No Fry Sabudana Vada {Crispy-Spicy Tapioca Fritters}

Sabudana Vada is a Maharashtrian delicacy that is made with tapioca pearls, mashed potatoes, ground peanuts, chillies and cumin seeds. All the ingredients are mixed together, rolled into small balls and then deep-fried into crispy and delish fritters. Served with a sweet, and spicy yogurt sauce these fritters are sure to tickle your taste buds!

Sabudana vada is one of the traditional fasting foods in India. With ‘Hartalika‘ coming up on Sunday, I wanted to share this guilt-free recipe with you. In Maharashtra, ‘Hartalika’  is celebrated  to honor the goddess of harvest and prosperity. Women fast on this day and worship Shiva and Parvati in the evening with green leaves.

I cherish memories of my mom rushing that morning to setup the Puja, making the shiva-linga from the clean river-sand  and then offering the green ‘bel-patra’ leaves to the God. She would recite the story of Hartalika for us so we knew the significance of this day. She then cooked a wonderful meal that included several special fasting dishes. She always made my most favorite fasting dish – sabudana vada!

Every-time I visit India my mom makes sabudana vada for me and I can never stop eating them. They are super tempting and very hard to stop eating.

I almost never cooked them in my house just because they are deep-fried. Last year, I decided to make these fritters using the paniyaram/aebleskiver pan to avoid the deep frying. The result was amazing… same crispy from the outside and soft from inside vada’s but without all that extra grease and the hassle of deep frying. The Tapioca pearls have to be soaked for a few hours, but after that it only takes few minutes to make these savory fritters.

I hope you like them as much as I do. I have it on my repeat list, fasting or not, this make an absolutely delicious snack, lunch or dinner!

Step by step recipe to make the best Sabudana Vada:

Step 1: Soak sabudana in half cup of water for 3-4 hours. Dry roast skinned peanuts and grind them coarsely. Boil, peel and mash the potato. Coarsely grind cumin seeds and green chillies.

Step 2: Mix all the ingredients and cilantro with some salt to taste. Make lemon sized balls.

Step 3: Heat the paniyaram/aebleskiver pan on medium low heat. Add a few drops of ghee in each round section. Place the fritter balls in each section and cook covered for 4-5 mins. Depending on the thickness of the pan, it could take more or less time.

Step 4 – Gently flip the fritters using chopstick or small spoon to cook the top side. Add few more drops of ghee on top of each fritter. The one’s in the center definitely cook much faster, so they will have to flipped first.Cover and cook again for another 4-5 mins on medium low heat until they are golden brown and crisp.

Step 5 – While the fritters are cooking, whisk together yogurt, ground peanuts, red chili powder, sugar and salt to make the chutney. Serve the fritters hot with this sweet and spicy chutney!

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Sabudana Vada – A No-Fry Version {Crispy-Spicy Tapioca Fritters}

Prep Time

4 hrs

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

4 hrs 20 mins

 

Sabudana Vada – Spicy Tapioca fritters with an healthy twist!

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Sabudana Vada

Servings: 4

Calories: 354 kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Ingredients

• 1 cups of tapioca
• 1 medium potato
• 1 teaspoon crushed green chilies or 1 tsp red chili powder or both for a spicer version
• 1/3 cup roasted and ground peanuts
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoon cooking oil or ghee
• salt to taste
• Ingredients for the chutney:
• 1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
• 2 tablespoon roasted and ground peanuts
• 1 tablespoon red chili powder mild to medium hotness
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Rinse and soak sabudana in half cup of water for 3-4 hours. Dry roast skinned peanuts and grind them coarsely. Boil, peel and mash the potato. Coarsely grind cumin seeds and green chillies.
2. Mix all the ingredients and cilantro with some salt to taste. Make lemon sized balls.
3. Heat the paniyaram/aebleskiver pan on medium low heat. Add a few drops of ghee in each round section. Place the fritter balls in each section and cook covered for 4-5 mins.
4. Gently flip the fritters using chopstick or small spoon to cook the top side. Add few more drops of ghee on top of each fritter. The one’s in the center definitely cook much faster, so they will have to flipped first. Cover and cook again for another 4-5 mins on medium low heat until they turn crisp and golden brown.
5. While the fritters are cooking, whisk together yogurt, ground peanuts, red chili powder, sugar and salt to make the chutney. Serve the fritters hot with this sweet and spicy chutney!

Nutrition Facts

Sabudana Vada – A No-Fry Version {Crispy-Spicy Tapioca Fritters}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 354 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 1mg0%

Sodium 65mg3%

Potassium 434mg12%

Carbohydrates 47g16%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin A 595IU12%

Vitamin C 6.4mg8%

Calcium 86mg9%

Iron 3.5mg19%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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