For most Maharashtrian households this dish is as common as
Akoori is to a Bawa home. It’s a dish that’s usually a weekly affair,
especially on auspicious days, when they must fast. While I’ve eaten this all
my life, I’ve never attempted to recreate this in my kitchen. I decided it was
time to change that. As always when attempting something new, I began an
in-depth search to ensure perfection. I wanted tips and tricks to ensure, the
sabudana (sago pearls) remain beautifully translucent and separate. Clumped up
sago was a big no! After having checked various videos, recipes and having troubled
my friend Siddharth Alhat (It’s a dish he religiously cooks every Thursday –
Heartfelt thanks, Sid, for being ever so patient with all the crazy questions I
asked), I finally set out to cook the Khichdee and this is EXACTLY how I
did it! 😊
Ideally, if you are attempting this for the first time,
this recipe will go far easier if you prep a few things an evening ahead.
My advice, read, re-read the recipe, for the finer points
of when to ramp up the flame or tone down the heat; when to cover and cook and
when to cook without the lid and lastly, pay attention to the minutes for which you are to cook.
Follow this and you are sure to get perfect sabudana every single time. I
cooked this recipe two days in a row (yeah, I’m a tad crazy that way), to
ensure I give you guys the precise timings and method. Try not to deviate from EITHER.
I know I won’t. 😊
Certain points in this recipe have been typed in capital
letters. Please note, the objective is not to offend but to emphasise the
points to ensure the dish turns out perfect when you recreate it in your
kitchen.
Ingredients:
2 cups filled to the brim (or 300 grams) sabudana (sago)
½ cup + ¼ cup (or 100 grams + 50 grams) raw peanuts
1 teaspoon cumin seeds,
15 to 18 curry leaves, washed
2 to 3 green chilies, finely chopped
3 medium potatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Salt, or to taste (I use Tata Table salt)
4 to 5 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
A handful coriander leaves, washed, and chopped fine
Prep:
1.
In a pan roast ½ cup peanuts, ON LOW HEAT,
until the peanuts turn a few shades darker and emit a beautiful nutty aroma.
(Also, at this point the thin covering of the peanuts will loosen up.) This
should ideally take 10 to 15 minutes. Do NOT rush this.
2.
Remove the peanuts onto a plate. Rub the peanuts in the palm of your hands and discard the outer covering from all peanuts. ALLOW TO COOL.
3.
Once cool, coarsely grind the peanuts and keep
aside, in an airtight box.
4.
Boil potatoes and cool them. Do NOT
peel. Store them, overnight, in the fridge.
5.
Approximately 8 to 11 hours BEFORE COOKING,
wash the sabudana three or four times, until the water runs clear. (like you
would for rice)
6.
Lay out the washed sabudana in a large thali.
(Most recipes tell you to use a bowl, TRUST ME, go with a deep stainless steel thali).
7.
Pour 2 cups (480 mils) water filled to the brim to cover the sabudana. To
ensure there are no mistakes or confusion about the sabudana-water
proportion/ratio, I repeat, I used the cup measurement FILLED RIGHT TO THE BRIM
for the sabadana and for the water. No confusion, right?
8.
Cover and leave the sabudana aside for a
minimum of 8 hours to a maximum of 11 hours. (I soaked the sabudana from 11.45
PM to 10.30 AM)
While you can prep the peanuts and potatoes well in advance,
you need to decide on what time you plan to cook the Khichdee, as the soaking
time for the sabudana will mainly depend on that. That’s it; prep done!
1.
Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Keep
aside.
2.
Take a LARGE bowl and to that add the
sabudana that have been soaking for 8 to 11 hours. The sabudana will have
absorbed all the water and would have doubled in size by now.
3.
To the sabudana, add the coarsely ground
peanuts, salt, and sugar. Give it a good mix BUT… gently, VERY
gently from the sides of the bowl, preferably with a FLAT WOODEN SPOON
or a SILICON SPATULA. Keep aside.
4.
In a large deep pan or a wok (I prefer a deep
pan), heat oil and fry ¼ cup peanuts on MEDIUM HEAT until they turn a
deeper, darker colour. Do not over-fry them or they will taste bitter.
5.
Remove the fried peanuts onto a plate and keep
aside.
6.
In the same oil, add the cumin seeds and allow
to splutter.
7.
Add the curry leaves and green chilies. Sauté
until the chilies begin to lose their rawness.
8.
Add the cubed potatoes and sauté until they are
(sort of) lightly fried.
9.
Ensure the flame is on MEDIUM HIGH and add
the sabudana-peanut mixture and sauté CAREFULLY BUT THOROUGHLY for THREE
MINUTES. It is during this process that the sabudana pearls will begin to
turn translucent from their regular white colour. Do NOT lower the heat
after you add the sabudana-peanut mixture. Keep mixing with the FLAME ON
MEDIUM HIGH or the sabudana will turn mushy and clump up. You do NOT
want that to happen.
10.
After three minutes, LOWER the flame, COVER,
and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
11.
Open the lid, check seasoning, and add if
required.
12.
Add the lime juice, fried peanuts and chopped
coriander leaves and give the sabudana a good BUT GENTLE mix.
13.
Continue cooking and giving it a mix, for a
minute more.
14.
SHUT OFF the stove, COVER
and LEAVE the sabudana as is for 2 to 3 minutes.
15.
Open the lid, give the sabudana, yet another
careful mix. COVER AGAIN and keep for 15 minutes. It is DURING THIS
TIME when you LEAVE THE SABUDANA COVERED that it SORTS ITSELF OUT.
What you get when you open the lid is separate pearls of gloriously translucent
sabudana.
16.
After the 15-minute wait, if you wish to eat
piping hot sabudana, gently reheat the pan on VERY LOW flame for 2 to 3
minutes (NO stirring or mixing). Shut off stove and serve piping hot,
with lime wedges on the side.
Most of you reached out to ask how I achieved the
separate-sabudana texture as clicked in the photographs. Well, now you know how
so go ahead, follow the process, and enjoy the dish.
Chef Notes:
1.
I usually write the finer points of the recipe
in my chef notes but just this once, I have taken the liberty to pen IMPORTANT
points in capital letters in the method itself. I chose to do this to ensure
the reading process for the finer tips become easier to follow when cooking the
dish.
2.
Please ALLOW the roasted peanuts TO
COOL before you grind them, or you may end up with a soggy, clumpy peanut
mix.
3.
The coarsely ground peanuts are essential as
they tend to soak up the wee bit of extra moisture (if any) of the soaked
sabudana.
4.
At the end of the cook, we leave the pan
covered for 15 minutes as it allows the starchy sabudana to sort itself out.
This is quite like how we leave cooked-steamed rice when we want each grain to
be separate. The same methodology works here.
5.
I used the Badadana Sabudana. Do NOT opt for tiny
variety of sabudana pearls.
6.
I used a spatula all throughout the cooking
process as a curved spoon would most likely damage the delicate sabudana
pearls. In case you don’t have a spatula, please use a FLAT wooden spoon
(the one you would use with a non-stick pan).
7.
The best way to mix sabudana while cooking is
to go in from the sides of the pan and toss the sabudana into the center of the
pan. Do that from all sides of the pan to keep mixing and tossing the sabudana.
This ensures they don’t get smashed.
8.
This recipe and the finer points are mainly
penned IN SUCH MINUTE DETAIL for people who are fed up of clumped-up sabudana. I
humbly bow to experts who have been making sabudana for decades and can
cook this recipe blindfolded.
9.
While this is the traditional recipe made in
most homes, there are many variations to this. A few examples to this would be…
The use of raw, cubed potatoes instead of boiled, adding a touch of turmeric
powder and the use of finely grated coconut as garnish. The variations vary
from region to region.
10.
The cup I used is a regular measuring cup. For
clarity… The maximum marking on the cup shows 200 mils but if you fill it right
to the brim, the amount goes up to an exact 240 mils; the Universal measurement
of one cup (Please, let’s not get into the US - UK measurement argument). I
suggest you fill the cup for sabudana and water right up to the brim (as did I)
to avoid any confusion. Theek hai? 😉
11.
You may share the direct blog-link of the
recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any
blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my
recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
Some more photographs:
 |
| Leftover Khichdee was had for breakfast the next day |
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