Sabudana Vada

Ingredients

• Sago – 1 cup
• Water – for soaking and draining
• Boiled potatoes – 2 medium, cooled, peeled and mashed smooth
• Roasted peanuts – ½ cup, cooled and coarsely ground
• Green chillies – 2, finely chopped
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Coriander – 2 tbsp, chopped
• Lemon juice – 2 tsp
• Sugar – 1 tsp, optional
• Rock salt for fasting, or regular salt – as needed
• Oil – for deep-frying

Method

1. Rinse the sago 2 to 3 times until the water is almost clear. Soak it for at least 5 hours or overnight. The pearls are ready only when one crushes easily between two fingers and has no hard centre; under-soaked pearls can burst in hot oil.
2. Drain the soaked sago in a sieve for 15 to 20 minutes. There must be no water collected at the bottom. Excess moisture is the main reason vada mixtures become loose or break while frying.
3. Place the drained sago in a wide bowl. Add completely cooled mashed potato, coarsely ground roasted peanut, chilli, cumin, coriander, lemon juice, salt and optional sugar. Hot potato can make the starch sticky.
4. Mix with your fingers until evenly combined, lightly pressing only a small portion of the pearls to help binding. Take a spoonful and squeeze it: the mixture should hold together without releasing water.
5. Divide into 10 to 12 equal portions. With lightly damp or oiled hands, press each portion firmly into a patty about 1.5 cm thick. Smooth cracked edges so they do not break in the oil.
6. Heat oil in a deep kadai over medium heat. Drop in a tiny piece of mixture: it should rise steadily with bubbles, not remain at the bottom or brown immediately. Fry one test vada first.
7. If the test vada breaks, mix in a little more mashed potato; for non-fasting cooking, 1 to 2 tablespoons rice flour may be used. If it stays pale and oily, heat the oil a little more; if it browns too fast, reduce the heat.
8. Slide in only 3 or 4 vadas at a time. Do not move them for the first minute. Once the base is firm, turn gently and fry over medium heat until both sides are deep golden and crisp, about 4 to 6 minutes per batch.
9. Drain on a rack or absorbent paper and serve hot with plain or lightly sweetened curd or a fasting-friendly chutney.