SABUDANA KHICHDI

Sabudana Khichdi – a pilaf/pulao made with sago/tapioca pearls! This vegan and gluten-free dish is extremely popular in India during the fasting season of Navratri. However if you ask me, you don’t really need an occasion to make and devour it.

This khichdi is extremely simple and yet so flavorful. I love my sabudana khichdi with yogurt on the side.

Sabudana Khichdi is often made during the fasting season in India. It’s usually flavored with peanuts, chilies, cumin and curry leaves.

Tips to Make Non-Sticky Sabudana Khichdi

1. Soak the sabudana overnight. A lot of recipes would call for soaking for 4 hours or 6 hours but in my experience the recipes works best if you soak it overnight.

2. Rinse the sabudana until water turns clear to get rid of the starch. This is an important step to do before you soak the sabudana.

3. Always use 1:1 ratio of sabudana and water. So for 1 cup of sabudana, use 1 cup of water to soak it.

This is the biggest mistake that you can make which results in clumpy khichdi. You want to pearls to be just about submerged in water. A lot of water will result in a gloopy mess!

4. In the morning, drain the sabudana. There will hardly be any water left in the morning after you have soaked the sabudana overnight. However drain using a colander just to make sure that there’s no water.

5. Check if the sabudana has been properly soaked by pressing a pearl between your thumb and index finger. You should be able to smash it easily.

6. Once you add the sabudana to the pan, do not cook or stir it for too long. You have to cook only for few minutes until most of the pearls becomes translucent. If you keep cooking and tossing for a long time, it is going to stick together.

If you follow these tips carefully, you will have a perfect non-sticky sabudana khichdi ready in no time!

What to Add to Sabudana Khichdi?

I added potatoes, green chilies, cumin seeds, peanuts and curry leaves to my khichdi.

You may add spices like turmeric, chili powder. You may add ginger to it the khichdi or even coconut would be great.

If making it for fasting, follow the recipe as it is except add sendha namak  (rock salt) in place of salt.

Method – Sabudana Khichdi Recipe

1- Rinse sabudana under water until watern turns clear. This is important to get rid of all the starch.

2- Transfer the rinsed sabudana to a large bowl and add 1 cup water to it. No more.

3- In the morning the sabudana would have soaked up all the water. But you still drain it using a colander just to get rid of any excess water.

4- To check if sabudana is ready to cook, press a pearl between your thumb and index finger. It should smash easily. Set it aside.

5- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle for few seconds.

6- Then add the diced potatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes stirring often until potatoes are almost cooked. It’s important to dice the potatoes small here so that cook quickly.

7- Add the raw peanuts and for another 2-3 minutes.

8- Then add the green, curry leaves and cook for 1 more minute.

9- Add the drained sabudana to the pan along with salt and sugar.

10- Mix well until well combined.

11- Cook for few minutes until most of the sabudana pearls become translucent, stirring once or twice. Do not cook it for a long time else it will stick. Remove pan from heat. Add lemon juice and cilantro and toss to combine.

12- Serve sabudana khichdi hot with chilled yogurt.

Cre: Cook with Manali