I never had sabudana khichdi till I was in my twenties. Been brought up in Punjabi family, I never knew about this Maharashtrian dish. For navratra fasting, all we knew about were chips, potatoes, fruits, kuttu ka aata (buckwheat flour) and samvat (millet) rice. And even these weren’t too common. It was when I started working and saw this on office cafeteria menu, I thought of trying it. To my surprise, I really liked it.
After that I had numerous failed attempts to make the perfect sabudana khichdi. Every time I thought of making it, I’ll spend so much time on internet to make the perfect version and failed. I tweaked my recipe multiple times and finally one day, voila, it worked. To get the recipe I used, please check sabudana khichdi recipe.
Here, I am sharing few of the secrets to get the perfect, non-sticky, non-mushy tapioca pearl pilaf. Please note that one (or all) of the below mentioned tricks can give you the sabudana khichdi the way you like. So keep trying and get the perfect delicious meal for you:
1. Washing sabudana: Place sabudana in a colander and wash it under the cold water till clear water appears. This takes off most of the starch and thus makes it less sticky.
2. Water level: Do not add too much water while soaking. Water level should be enough to cover the sabudana and not more.
3. Soaking Time: There are different sabudana’s available in the market. There is just no way of knowing which one needs more soaking time. It’s mostly hit and trial. The rule of thumb is to soak smaller one’s for less time. Keep a check on the sabudana after every 2 hours. If they are fluffed up and you are able to squish them easily with you fingers, soaking time is over. Drain off water. If not, sprinkle some water and wait for another 2 hours.
4. Less is more: Do not add too much of oil while cooking.
5. Peanuts to the rescue: Roast the peanuts. Let it cool and them grind it. Mix these in the drained tapioca before cooking and it will save further sticking and make the pearly look.
Just try these steps and see what works for you. Enjoy the hearty and delicious sabudana khichdi.