Sabudana Kheer is a nutritious pudding made with milk and sugar or jaggery. The milk is boiled till half in volumn. Then sugar and the sabudana pearls are added to the milk and cooked till the consistency is thick. The pearls absorb most of the liquid, so care should be taken not to thicken the pudding too much on the stove.

Ever since my childhood, I’ve looked forward to the festival of Navratri. As a child I was not aware of the significance of the festival. It was the delicious food prepared by my mother during the festival that was the main appeal. Till date I don’t know why its called fasting. Most dishes are deep fried. Other dishes which include fruit, sabudana and vegetables are tasteful and full of flavour. The dishes I prepare today are mostly what my mother cooks. A few dishes I have learnt from neighbours and the extended family.

In my family we eat the ‘falhar’ or fasting food for the first seven days. On ‘Ahstmi’ or the eighth day, we do the pooja and have Sooji Halwa, Kale Chane and Puris for ‘parsad’.

Sabudana or Sago is a produce, prepared from the milk of Tapioca Root. The root, received from the farms is hygienically cleaned in water & after peeling the skin, it is crushed, allowed to pass the milk after retaining all fibre & impurities. The milk is settled in a tank for nearly 3 to 8 hours, thus all residual impurities float to the top of the tank & are drained out of the settled milk. From this settled Milk Cake, Globules are made by a special  a very simple indigenous machine. After sizing the globules by filtering through sieves, it is roasted on hot plates or heated in steam, depending upon the desired final product. Sago in globular shape is then dried under direct sunlight on big platforms. ~ Sabuindia

As Sabudana is mainly starch which contains carbohydrates, it is great for a quick boost of energy, and is often served in India for breaking fasts during religious festivals. Sabudana  can be cooked in either savoury or sweet dishes. Sabudana are dried globules which need to be re-hydrated. This is the tricky part. The best way to re-hydrate them is to spread them out on a flat plate and sprinkle water over them. They will absorb the water. This process needs to be repeated till the sabudana pearls/globules are soft to touch.

Sabudana Kheer

Sago Milk Pudding

Ingredients ~

½ cup sabudana/sago pearls
2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar
2 green cardamoms, powder
kesar/ saffron strands

Method ~
1. Re-hydrate the sabudana pearls by placing them on a flat plate and sprinkling water over them occasionally till the pearls feel soft to the touch.
2. In a heavy bottom pan, mix the milk and the sabudana pearls.
3. Add the sugar and cook on medium flame stirring so that the sabudana does not stick to the bottom.
4. Once the milk is thickened and the sabudana pearls are translucent, take off the fire and add the cardamom powder.
5. Serve hot or cold topped with saffron strands.

For more recipes of dishes cooked in my family during the Navratri festival, please read my post, Navratri Vrat Thali.

Most of the recipes are simple and quick to cook, yet are delicious.