Sabudana Vada / Sago Fritters

For a few days my maid has ditched her wig and is coming to work with a shaved head. That’s right...most of the African women use wig because their hair is so curly that combing is literally out of the options. Some shave their head and some make innumerable plates taking small portions of their hair and then stick them to the scalp. My maid, whose name is Lucy, has an unconventional take on her choice of hair colour. Rarely its black...and most of the time of the year it’s red or yellow!! If she is not wearing wig...she uses a small piece of cloth as a turban to cover her head. But recently she had ditched all of them and is coming totally bald headed. I was very curious but restrained myself from being seen too desperate.

Born and raised as a pakka Bengali I rarely had any occasion to taste foods that was not so Bengali. Apart from Chinese and those occasional restaurant eats...I had no chance of eating anything purely not so Bengali. And since ma’r ranna was so delicious that we never bothered about what else was cooking outside Bengal. So...I never heard of Sabudana Vada before until my Marathi sister-in-law exclaimed that she can eat sabudana fritters every day. I got the recipe from her...and then forgot about it completely. A few days ago...my short term memory revived from hibernation and I thought....enough is enough...before I forget the entire recipe let’s make it today.

So...I made Sabudana Vada. The first time...I made some mistakes. I did not soak the sago pearls properly and did not add any binding agent to the mixture. If you do not soak the sago pearls properly then they will stick to your teeth and it’s not a very charming experience. Seriously. And if you don’t add any binding agent then the sago pearls start to detach themselves from the vada, while deep frying. You can use flour or corn starch. I have used oil until the mixture came out smooth and intact. However it’s completely your choice.

Sabudana Fritters / Sago Fritters

Makes about 12 fritters

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes

1 cup of sago pearls

A handful of roasted peanuts

2 green chillies – finely chopped

A handful of fresh coriander leaves – finely chopped

½ inch ginger – finely minced

1 and ½ tsp roasted and ground cumin and coriander powder

Salt

1 and ½ tbsp white oil

Oil to fry

Method:

Peel and boil the potatoes until soft from inside.

Coarsely ground the peanuts in mortar and pestle. Keep aside.

Soak the sago pearls in water for 2-3 hours. However the soaking time depends on the quality of the sago pearls. For some it takes merely half an hour and for some overnight soaking is perfect.

In a bowl mash the boiled potatoes and throw in the soaked sago pearls, ground peanuts, minced ginger, chopped coriander leaves, chopped green chillies, ground cumin and coriander powder, oil and salt.

Mix them well with your halnd make medium round balls with the mixture. Press the ball a little to give them a tikki like shape.

Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the fritters until golden brown from outside.

Serve hot with your favourite chutney or sauce.