Navratri 2025: Sabudana Recipes To Add To Your Fasting Meals
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As Navratri begins, a spirit of devotion, celebration, and fasting envelops the country. During the 9-day festival, a lot of devotees follow a culinary discipline, abstaining from non-vegetarian food, alcohol, and even ingredients like onion and garlic. While some of the daily kitchen essentials take a back seat, ingredients like sabudana, makhana, and millets take the spotlight.

And amongst all of these, sabudana is one of the most popular ingredients used to make Navratri thalis.  From making a spicy khichdi, a crispy vada, or a creamy bowl of kheer, sabudana makes the dishes gluten-free, and of course, irresistible. If you want to make a fasting thali at home, here are some sabudana recipes shared by chefs across the country that you can’t miss trying.

Sabudana Khichdi 

By Chef Ashish Singh, Chief Operating Officer and Head Chef at Cafe Delhi Heights

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sabudana (tapioca pearls)
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1-2 green chillies, chopped
  • 2 medium potatoes, diced
  • ¼ cup peanuts, roasted & crushed
  • Sendha namak (rock salt) as needed
  • Lemon juice as required
  • Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

  1. Soak sabudana for about 5-6 hours. Drain the excess water.
  2. Heat the ghee, add cumin, chillies, and potatoes. Cook till potatoes turn golden.
  3. Add sabudana, peanuts, and salt. Toss on low flame till sabudana turns translucent.
  4. Add lemon juice & coriander before serving.

Sabudana Vada

By Chef Upender Gupta, The Orchid Hotel, Shimla

Ingredients:

  • 100 g sabudana, soaked for 4 hours and strained
  • 100 g boiled potato, grated
  • Rock salt (sendha namak), to taste
  • Fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • Green chillies, finely chopped
  • Peanuts, roasted and coarsely crushed
  • A pinch of turmeric powder

Method:

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine soaked sabudana, grated potato, coriander, green chillies, crushed peanuts, turmeric, and rock salt.
  2. Mix well to form a smooth, firm mixture.
  3. Divide into equal portions and shape into round patties.
  4. Heat oil in a deep pan. Once hot, carefully slide in the patties.
  5. Fry until they turn crisp and golden brown on both sides.
  6. Remove onto absorbent paper to drain excess oil.
  7. Serve hot with green chutney or sweet curd dip.

Sabudana Kheer 

By Chef Maharaj Bhawar Singh, Khandani Rajdhani

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup tapioca pearls or sabudana
  • 4 cups milk
  • 4 to 5 tbsp sugar
  • 4-5 green cardamoms
  • 2 tbsp chopped cashews
  • ½ tbsp raisins
  • 3-4 saffron strands/kesar (optional)

Method:

  1. Rinse the sabudana pearls till the water runs clear of the starch.
  2. Take a thick-bottomed pan or saucepan in which you will be making the kheer. 
  3. Add the rinsed sabudana pearls and water to the pan.
  4. Cover and let the pearls get soaked in the water for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Later, keep this pan on the stovetop and begin to cook the pearls.
  6. Meanwhile, heat or warm the milk too. No need to boil the milk.
  7. After 4-5 minutes, add the milk to the pan and continue to cook.
  8. Add sugar and cardamom powder, and simmer till the pearls have cooked well for about 20-25 minutes on a low to medium flame.
  9. Keep on stirring occasionally. Switch off the flame and add cashews and raisins.
  10. Garnish the sabudana kheer with saffron strands and serve.