that makes the sabudana khichadi filling, have high energy content, and a complete dish.
Keep it as a plain white khichdi, or make a brown khichdi using red chili powder and peanuts, or have a bright yellow sabudana khichdi with addition of turmeric powder – the choice is yours. You may also add other stuff, such as green peas, as on manjula's kitchen.
The first step to making sabudana khichdi:
How to soak Sago Pearl / Tapioca / Sabudana:
1 cup raw & dry (unsoaked, basically) sago pearl/tapioca (sabudana) should be good for 3-4 persons. The pearls double in size after soaking.
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| BEFORE - AFTER: tapioca/sago/sabudana |
Step 2. After 30 minutes, drain the water out, cover the sago in the container & keep it overnight... or about 5-6 hours in the daytime. You don’t need sabudana immersed in water all night.
Step 3. After overnight or 6 hours - sprinkle some water on the tapioca, fluff it, cover it & keep it another hour. No soaking again; just sprinkle.
Step 4. After an hour, drain any remaining water & you are ready to cook sabudana khichadi.
What you’ll need to make sabudana khichdi:
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| ingredients for sabudana ki khichdi |
For the 1 cup of pre-soaked sago you need:
3 tsp oil/ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
Few curry leaves (karipatta)
1 potato, par-boiled & chopped
Color determination*
Salt & sugar to taste [I put 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar]
½ cup roasted &/shelled peanuts
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp coconut, fresh or dry, desiccated or grated
1 Tbsp Lemon juice [or to taste]
* Color determination indicates that if you want …
- White Khichdi: use 2 green chilies, chopped [or to taste]
- Brown Khichdi: use ½ tsp red chili powder [or to taste]
- Yellow Khichdi: use 1/8 tsp turmeric powder [or as per color strength]
Let’s Begin!
1. Heat oil/ghee in pan on medium; add cumin seeds, let pop, add curry leaves + potato & sauté until potato appears just about cooked (or starts changing color).
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| how to cook sabudana ki khichadi |
2. Add color determination* + soaked sabudana & mix well for couple of minutes until sago gets a bit translucent. Then add roasted peanuts {for brown khichdi: add roasted peanut powder if you have it handy, OR use roasted peanuts, or both} + cilantro + coconut + salt + sugar; mix everything well along with sabudana, cover & let it cook on low flame for just couple of minutes. Avoid sprinkling water during cooking.
3. Switch off heat, add lemon juice at the end & give it a last good quick mix. Serve hot, accompanied with curd or as is.
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| brown sabudana khichdi using red chili and peanut powder |
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| white sabudana khichadi with potatoes and peanuts |
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| yellow sabudana khichdi using haldi |
Sabudana Khichadi Blunder Alert and FAQ
Q: When
I make this, my sabudana sticks to each other. How to avoid sabudana
khichdi to get soggy while cooking?
A: If you left sabudana immersed in water
too long, or you did not drain water before cooking it, or if you sprinkled
water while cooking - the sabudana would stick to each other and get
soggy. Avoid all those.
Q: Khichdi
is kind of stiff, not soft & easy to chew.
A: Either you didn’t soak it properly
so tapioca didn’t expand well, or you kept cooking & mixing for long
time. Sabudana khichdi gets cooked within 10 minutes!
Q: Khichdi
became dry after it cooled down.
A: Happens,
sprinkle little water, heat up & have it again..
Q: How to make sabudana
khichdi without soaking? How to make sabudana khichdi if it is not
soaked? Don't have time to soak.
A: Not
possible, unless the sabudana you have is some special type. At least try
soaking sago/tapioca pearls for 4 hours. Otherwise soak for 1 hour and
made sabudana vada instead of khichdi...
