Calories in Sabudana Khichdi

The recipe uses 152 g of sago, 140 g of potato, 73 g of peanuts, 20 g of coconut, 3 tablespoons of ghee and 3/4 teaspoon of sugar, and makes 3 portions. The source does not define the size of the bowl, so one serving here simply means one of those three portions: 51 g of dry sago, 47 g of potato, 24 g of peanuts and a tablespoon of ghee. That is a full meal-sized helping, the kind eaten as the main food on a fasting day. A small plate offered as a snack or breakfast side would be nearer half, which is 254 kcal.

Fat and carbohydrate each supply 47% of the energy, and protein just 6%. Sago is almost pure starch and the potato adds more, which accounts for the carbohydrate. The fat comes from the tablespoon of ghee, the peanuts and the coconut, and it is unusually high for a dish thought of as light. The ghee and coconut also make much of that fat saturated. Peanuts supply most of the 7.4 g of protein; sago itself has almost none. Ordinary khichdi made with rice and moong, by comparison, is 327 kcal a bowl in the same set.

One portion of sabudana khichdi is about 24% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 31% of a woman's. On a fasting day it is often the main meal, sometimes eaten twice, and two portions come to 1,016 kcal and 54.8 g of fat. With 7.4 g of protein and 4.9 g of fibre it does not hold hunger for long relative to its calories. A bowl of curd alongside adds protein, and fruit or a cucumber salad adds bulk, both of which many fasts permit.

Sabudana khichdi is fasting food, and fasting food is often assumed to be light. This portion is not: 508 kcal, with 27.4 g of fat, much of it saturated fat from the ghee. It is also starch-heavy and low in protein and fibre. People with diabetes, or anyone fasting while on medication, should plan fasting-day meals with their doctor or dietitian instead of relying on sago dishes to carry them through.