Sabudana Vada Recipe

Sabudana vada, a traditional Indian snack made with sabudana/sag or tapioca pearls and potato. My fail-proof Sabudana vada recipe to make Sabudana tikki or cutlets.

Crisp and crunchy outside and melt in mouth soft inside these gluten-free, Indian vegetarian snack to serve for appetizers or breakfast.

sabudana vada crispy recipe

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This is a traditional Maharashtrian recipe of Sabudana vada and these vada turn out to be very crispy outside and have a soft texture inside. A popular Indian breakfast which is served with Sweet curd for the days when fasts are observed.

Not only for fasting, these sago and potato cutlets are perfect snack for teatime. You can serve this popular vegetarian snack with green chutney and a hot cup of masala tea or ginger tea.

How To Make Sabudana Vada?

Another Sabudana recipes that I absolutely love making during fasting are Sabudana khichdi and Sabudana kheer.

sabudana vada bombs

Sabudana vada is filling snack and easy to cook. I sometimes serve it traditionally with just sweet curd, because that’s this Maharashtrian dish is typically served. To make the traditional sweet curd take 1-2 teaspoon of sugar and mix it in a bowl of fresh creamy yogurt. (Sugar quantity can change as per the preference.)

Not only for fasting these sabudana vada are perfect evening snack to serve with a hot cup of masala tea.

I know you can relate to my craving of crispy golden fried hot snack and my obsession with sabudana vada recipe. It is my way of satisfying those sudden crispy cravings 🙂

I often make Air fried Sabudana vada for breakfast or evening tea and sometimes pair it with any of my salad recipes make a meal.

Ingredients for Sabudana Vada

Sago or Sabudana: Sabudana is made up of tapioca. The starch is extracted from tapioca roots and processed to make these different sized sabudana pearls. Also known as sago or tapioca pearl.

Boiled Potato: I always have boiled potatoes in the fridge. So it is easier to make cutlets, tikkies and many other potato snacks. Always cool down potatoes before making any of these snacks it helps in the best texture!

Peanuts: Roasted and skinned peanuts which are crushed into a coarse texture.

Freshly Chopped Ingredients: coriander/cilantro, green chillies.

Spices and Seasonings: Salt, black pepper

Watch Recipe Video

Tips to Make Best Sabudana Vada

How to Prevent Sabudana vada from Breaking

Often times it may happen that sabudana vada crack during frying. To prevent sabudana vada from breaking take care of few things.

Knead and mash sabudana and potato mixture nicely. Because starch from sabudana will mix nicely and it acts as great binding for these sabudana vada.
You can also add flour like kuttu ka aata/ buckwheat flour which are used in fasting. This will prevent breaking of sabudana vada while frying.

How to Prevent Sabudana Vada from Soaking Too Much Oil

Excessive water is most well known culprit. If vada mixture is watery it will absorb excessive oil. If you soak sabudana in right way it will not happen.
Another thing to prevent sabudana vada from soaking excessive oil is, frying at right temperature. Keep the oil temperature hot initially and reduce it to medium heat after about a minute.

I have also written a separate detailed post for Right Deep frying techniques

My Secret of Soaking Sabudana for Vada

Soak the sabudana /sago pearls in ample amount of water for 10 minutes. Discard the water and keep the sabudana aside for the next 2-3 hours. This way there is no extra water and resulting vada will be perfectly crispy outside and pillowy soft inside.

FAQ’s For Making Sabudana Vada

Sabudana Vada in Air Fryer

Traditionally, sabudana vada is deep-fried. But at times, when I am running late, or I want to make it with lesser oil, I make these vada is air fryer. There is absolutely no change in the steps when air frying the sabudana vada excluding the deep-frying part.

For air frying, brush the prepared cutlets with oil or use a spray bottle and air-fry at 200C for

How long you should soak sabudana?

You can soak sabudana in water just enough to cover it. Keep it for 2-3 hours till sabudana pearls become 2-3 times bigger in size.

How long you can store soaked sabudana?

You can keep soaked sabudana in fridge for 2-3 days very safely. I have kept and for 6-7 days as well and it was.

Recipe Notes and Tips to Make Best Sabudana Vada

Use medium sized Sago or sabudana for making sabudana vada.
Soaking time and how you soak the sabudana matter a lot for perfect sabudana vada. How well you soak sabudana and how well the water is drained from sabudana also matters in final texture of sabudana vada.
I can’t stress enough to squeeze out excess water from sabudana. If it is too watery the resulting vada can become become soggy.

Step by Step Instructions With Pictures

step by step Sabudana mixture for vada

Soaking Sabudana

To make sabudana vada first soak sabudana. Wash it nicely and then soak it in water which is just covering it for 2-3 hours.

When sabudana is soaked, it doubles in size. Now squeeze out excess water (if any) and keep the sabudana aside to make vada. [photo 1,2]

To Make Vada Mixture

In a bowl add grated/mashed boiled potatoes, soaked sabudana, grated paneer, chopped coriander, green chillies, salt, black pepper and mix to combine well. [photo 3,4,5,6]

step by step sabudana vada making shots

After mixing them well we will divide them into 12 -16 portions. You can shape Sabudana vada in your desired shape. Traditionally these are shaped like round flat patties. [photo 1,2,3]

Frying Sabudana vada

For deep frying, heat oil in a pan till smoking point. Add Sabudana vada in the hot oil and reduce the heat to medium.

When vada are golden brown from one side flip them over and cook on the other side.

Take them out of hot oil and drain out excess oil. Place them on absorbent paper to further remove oil. [photo 3,4,5]

Likewise, deep fry all the vada and when done take them out in the serving plate.

Serve with green chutney and enjoy the crispy vada with your friends and family this Navratri.

Air Fried Sabudana Vada

For air frying Sabudana vada preheat air fryer at 200C for 5 minutes. Brush the vada with oil, place them in a single layer and air fry at 200C . Flip them after 5 minutes and again air fry for 3-4 minutes to crisp the other side.

step by step sabudana vada making shots

More Such Recipes:

Sabudana khichdi

Vegetable Cutlets

Potato Corn Cutlets

Soya Chunks Cutlets

Matar Paneer Cutlets

If you are fasting You can read the other recipes for Navratri on my website. Another Vrat recipe you can try is Vrat wale sookhe aloo, Kuttu ke pakode

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