What is Sabudana?
Sabudana is the Hindi term for tapioca pearls. It is also known as sago. Sabudana is a plant-based ingredient made with starch from tapioca roots. Later, the starch is processed to form tiny grain-like spherical pearls. Sago is widely used in Southeast Asian countries to make desserts, pudding, bubble tea, or snacks. In India Cuisine, sago pearls are commonly used to make various dishes. Many people consume it while observing religious fastings such as Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, or any other Hindu festival.
About Sabudana Vada
In India, the sabudana cutlet is a widely popular vegetarian snack. It is an excellent, vegan, and gluten-free snack. You can serve it as a teatime snack or for breakfast with spicy green chutney and a cup of masala tea. There are many versions of the sabudana vada recipe. In a Marathi Style, sabudana cutlet lot of crushed peanuts, roasted cumin powder, and grated ginger are added. Whereas, in a typical North Indian style sabudana cutlet, we add loads of chopped onion, spices, and fresh coriander. I am sharing an easy Marathi Style sabudana vada recipe that you can deep-fry or cook in an air fryer.
Watch Sabudana Vada Video
Air Fryer Sabudana Vada (Farali Snack)
To make a sabudana vada for vrat (fasting), all you need is – sabudana (tapioca pearls), boiled potatoes, green chili, fresh coriander, rock salt/sendha namak (optional), cumin powder, black pepper, crushed peanuts, and ghee. Ensure these ingredients are not used – onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, table salt, spices, and refined oil, in a farali sabudana vada. To air fry, the vada, brush the air fryer basket with a teaspoon of ghee.
Preheat the air fryer to 180-degree celsius. Once the air fryer is ready, arrange sabudana vada on the basket. Do not overcrowd the basket. Air Fry the vada for 20 minutes. Flip them after 10 minutes for even browning and cooking.
Once ready, serve farali sabudana vada with chutney.
My Tried & True Tips
Many times people complain about soggy, broken, or under-cooked sabudana vada. Follow these tried and tested tips to say goodbye to all the woes related to the sabudana cutlet. Soaking Sabudana: It is best to soak sago overnight or for at least 5 – 6 hours. The ratio of 1:1 (sago to water) always works for me. Too much water while soaking sago makes it mushy and water clogged, resulting in a not-so-crisp cutlet. Boiled Potato: I prefer to boil the potatoes well in advance, allow to cool, remove the skin, and keep them in the fridge. The chilled, firm potatoes do some kind of magic to the texture of the cutlet, turning them into crisp goodness. Peanuts: Use roasted peanuts without skin to add to the vada mixture. Crush the peanut using a rolling pin or mixer to make a coarse powder. Cutlet Shape: If you are not too keen to shape the cutlet into the perfect round, simply pinch a small portion of the dough mixture using your fingers and gently drop it in hot ghee for frying. The bite-size sabudana pakodi tastes exquisite. To test if the oil is ready for frying, drop a pinch of the vada mixture into the hot oil. If the oil is hot enough, the vada mixture will immediately float on the surface rather than sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once you add vada to hot oil, reduce the heat to medium. If the vada is fried at very high heat, they get burnt from the outside instead of turning crisp and remain uncooked from the inside. Do not overcrowd the pan while frying sabudana vada. Fry them in small batches. I would not suggest flipping vada multiple times while frying. Once it turns crisp from one side, flip it once, and cook from the other side.
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