Sabudana Vada

How much water should sabudana be soaked in?

Just below the level of the pearls, and no more. This is the whole technique. Tapioca pearls absorb roughly their own volume, and once they have taken up what they need, any remaining water sits on the surface and turns the mixture to paste. The common instruction to cover them generously produces a wet mass that will not hold together in oil. Rinse first, add water to just under the top of the pearls, and leave them.

How do you know the soaking is done?

Press a single pearl between thumb and finger. It should flatten completely and evenly, with no hard white core in the middle. The whole mass should look dry and the pearls should be separate rather than clumped in liquid. Undersoaked sabudana stays gritty however long you fry it, and there is no way to fix it once the vadas are shaped.

Why do sabudana vadas break in the oil?

Water, almost always. A wet mixture releases steam violently and the vada falls apart. The other cause is warm potato, which holds more free moisture than cold. Boil the potatoes ahead and cool them, grate rather than mash, and never add water to bind. If a test vada breaks, work in another two tablespoons of crushed peanuts or a spoon of rajgira flour, both of which are permitted during fasts.

What are the peanuts for?

Texture and nutrition, in roughly equal measure. Coarsely crushed roasted peanuts give the crunch that stops the vada being uniformly soft, and they contribute most of the protein and fat in a dish that is otherwise pure starch. Grinding them too fine loses the texture; leaving them whole makes the vada fall apart. Coarse is the right word.

Why is sabudana eaten during fasts?

Because it is not a grain. Hindu fasting traditions in much of India exclude cereals such as wheat and rice, along with common salt, onion and garlic, and permit certain roots, fruits, dairy and specific flours. Tapioca is a root starch and falls outside the prohibition, which is why it became a fasting staple alongside potato, water chestnut flour and amaranth. Rock salt replaces table salt for the same reason.

Is fasting food actually healthy?

Not inherently, and sabudana is the clearest example. It is refined starch with a high glycaemic response and almost no protein, fibre or micronutrients, and the traditional fasting menu of sabudana khichdi, sabudana vada, potato and fried snacks is a day of fast-digesting carbohydrate and oil. People often finish a fast day having eaten more energy than usual. Adding curd, peanuts and fruit makes a real difference. Our Indian food calorie chart has the figures if you want to see how it adds up.

Can they be made without deep frying?

Yes, with a compromise. An appe pan gives round, evenly browned dumplings with far less oil and works well, though you lose the flat shape and some crispness. An air fryer at 190C for about 15 minutes produces a drier, harder vada. Shallow frying in a couple of tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan is the closest to the original. All of them need the same well-soaked, dry mixture to hold together.