Sabudana Khichdi

Sago pearls with potato, peanuts and curry leaves. Overnight soak, ten minutes in the pan.

Serves 2 · Active ~18 min · Total elapsed ~8 hr 20 min, nearly all soaking

Nutrition (calculated)

  • Energy ~520 kcal per serve · ~1,040 kcal total
  • Protein 5 g · Carbs 100 g · Fat 12 g
  • Fibre 4 g

Computed from the ingredient list, not taken from the source. Sodium is not costed — the salt is given as ½ tsp or to taste. The optional sugar is included and comes to about 4 kcal per serve.

Equipment

  • A wide pan. The pearls need room to move — crowded, they clump, which is the failure this recipe is written to avoid.
  • A colander for draining, and a bowl for the overnight soak.

Ingredients

Grouped by when they’re used.

  • The night before
    • 1 cup sabudana (180 g sago pearls)
    • 1 cup water (240 ml) — measured, not approximate
  • Before you start
    • 1 medium potato (200 g), diced small
    • 1–2 green chilli, chopped
    • 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
    • ½ lemon
  • 0 min — 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 min — ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 min — the diced potato
  • 6 min — 2 tbsp raw peanuts
  • 9 min
    • The chopped green chilli
    • 6–7 curry leaves
  • 10 min
    • The drained sabudana
    • ½ tsp salt — sendha namak if cooking for a fast
    • ½ tsp sugar (optional)
  • 12 min · finish
    • Juice of ½ lemon
    • The chopped cilantro

Serve with

Chilled yogurt.

Earlier

The night before, ~5 min hands-on:

  • Rinse the sabudana until the water runs clear. This strips the surface starch and is what stops the pearls gluing together.
  • Soak at 1:1 — one cup of pearls, one cup of water, no more. The pearls should be just submerged. Excess water is the single biggest cause of a gloopy result.
  • Leave overnight. Shorter soaks work less reliably.
  • In the morning, drain in a colander even though little water remains.
  • ◆ Press-test a pearl between thumb and finger. It should crush easily. If it doesn’t, it isn’t ready and no amount of pan time will fix it.

Timeline

Legend
  ●  act    ╎  free between stirs
  ┃  stay at the pan    ✓  done
  ◆  go when true    ◇  stop when true
  [+n]  minutes to your next action
  [≈n]  inferred, not stated

 0 min   ● OIL IN, medium
 [+1]    ┃  ◆ until hot
 1 min   ● CUMIN · a few seconds to sizzle
         ┃  the potato goes in right behind it
 2 min   ● POTATOES IN, diced small
 [+4]    ╎  3–4 min, stirring often
         ╎  ◇ almost cooked through
 6 min   ● PEANUTS IN
 [+3]    ╎  2–3 min
 9 min   ● GREEN CHILLI + CURRY LEAVES
         ╎  1 min
10 min   ● SABUDANA + SALT + SUGAR · mix well
 [≈2]    ┃  stir once or twice, no more
         ┃  ◇ most pearls turned translucent
         ┃  past that point they stick
12 min   ● HEAT OFF · LEMON + CILANTRO · toss
13 min   ✓ DONE — serve hot

The stop-condition at 12 min is the one that matters. Every other step has slack; this one has a window, and overshooting it produces exactly the clumpy result the soak was designed to prevent.