Sabudana Vada Recipe (Baked) | How To Make Sabudana Vada (2024)

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Sabudana vada recipe (baked) with step-by-step pictures. These crispy sabudana vadas are a delicious treat, baked instead of deep-frying, making it an almost guilt-free treat!

Sabudana vada or sago vada is a sumptuous and delicious, deep fried snack popular in Maharashtra, India. These vadas are crispy, crunchy, and a little spicy everything you’d want in a snack. Sabudana vada is mostly consumed forfasts (vrat), however, they are an excellent any time snack as well. These sabudana vadas are one of the most popular sabudana breakfast recipes.

I tried sabudana vada for the first time in my office canteen for breakfast. It is prepared often on Thursday’s since it a day of abstinence from meat/seafood for Maharashtrians.I fell in love withthese vadasthat were crunchy on the outside and melt in the mouthon the inside. Sweetened yogurt and green chutney make for a great accompaniment to these vadas! So sometimes there would be vadas or else plain khichdi.

Also, my Maharashtrian colleague’s would get this for lunch sometimes, half of which I would end up eating 😀 I absolutely love both, the vadasand the khichdi and make it at least once a week for breakfast. It isquitefilling and keeps your tummy and soul both sorted and satisfied until lunch!

If you have read my earlier posts, you know how much I dislike deep frying anything, although I enjoy having them outside 😀 I still try to avoid it at home wherever I can simply by baking, like these baked veg Manchurians. Baking always takes more time but so much healthier with no compromise in taste and texture. That is pretty satisfying, don’t you think? When you can enjoy all your favorite things without all the guilt?

Table of Contents

Ingredients needed to make these sabudana cutlets

You will need;

Sabudana known as tapioca pearls in English
Boiled and mashed potatoes,
Coarsely crushed roasted peanuts
Cumin seeds
Ginger
Green chillies
Salt, and sugar
Lime or lemon juice
Cilantro
And some oil or oil spray

Baked sabudana tikki

It is super easy to make sabudana vada at home. Simply mix soaked and drained sabudana with mashed potatoes, coarsely crushed peanuts, and some seasonings.

Mix and shape as patties. Now, traditionally, these are then deep-fried. But, I’ve found that baking these vadas gives results that are on par with the fried ones. They do take a tad bit of time to bake, but I don’t think that is such a big deal! Plus baking also makes these sabudana vadas less oily.

How to soak sabudana?

I follow a simple norm to soak sabudana, which always gives me perfectly soaked and drained sabudana, not too hard nor mushy. I use the same measuring cup to measure out the sabudana and use the same cup to soak it. So, if I measure out 1/2 cup of sabudana, I use 1/2 cup of water to soak it. Always, turns out perfect!

You will have the perfect, non-sticky sabudana khichdi that way too! Sabudana soaking time ranges anywhere from 3 hours to overnight. You can soak it in the night, leave it in the refrigerator and use it in the recipe the next morning.

If you enjoyed these sabudana patties, you may also like these Indian breakfast recipes

Hariyali sabudana khichadi, a twist to your regular khichdi
Aloo Paratha
Soft idli with sambar and coconut chutney

How to make sabudana vada (baked & in the air-fryer) – Step by step instructions

Step 1: Soak tapioca pearls

Wash 1/2 cup of sabudana well under running water. Add approx 1/2 cup of water, just about enough to soak the sabudana. Let it soak for 3 hours or until all the pearls have swelled up and are soft when you try to mash with your fingers.

Soaking time will vary depending upon the quality of the sabudana. I usually leave it overnight in the refrigerator. By morning the sabudana has soaked up well, retains its shape whilst still being soft.

If there is any extra water left after the soaking time, drain it. If the sabudana is still hard, sprinkle some more water and let it soak for a few more hours.

Step 2: Roast peanuts

Dry roast 1/2 cup of raw peanuts in a skillet, remove the skin and transfer to the blender and make a coarse powder.

Step 3: Mixture for sabudana tikki

Add two mashed potatoes, soaked sabudana, coarse peanut powder, 2-3 chopped green chilies, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1/2-inch peeled and minced ginger root, juice of half a lime, 1 teaspoon sugar, a pinch of salt, 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro in a mixing bowl.

Mix it well to form a dough. Adjust spices as per your preference. I do not add a lot of chillies, as my son enjoys this, so the spice levels are low.

Step 4: Make sabudana patties

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Grease your palms and make the vada’s/patties, transfer them to a baking tray lined with greased parchment paper/aluminum foil. Brush each vada with oil or oil spray.

Step 5: Bake

Oven:

Bake at 425° F. Flip the vada gently with the help of a spatula or fork after about 30-35 mins when it turns golden brown on top, brush with more oil if required and let the other side turn golden brown too. That will take another 20-25 minutes.

So it will take about a total of an hour approx, depending on the thickness of your vada.Keep checking at frequent intervals during the baking process. Serve hot with sweetened yogurt and green chutney.

Air-fryer:

I’ve also tried baking sabudana vada in my air fryer, and it works beautifully, plus takes half the time that it takes in the oven, except if you are making 2 batches. To fry these vadas in the air fryer, preheat the air fryer at 350° F for 5 minutes. Brush vadas with oil or oil spray and place in the air fryer basket. Air-fry at 350° F for about 20 minutes, flipping once midway. Air fry for another 2 minutes for a darker color.

So that’s how I made these healthy baked sabudana vada’s. They were warm & crunchy even after the20 minutes it took me to take all the pictures.