Festival season is upon as Navratri has already begun, following would be Karva Chauth, Diwali, Thanks Giving and then Christmas. I love this time of the year as being multi cultural I get to celebrate all the festivals and cook delicious recipes for all of them. Let's talk more about Navratri- the festival celebrated for nine days by worshiping the nine forms of GODDESS SHAKTI where we offer our prayers and some of us also observe fast.
Observing fasts during these nine days is tough as we only eat certain foods by avoiding eating the regular foods. Vrat ka khana or fasting food consists of several fruits, vegetables and few grains. One of the most commonly used item is SABUDANA (TAPIOCA PEARLS) which is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant. Fasting foods and rituals varies from region to region in India, being from the western region of India which is Gujarat there are certain recipes which are commonly made during this time. SABUDANA VADA is one of them as they are super duper easy to make and they make a good change in the menu for these nine days.
This recipe I made is with all the ingredients allowed to eat during the Navratri fasts such as sendha namak (rock salt), sabudana , peanuts, ginger, green chilies, black salt, lemon juice, sugar, cilantro, cumin seeds and potatoes. It is very important to SOAK THE SABUDANA for 5-6 hours and then wash them properly and dry it overnight. So it may need some patience and you can do this step one day ahead and enjoy it the next day.
Many people avoid eating deep fried foods during these days you can easily switch from deep frying to shallow frying or just use an APPAM PAN to make this with less oil. So fasting or not you can add this recipe to your tea time snack or appetizers and enjoy it any time of the year. You can also add regular salt and skip the corn starch or substitute it with potato starch and make it for your fasting food as well. However we are almost at the end of the Navratri and with Ashtami celebrations by tomorrow you can enjoy this delicacy at any time.
So without further ado here is the quick list of ingredients and step by step on how to make this yummy recipe called SABUDANA VADA.
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PREP TIME: Soak 5-6 hrs & dry overnight
COOK TIME: 40-45 Mins
SERVES: Makes 30-32 Vadas
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INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups Sabudana
3 Medium Potatoes (boiled & mashed)
1 1/2 cups skinless Peanuts (dry roasted & crushed )
3 pieces ginger (about 1 inch piece each)
8-10 small green chilies
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons Cumin seeds
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
Rock Salt to taste (add regular if not fasting)
1/2 teaspoon Black Salt
3 teaspoons Corn Starch (add potato starch if fasting)
1/4 teaspoons baking powder
Oil for deep frying
STEP 1: Soak the sabudana for 5-6 hours, rinse couple of times till water runs clean and then place them in a colander and cover it with paper towel and let them dry overnight.
STEP 2: Take the ginger and green chilies and crush them fine. Take the raw skinless peanuts dry roast them till lightly brown and let them come to room temperature.
Crush the peanuts into medium to coarse powder like with some small chunks.
STEP 3: Take a large mixing bowl and add the mashed potatoes add green chili and ginger mixture and mix well.
STEP 4: Add the soaked and dried sabudana and rest of the ingredients which are crushed peanuts, lemon juice, sugar, rock salt and black salt, cumin seeds, cilantro, baking powder and corn starch.
STEP 5: Using your hands mix well till all the ingredients are nicely incorporated.
STEP 6: Heat oil in a deep pan and on the side grease your hands with some room temperature oil and take a large spoonful mixture and roll it into a ball like and gently press it to flatten just a bit. Make sure the edges are smoothed so roll the mixture in your hands a couple of times so it holds its shape in oil.
STEP 7: Make equal sized vadas till all the mixture is used and you can place them on an oil greased plate. Once the oil is heated carefully slide 3-4 vadas into it and then keep the flame on medium high and let it cook for a bit before you try to touch them.
STEP 8: Once you see the vadas browning that's when you start to move them around and let it brown properly on all sides and then drain the oil and take them out in a bowl.
STEP 9: You can place a paper towel to soak the access oil from the vadas and then once you fry all the vadas serve them with cilantro chutney without garlic and enjoy. Happy Navratri, Happy Ashatami and Happy Dusshera to everyone celebrating. Slide below for step by step pictures.
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