Sabudana Khichdi – Spiced Tapioca (Sago)

Sabudana Khichdi is a popular dish from Maharastra, India. Made from tapioca (sago), this sabudana khichdi recipe is a wonderful blend of flavors — sweet, tangy, spicy, balanced to perfection. It makes a mouth watering brunch or lunch item and is often enjoyed during times of fasting.

Soaking Time: Minimum 2 hrs up to 8 hrs.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Tiime: 15 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

Sabudana (Tapioca/Sago) – 2 cups, (washed and drained)
Water – 1/2 cup
Salt – to taste
Lime Juice – 3 to 4 Tbsp (to taste)
Sugar – 2 to 3 tsp (to taste)
Powdered Roasted Peanuts – 1 cup or to taste
Oil – 2 Tbsp
Ghee – 1 Tbsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies – to taste, finely chopped
Whole Peanuts – 2 Tbsp
Potato – 1 med, peeled and chopped in thin pieces.
Shredded Coconut – 1/3 – 1/2 cup
Cilantro Leaves – 10 sprigs (leaves only)

Method:

1. Wash, drain and soak Sabudana in 1/2 cup of water (covered) for minimum 2 hrs or up to 8 hrs. Toss with a spoon occasionally.
2. Mix Salt, Sugar, Lime Juice and Powdered Peanuts into the soaked sabudana.
3. Heat Oil and Ghee in a medium non-stick pan.
4. Add Cumin Seeds and let them splutter.
5. Add chopped Green Chilies and Whole Peanuts. Cook for 1 minute.
6. Add chopped Potatoes and Salt. Cook uncovered until potatoes are tender.
7. Add sabudana mixture to the potatoes and mix well.
8. Set stove to low, cover and cook for 1-2 minutes. Check and adjust Salt, Lime Juice and Sugar.
9. Add Shredded Coconut and chopped Cilantro Leaves and mix.
10. Keep stirring every 1-2 minutes and re-covering the pan. Sprinkle a little water if the sabudana look like they are drying out.
10. Total cooking time will be approx 8-10 minutes.
11. Serve hot.

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99 thoughts on “Sabudana Khichdi – Spiced Tapioca (Sago)

  1. Hey ladies – I tried this today, but I ended up with a sticky mess! I followed your instructions (and I’ve made sabudana khichdi plenty growing up), but I didn’t get the loose sabudana I was hoping for. Any thoughts? After soaking, the pearls were all very loose, but after adding them to the pan, everything started sticking together. One thing – my sabudana were pretty starchy so I rinsed them through a strainer rather than in the pot like I would with rice. Could this have been the problem? My sabudana are pretty old – could that be the issue? Any suggestions would be much appreciated – I was super disappointed with this attempt and definitely want to try again!

    1. Hi Mona,

      The rinsing method should not affect the texture. Not really sure if the age has anything to do with it either. The usual reason the sabudana get sticky is if you over cook them.

      1. Thanks, Hetal – this batch started getting sticky almost as soon as it hit the heat, well before I could have overcooked them. Any other thoughts? Not a big deal – I’m sure I’ll keep trying! Thanks, as always!

  2. omg.. u both ar gr8 cookerss.. tommorow is our fast day… and i just made the khichdi… nd’ my mom is in india… so i am learning from ur website… thankssss much…

  3. I’m a recent fan and have tried out many of your recipes. The most recent ones were: potato poha, chicken kadhai, cold bean salad. All of them turned out great. I wanted to try the tindora pickle, but couldn’t figure out what pickle masala brand to buy. Can you give us the name of the one you used?

    1. Hi Esther,

      Unfortunately, we made this video a while back and can’t remember the brand (we don’t have a favorite brand that we look for each time). What you can do if you have a choice of brands is to choose the one that looks the freshest and bright red as opposed to brownish.

  4. I tried this recipe today and it turned out just awesome with the proportionas you 2 mentioned.
    You ladies are the best…!!!!!

    Thanks a ton once again….

    Kshama.

  5. Yesterday I made this and it came out well. Earlier I used to soak in more water or leave it on the stove without stirring for a while on low flame (like we do with rava upma) and it would come out mushy. After you guys mentioned that it should be mixed every minute or so, I understood my mistake. Plus having the proportion in the recipe helped. Thanks.

  6. Dear Anuja and Hetal,
    I simply love your SMTC series and wish you both more and more success. It is a pleasure to watch you both demonstrate our Indian recipes making it look so easy. You are both so organized! I will always watch your videos and don’t care if you use orange or pink spatulas, wear dark or light lipstick or have long or short hair! You are two great and graceful young ladies and keep going!

  7. Whoever your Maharashtrian consultant for this dish was, she must have been a Brahmin. They add sugar to all their recipes just like Gujarathis. After adding 3 spoons of sugar you turned it into a sweet dish. Most Maharashrians do not add sugar to this recipe.

  8. Hi Ladies,

    Great cooking, you guys blend in so well when you take turns and talk. I make this for fasting days. One suggestion, if you add Hing or Asafotida for the seasoning, it would be great provided you like the taste of Hing.

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