Calories in Sabudana Vada

ICMR-NIN's approximate value is about 210 kcal for 2 sabudana vadas, with no weight given, so a single vada is taken as 105 kcal. Sabudana vada is a fasting-day favourite in Maharashtra and beyond, made at home in batches and sold at stalls during Navratri, Ekadashi and Shravan. Home vadas are usually patted flat and small; stall vadas tend to be thicker. Because the guideline is silent on size, treat the figure as a reference point. Half a vada is about 52 kcal and three are about 315 kcal.

The vada is made of soaked sago pearls, boiled potato and crushed roasted peanuts, bound by hand and fried in oil. Sago is almost pure starch, with very little protein or fibre, and the potato adds more starch. The peanuts are the only ingredient with much protein, and they are rich in fat too. Then comes the frying oil. Sago pearls turn sticky and porous as they cook, so the outside of the vada grips oil readily. Starch, peanut fat and frying oil together explain why a small patty reaches a three-figure count.

One sabudana vada is about 5% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 6% of a woman's. On a fast day, though, vadas are often a meal, and three come to about 315 kcal before the curd. A plate like that is high in starch and fat and short of protein, fibre and vegetables, which is why a fast built around sabudana can leave people hungry again soon. Curd, milk, fruit and a handful of roasted peanuts or makhana round it out. Among the 10 fried snacks here it is eighth lightest, just above an aloo bonda at 100 kcal.

Fasting foods are easy to think of as light, but a sabudana vada is starch fried in oil, and the 105 kcal is only a rough guide to one piece. Sago is quick-digesting starch, so people with diabetes who fast should plan the day's food and medicines with their doctor or dietitian beforehand, and so should anyone who is pregnant or has a long-term medical condition.