Sabudana Khichadi

In my mind there are two quint-essential Maharashtrian snacks - kande pohe and sabudana khichadi. Almost everyone I know who grew up in Maharashtra region of India grew up eating them - even those who were not locals (neighbors generally took it upon themselves to feed local delicacies to out of state neighbors - Marathi folks love to connect with each other over food and tea :) )

Unlike the more spicier, richer and well-known North Indian cuisine, Marathi food has a lot milder flavors and simple preparations with locally grown vegetables. The food is lightly influenced by neighboring Gujarat region taking it's cues to add a little sugar to flavor many savory preparations.

Sabudana khichadi to this date reminds me of Tuesdays. Tuesday was the fasting day growing up at our house and Tuesday dinner was predictably the mighty sabudana khichadi - everyone's favorite fasting food. Fasting was religious and was supposed to teach us abstinence, control over what you eat for one day a week. But, this khichadi is so tasty, we never felt like giving up anything or controlling what we eat - instead we kids used to look forward to Tuesday dinners the whole week!
Sago (or Sabudana) is found abundantly in tropical climates. It's an edible starch obtained from a type of palm tree, I believe. These are perfectly round small super white crystals that look like tiny pearls in your hands. The way to cook it is to soak them in water for a few hours and then lightly saute in oil (for savory) or boil with milk (for sweet). Like many ancient foods, these are multi-purpose - you can make khichadi, fry them for sabudana vada or make a sweet kheer. 

Recipe is super simple and being a fasting food, you don't generally add onions, garlic or any other spices other than cumin seeds - but unless you are preparing it for fasting, feel free to add whatever will taste good to you!
Recipe:
Serves 4
Ingredients:
  • 2C sago - dried
  • 1C crushed roasted peanut (or 3/4C roasted peanut powder)
  • 1 large potato
  • 1tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 1tsp cumin seeds
  • 1Tbsp oil or ghee
  • 2 curry leaves
  • 2 green chillis - chopped
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2tsp sugar
  • Garnish: chopped coriander leaves, freshly grated coconut, lime juice (optional)
Recipe:
  • Thoroughly clean and then soak sago/sabudana in 2x the water for a few hours.
  • Drain sago, add peanut powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Set aside.
  • Boil the potato and then peel and chop it into pieces.
  • In a wok, heat oil or ghee. When hot add cumin seeds, curry leaves, chilli and ginger and saute for a few minutes
  • Reduce heat, add potatoes. Cook another minute.
  • Then add sago mixture, mix well. Cover and cook for a few minutes stirring regularly until sago is translucent meaning it's ready. Please don't overcook otherwise they will get gluey and harden.
  • Remove from heat. Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, freshly grated coconut, lime juice. We serve it with some yogurt (optional).
Enjoy with a hot steaming cup of tea or coffee!