Sabudana Khichdi is a khichdi-like dish made with tapioca pearls. Khichdi is a dish that is normally made with rice and dal, but in this case, the rice and dal are replaced by tapioca. “Subudana” means “tapioca” in English. It can also be called “sago” or “sagu” in different Asian and Southeast Asian countries.
Sabudana Khichdi is a fasting food. In Ayurveda, fasting foods must be white. These white foods are said to be cleansing. Foods like yogurt, rice, potato, cashews and tapioca pearls.
Many fasts are challenging because of the severe food restrictions, but even as a kid I used to look forward to fasting, and my family fasted a lot. That is because our fasts involved a lot of delicious foods, especially Sabudana Khichdi. I always looked forward to the sweet, nutty, slightly sweet flavor of this dish.
I don’t practice fasting the way my family did when I was a kid. Instead, I make Sabudana Khichdi as an regular household meal.
Sabudanu Khichdi
Ingredients
- 1 cup tapioca soaked for 4 hours
- 1 medium potato finely diced (about 1 cup chopped)
- 3 tbsp ghee or oil
- 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1-2 green chilies chopped
- ½ tsp sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Soak sabudana (tapioca) with just enough water to cover. Drain soaked tapioca in a colander for 10 minutes. Do not stir it too much as they will break.
- Heat ghee in a skillet.
- Add cumin seeds and green chilies. Cumin seeds should sizzle and pop.
- Add potatoes and cook.
- When potatoes are cooked, add tapioca, salt, sugar, and almond flour.
- Cook for 2 minutes only. Gently stir, being careful not to break the sabudana pearls.
Video
Nutrition
FAQ
Typically, this khichdi is eaten alone, or with a side of yogurt. Since it is a fasting food, you wouldn’t normally add any kinds of sides to it.
Although this is a high carbohydrate dish, fasting is a theory of healthy eating. It’s an Ayurvedic health concept that the white food are cleansing to your system. As long as you do not consume excessive calories alongside Sabudana Khichdi, it can be healthy.
1. Soaking the tapioca is really important. If you soak it for too long it will get gooey. Only soak it in enough water to just cover the sabudana. Do not soak it for longer than 4 hours.
Do not leave out the nut powder. Nut powder is really important to give it flavor and to soak up the gooeyness of the sabudana.
2. Traditionally you would use peanuts, and you would grind these in a mortar and pestle. My recipe uses almond flour because I buy it already powdered from the store, it’s quicker and easier, and I like the milder flavor. I learned that from my mom who has always used almond flour.
You could use the traditional peanuts, or try other nuts or seeds. I think sunflower seeds would work well.
The chilies are key, they add a lot of flavor to a dish that otherwise wouldn’t have much. If you don’t like spicy food, don’t skip the chilies, instead use less spicy varieties of chillies that will still provide flavor.
Garnish with cilantro if this is not for fasting purposes.
