Sabudana/ Sago Khichdi Recipe, How To Make Sabudana/ Sago Khichdi Recipe

Sabudana Khichdi is a popular and excellent Maharashtrian breakfast dish made with sago pearls (topiaco pearls), spiced with green chillies and seasoned with roasted peanuts and fresh coconut. Sabudana is popularly known as sago or Tapioca. Sabudana Khichdi is a wonderful, mildly spiced recipe giving a slight crunch from the peanuts and natural sweet flavour from fresh grated coconut.

It is an incredible breakfast dish or can also be served as a snack and tastes super delicious. This is a traditional breakfast dish served in and around Maharashtra region. Made with sago, potatoes and peanuts, this makes a simple, healthy and nutritious dish. A great way to start your day with a stomach filling, carbohydrate rich, energy providing breakfast! Sago or Sabudana is made from the starch extracted from the pith (center) of the sago palm stems.

Sago pearls are tasteless but when cooked balances well with other ingredients in making a delicious dish. Sago can be cooked in various ways. In India, it is used in preparing the sabudana kheer (sago pudding or payasam), sago gruel or soups, sagu dosa, sabudana roti, sabudana vada and upma varieties. Sabudana soup or gruel is an excellent alternative to carbonate drinks as it gives instant energy without any chemicals or artificial sweeteners. Any dish made with Sago or sabudana is good for kids as it helps in boosting their energy. Sabudana is mostly prepared by Hindus during fasting. It is soaked in water until it puffs up and becomes soft and then cooked with various spices and vegetables. But one must keep in mind that the soaking process of the sabudana is the key to making a good Khichdi or else it will become gooey.

Khichdi is a popular and simple dish all over India especially cooked across northern India, eastern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. There are many variations in making the Khichdi. It is considered to be a comfort food, simple, mildly spices and fast to cook. South Asian prepares using Khichdi mixing rice and lentils (dal) cooked with few spices. The word Khichdi or Khicri is derived from the Sanskrit word Khicca, a dish of rice and pulses. A basic Khichdi is usually served accompanied with Kadhi.

Other accompanied are papads, pickle or plain yogurt. Sabudana Khichdi can be eaten on its own or served with plain yogurt. Other popular variants of Khichdi are Mixed Vegetable Khichdi, Moong Dal Khichdi etc. In southern India, Pongal is a dish similar to Khichdi made of rice and lentils, seasoned with black pepper, cumin and cashew nuts. To prepare a non-sticky and perfect Sabudana Khichdi, we need to soak the sabudana pearls in water for 4-6 hours before cooking.

Add enough water to just soak all the sabudana in. Gently fluff up the sabudana pearls using a fork every one hour which helps in puffing the pearls and it will almost double its volume. If planned well in advance, preparing this dish is very easy and a quick recipe. For preparing this appetizing breakfast dish, in a bowl, soak the sabudana with just enough water to barely cover the sabudana. Soak for 4– 6 hours. Drain the water and keep aside. You can also soak it overnight.

Wash and cut the potato into pieces and soak them in water or else they get oxidised and decoloured. Keep this aside. Add one teaspoon oil to a frying pan and roast the peanuts. Remove the skin, and grind the peanuts into a coarse powder. Set aside. Add one and half tablespoon of ghee, add cumin seeds, few curry leaves, chopped green chillies and sauté. Add potato pieces, salt and sugar. Mix well and half cook the potatoes. Add soaked sabudana and mix well.

Mix well and add crushed roasted peanuts. Cover with lid and cook for 5 mins. Mix in-between and cook until the sabudana is done and transparent. Finish it off with ground coconut and this is ready to serve. Serve hot with coconut chutney or teeka chutney.

TIP – Soak the sabudana pearls in just enough water overnight, as they absorb the water and swell nicely. Sabudana Khichdi is full of starch or carbohydrates and an excellent energy booster. Do try this recipe; kids would love the taste for its nutty and mildly spiced flavours. To watch the making of the recipe,

click on the below link:

https://www.vahrehvah.com/sabudana-sago-khichdi

Sabudana Khichdi is light and easy to digest. According to Indian medicine it is believed that sago and rice have a cooling effect on the system, hence sago gruel is given if you have excess bile (caused by excess body heat). Sabudana is extremely low in fat but also low in protein.

As it's just starch, other than the carbohydrates, nutrition-wise, sabudana does not contain any minerals or vitamins and has very low amounts of calcium, iron, and fiber. However, you can make up for this by using other ingredients with it, such as milk for making sabudana kheer/payasam/gruel or vegetables and peanuts for making sabudana khichdi.

Enjoy Cooking!