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 can 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 for No-Fry Sabudana Vada:
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.
Mix all the ingredients and cilantro with some salt to taste. Make lemon sized balls.
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.
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.
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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- 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
- 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.
- Mix all the ingredients and cilantro with some salt to taste. Make lemon sized balls.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
Looks yummy…
Thank you Lathi! They are delicious and super easy to make.
I can see why they are on your repeat list. They look good!
Thank you Rini! They are so irresistible
These look gorgeous and delicious! Shall save these to try out over the coming festival season ?
Thank you Priya! Let me know how you like them.
Wow!! These are guilt-free sabudana wadas.I usually avoid making it because it is deep fried.Now,I can make it whenever I want.Thank you Archana.
You are welcome Anuradha! Let me know how you like them.
Sure.
Wonderful recipe đ
Seems like you could use a escargot dish instead of the paniyaram/aebleskiver pan:-)
Cheers !
Hans
http://www.ChefsOpinion.org
Thank you Hans. I cook these on stovetop, but I am pretty sure you can also cook them i the oven in escargot dish.
I like the idea of cooking the vadas on paniyaram pan. It pulls in less oil contrary to the traditional method of deep frying. Great share and lovely clicks ?
Thank you Swetha! These are my new favorite snacks.
Amazing Sabudhana Vadas. Yummy, I can already feel it in my Tummy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Cattie! They are my favorite. Simply irresistible
Looks soooo delicious ?
Thank you Payal! It is a lip-smacking snack!
Healthy version really great. Looks so awesome
Thank you Ruchi! Tastes even better!
This one is freaking awesome.. I love Sabudana Wada.. Gonna try soon..
You said it right! Let me know how you like it
That is such a lovely idea to bake them and make them healthier ?I’m a big fan of sabudana vadas, but never tried making them.. This post gives me some motivation ?
Thank you Nafisa. So Not really baking them, still cooking on stove stop just not deep frying.
Sorry my bad Archana.. I’m just thinking too much about baking these days?
Haha, I think cake all the time ?
Looks so delicious Archana:) That gorgeous golden brown makes me want to run and soak some sabudana! The chutney looks awesome too:)
I too adopt the same technique:)
Thank you Divya! That chutney required no cooking or blender. So super simple to make and goes very well with the hot spicy vadas.
Lovely introduction to your blog Archana – these look like tasty little balls of goodness…..
Thank you Laura! They are indeed very tasty!
And love that you are encouraging your readers to use ghee – so much better for you than vegetable oils…..do you also use coconut oil?
Yes I love ghee, I make my own batch every month. And Yes I use coconut and avocado oils.
Wow making your own ghee – that’s impressive!
It is actually super easy Laura – check out my blog on that https://ministryofcurry.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/homemade-ghee/
Thanks my husband makes the yoghurt in our house so I just sent him the recipe to check out!
Great! Let me know how you like it! Thank you Laura
Thanks to you my fasting menu is set for sunday! And, thankyou for giving me an alternative to deep frying!! Don’t have to worry about muffin tops now lol
YAY! Happy fasting. Let me know how you like them
Tried it , v nice
Thank you Babita! I am so glad you liked them. Happy Ganesh chaturthi!!
I have never tried sabudana . I don’t like it very much . But this seems interesting & worth-to-try . I’ll be glad if u take a halt at my blog too. I’m also a cook . I love to cook nonveg . Plus I’m a great foodie aswell. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post
Thank you Fatima! I will love to check out your blog. Always looking for new recipes
Thank u for your kindness
These look super delicious !!
Thank you Arohii
Love this no fry version??thanks! Will try it soon!
Thank you Ariel! Please let me know how you like them.
Beautiful photography! Love these!
Thank you Jyothi! I love them to make and to eat đ
First time I’ve seen your blog and I’m impressed. Sounds delicious and the pictures are great đ
Thank you Lindsey!
Wao… lovely texture ??
Thank you Rateka! They are crispy in the outside and moist and Yumm inside.
We made this and it was yummy yum yum???
Great! So happy you like it. Thank you so much for letting me know.
These look delightful, and the background story about Hartalika and your mother is lovely.
Thank you Steve! These are indeed very delicious and yes my mom still celebrates with same energy and enthusiasm!
They look even better than the deep fried ones! Love it đ
Thank you Freda! This is the only way I make sabudana vada now.
Sabutdana tikkis or vadas are my favourite. This healthier version looks amazing.
They are my FAV too! And making them this way only allows me to eat a couple more đ
Hi Archana, I have mentioned you in this post. Keep putting the inspirational content that you do ?
https://blogdudeandthefood.wordpress.com/2017/09/09/three-of-my-favorite-food-blogs/
Thank you !
This looks SO yummy and I so want to try it but sadly, I do not have the deep round pan and lid to make it! đ
Check out paniyaram pan on amazon.com So many things you can cook in it. Good way to enjoy lot of foods without having to deep fry them
Hi Archana,
Tried your awesome recipe. The vada turned out be a family-pleaser….. Thank You
You are welcome!!
I tried this recipe today and loved it! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! Thank you for letting me know.
Hi. I don’t have pan. What is my alternative for the same ?