Sabudana Vadas are the perfect tea-time snack! Soft and melty on the inside, while being super crispy and crunchy on the outside - they give you the best of both worlds!
Which is why, in this post, I've shared 3 ways of making sabudana vadas - deep frying them, making sabudana vadas in the air fryer, as well as shallow frying sabudana vadas in appe pan.
Though I've to admit that I personally love the air fryer sabudana vadas the most. I mean taste wise I find them as good as the deep fried ones, but using hardly any oil - so it's got to earn bonus points for that, right?
Appe pan sabudana vadas are good too, but they are not quite as crunchy as the deep fried or air fried sabudana vadas. But definitely a good option to consider if you don't have an air fryer. It's definitely the more guilt free option vs the deep fried version, if you are especially conscious about that.
But I must say, deep fried sabudana vadas are a delight, which if you've never tried, you definitely should! It'll be well worth the indulgence. 🙂
That being said, I have shared the detailed step by step recipe for making sabudana vadas all 3 ways, so pick whichever works for you.
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Ingredients You Need
Ingredient notes
Sabudana - Sabudana comes in a lot of varieties with varying size of pearls. For sabudana khichdi it's preferable to use bigger sized pearls, and many prefer to use smaller sized pearls for vadas. But I personally feel that the size of the pearls don't matter so much for the vadas, so you can use whatever you want. I usually only stock up on the bigger sized pearls, because I don't want to stock 2 kinds.
Potatoes - Use starchier potatoes that will bind well. Avoid waxy ones.
Peanuts - Don't skip on roasting the peanuts before powdering them. Using roasted peanut powder over regular peanut powder makes a lot of difference.
I usually have dry roasted peanut powder on hand. But if you don’t have it ready to go, just dry roast some peanuts, and crush it in a mixie, or even using the mortar & pestle right before making the vadas.
How to Make Sabudana Vada
Prepping the sabudana
- In a bowl, take ½ cup sabudana, and rinse it well, till the water runs mostly clear, to get rid of all the excess starch.
- Then soak the sabudana in water overnight. I use ½ cup water for ½ cup sabudana.
- But depending on the quality of your sabudana, you might need to soak ½ cup sabudana with ⅓ cup - ½ cup water. And the soaking time needed can vary from 4-6 hours to 8-10 hours. Experiment with the kind of sabudana you have.
- After the soaking period is done, try to smash a couple pearls of sabudana between your thumb and your index finger. If it smashes easily, the sabudana is soaked well.
- If you find that the sabudana pearls are still a little firm, and not easily smashed, even after soaking with the right quantity of water for the right amount of time, then liberally sprinkling some water on the top, and letting it soak for some more time will help.
- Drain any excess water from the sabudana using a strainer.
Making sabudana vada dough + dough balls
- In a wide bottomed utensil / paraat - mix together the soaked and strained sabudana, along with 2 cups of grated / mashed boiled potatoes, ¼ cup of roasted peanut powder, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 7 chopped curry leaves, 1 chopped green chilli, ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves, and ¾ teaspoon salt.
- Grease your hands, and shape the dough into small flattened balls for deep frying or air frying, or into small round balls for shallow frying in the appe pan.
Deep Frying Sabudana Vadas
- Heat up the oil really well, and test that the oil is really hot by first putting a small piece of dough in. If the dough rises to the top immediately, the oil is ready. If the oil is heated well, the vadas will not stick to the bottom.
- Start putting in the vadas in the oil, one at a time. Keep the batches small to avoid overcrowding.
- If the vadas seem to stick to each other while frying, let them fry in oil for a minute or two, then separate them with a fork, and they'll not stick again.
- Fry for 5-7 minutes on medium high flame, till the vadas have turned golden brown and crispy.
Sabudana Vadas in Air Fryer
- Grease the air fryer basket / liner with oil, and place the vadas in the basket, spreading them out, so that they don't touch each other.
- Air fry at 390 F / 200 C for 20 minutes (flipping the vadas once at the half way mark), till the vadas have turned golden brown and crispy.
- Air frying time and temperature will differ slightly based on the air fryer you use. Use this as a starting point, and adjust based on your preference.
Sabudana Vadas in Appe Pan
- Lightly heat up the appe pan, for a minute or so, grease the molds with oil or ghee, and place the vadas in the molds.
- Cook covered on medium low flame, for 10-15 minutes, adding a little oil / ghee as required, and ensuring to flip the vadas every couple of minutes, to cook them evenly on all sides, till the vadas are evenly golden and crispy on the outside.
Serving Suggestion
Serve crispy sabudana vadas with green chutney, sweet dahi, or ketchup, pair it with your favorite hot beverage, and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
This usually happens if there is excess moisture or less binding. Ensure to drain sabudana well, and do not use waxy or stringy potatoes that do not bind well.
Sabudana vadas are best served fresh. If you do want to make them ahead, you can make them the night before you want to serve them, and store in an air-tight container at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.
You can always heat up the oil, and re-fry the vadas for a couple of minutes to reheat them and make them crispy. But I personally feel the best way to reheat sabudana vadas is in the oven or using an airfryer - they turn out super crispy without any additional oil.
Related recipes to try..
⭐️ Perfect Non Sticky Sabudana Khichdi
⭐️ Soft, yet Fluffy and Puffed Puris
⭐️ Air Fryer French Fries
⭐️ Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe
As always, I hope you found this recipe useful. If you did, please let me know your rating ⭐️ and feedback ? in the comments below, or simply rate the recipe right on the recipe card. I'd really appreciate it. ❤️
Sabudana Vada Recipe (3 methods - deep fry / air fry / appe pan)
Equipment
- Deep Fry Pan
Ingredients
- ½ cup sabudana (sago / tapioca pearls)
- ½ cup water for soaking sabudana
- 2 cup grated / mashed boiled potatoes
- ¼ cup roasted peanut powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 6-7 curry leaves (cadipatta) chopped
- 1 big green chilli chopped
- ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Soaking & Prepping Sabudana
- In a bowl, take ½ cup sabudana, and rinse it well, till the water runs mostly clear, to get rid of all the excess starch.
- Then soak the sabudana in water overnight. I use ½ cup water for ½ cup sabudana. But the exact quantity of water needed might vary just a bit based on the quality of sabudana. Much like the exact soaking time might vary depending on the kind / type of sabudana you use. (see notes 1-3)
- After the soaking period is done, try to smash a couple pearls of sabudana between your thumb and your index finger. If it smashes easily, the sabudana is soaked well. (see note 4)
- Drain any excess water from the sabudana using a strainer.
Making Sabudana Vada Dough
- In a wide bottomed utensil / paraat - mix together the soaked and strained sabudana, along with 2 cups of grated / mashed boiled potatoes, ¼ cup of roasted peanut powder, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 7 chopped curry leaves, 1 chopped green chilli, ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves, and ¾ teaspoon salt.
- Grease your hands, and shape the dough into small flattened balls for deep frying or air frying, or into small round balls for shallow frying in the appe pan.
Deep Frying Sabudana Vada
- Heat up the oil really well, and start putting in the vadas in the oil, one at a time. Keep the batches small to avoid overcrowding. (see notes 6-7)
- Fry for 5-7 minutes on medium high flame, till the vadas have turned golden brown and crispy. (see note 8)
Sabudana Vada in Air Fryer
- Grease the air fryer basket / liner with oil, and place the vadas in the basket, spreading them out, so that they don't touch each other.
- Air fry at 390 F / 200 C for 20 minutes (flipping the vadas once at the half way mark), till the vadas have turned golden brown and crispy. (see note 9)
Sabudana Vada in Appe Pan
- Lightly heat up the appe pan, for a minute or so, grease the molds with oil or ghee, and place the vadas in the molds.
- Cook covered on medium low flame, for 10-15 minutes, adding a little oil / ghee as required, and ensuring to flip the vadas every couple of minutes, to cook them evenly on all sides, till the vadas are evenly golden and crispy on the outside.
Notes
- I prefer (and recommend) to soak the sabudana in a small deep container, instead of a wide bottomed one, where the water may not completely cover the sabudana.
- Depending on the quality of your sabudana, you might need to soak ½ cup sabudana with ⅓ cup - ½ cup water.
- Again, depending on the quality of the sabudana, the soaking time needed can vary from 4-6 hours to 8-10 hours. Experiment with the kind of sabudana you have.
- If you find that the sabudana pearls are still a little firm, and not easily smashed, even after soaking with the right quantity of water for the right amount of time, then liberally sprinkling some water on the top, and letting it soak for some more time will help.
- I usually have dry roasted peanut powder on hand. But if you don’t have it ready to go, just dry roast some peanuts, and crush it in a mixie, or even using the mortar & pestle right before making the vadas.
- Test that the oil is really hot by first putting a small piece of dough in. If the dough rises to the top immediately, the oil is ready. If the oil is heated well, the vadas will not stick to the bottom.
- If the vadas seem to stick to each other while frying, let them fry in oil for a minute or two, then separate them with a fork, and they'll not stick again.
- Frying time will vary based on the size of the vadas and the size of the batch.
- Air frying time and temperature will differ slightly based on the air fryer you use. Use this as a starting point, and adjust based on your preference.
Nutrition
Video Recipe
This post was first published in Aug 2020, and has been republished with updated instructions, photos, and recipe video in Aug 2021.
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Pratikshya Mishra
I made this today.. We had available very small sized sabudana so didn't turn out as expected.. But overall was good.. Taste wise..??.. Thank you...
The Love of Spice
So glad to hear that. Thank you for trying it out, and sharing feedback. 🙂
Damyanti
Perfect for evening snacking!
The Love of Spice
True. Thank you so much!