Recipes by Rupa Sethu

Sabudana Khichdi

Let me introduce you to a new ingredient, Sabudana and show you how to make a low-sodium, gluten-free Sabudana Khichdi. Sabudana is an Indian name for small white tapioca pearls or sago. It is a starch that is extracted from the roots of tapioca (or cassava) plant and processed into pearls. Since sabudana is a very filling, starchy, complex carbohydrate, it is often used to break fasting, especially in India (to get the energy levels up!). Bonus fact: It is also a gluten free food! Read more about Sago and Tapioca pearls at The Spruce Eats.

When I think of sabudana, I immediately think of Sabudana Khichdi. This is a super easy and quick dish to put together and an instant energy boost. Careful though, it is carb heavy but trust me, it tastes fantastic and in any case, since it is very filling, you’ll probably only manage a bowl of this yummy dish! That’s called built-in portion control!!

Ingredients

The trick is to get all ingredients together.

  • 1 cup dry sabudana (available at Indian stores locally or online – Amazon has many options). Rinse the sabudana thoroughly under cold running water in a mesh sieve. Then transfer to a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and set aside for about 4 hours or so. It will absorb all the moisture and fluff up into soft, transparent pearls.
  • 2 small potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed.
  • 1 jalapeno, de-seeded and chopped fine.
  • 1 inch of fresh ginger, chopped fine.
  • 2 tsp of cumin seeds
  • 2 tbsp of canola oil (or vegetable oil)
  • 1 tsp of freshly ground cumin powder
  • Couple of sprigs of curry leaves (available in Indian stores. If difficult to find, leave it out)
  • A generous handful of cilantro leaves.
  • Roasted, salted peanuts (Yes, I love these redskin peanuts! They are already salted but that’s fine since I don’t add any salt to my dish)

Method

So now that our sabudana is all fluffed up and ready to go along with all our other ingredients, let’s get started.

  • Pour about 2 tablespoons of oil into a heavy bottom saute pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and cook till they start sizzling.
  • Now add the chopped green chillies, the ginger and the curry leaves, if using.
  • Add the potatoes and stir for about a minute.
  • Turn the heat down low – sabudana is very heat sensitive and cooks fast. Add the sabudana and mix it all together.
  • In a spice mill or dry grinder, roughly powder a handful of peanuts. It’s fine to have some bits of peanut pieces still visible.
  • Top the sabudana mixture in the pan with the peanut powder, the chopped cilantro and mix it all together. Cover the pan and turn off the heat. The flavors will all come together in about 5minutes. Taste and decide if you want to add salt – I prefer to salt the plate!

This low-sodium, gluten-free Sabudana Khichdi is very tasty and full of healthy spices, herbs and complex carbohydrates. It makes a lovely lunch to keep you going through the day! Enjoy!