Sabudana kadailile (Sabudana ka Paani/ Cooked Sweet Tapioca Pearls).

"Sabudana kadailile (Sabudana ka Paani/ Cooked Sweet Tapioca Pearls)" ... extensively relished during upwas/ fasting days ... there are plenty of dishes that can be prepared, like khichidi, vada, payasam, dosa to name a few and they all taste wonderful ... this one is a age old simple method of cooking sabudana ... try it, served steaming hot it tastes wonderful ... Yummilicious ...

** Sabudana/ Tapioca Pearls are beautiful white colored small pearl sized balls that swell when soaked and soften when cooked. Plenty of delicious dishes can be prepared and relished them. These are extensively used during upvas/ fasting, however being rich in starch Dr. advice against excess consumption of the same. 

** Sabudana is a starch that is extracted from tapioca roots by a certain process. It is then shaped into small or medium sized balls. Sabudana is actually a form of tapioca, also known as cassava root, a very common plant grown all across India and Southeast Asia. It is easily available all round the world in supermarkets. 

** However as per Ayurveda it increases body energy levels and is believed to balance pitta dosha too. Weak or people recovering from illness are often advised to consume sabudana, in fact I remember my amma always insisted we drink this particular simple cooked and sweetened sabudana when we had mouth ulcers. 

** Though there is a list of health benefits attached to sabudana, personally I have no idea of the same and would not like to advice wrongly. However, in my opinion anything in limits is fine and one should enjoy all dishes to heart's content. Sharing a simple method of cooking which I learnt from amma and still love to relish it.

** Here is my amma's simple method of preparing "Sabudana kadailile (Sabudana ka Paani/ Cooked Sweet Tapioca Pearls)" ....

** Soak 1 cup of Sabudana/ Sago/ Tapioca Pearls in 3 cups of water for 1-2 hours. Sabudana more than doubles in size when it gets soaked up well and also turns soft. It is always necessary to follow this step for best results. 

** Bring one cup of water to boil, then lower the heat and add in the soaked sabudana and mix well. Cook on low heat stirring often to avoid it getting stuck to the base. Sabudana turns to soft glassy transparent balls when well cooked. 

** Now add in approximately ½ to ¾ cup of sugar (shakkar/ sakkara) or depending on how sweet you want it and mix well.  Add in a large pinch of cardamom (ellaichi/ yello) powder, mix well and remove from fire and keep aside covered for 10 mins. 

** "Sabudana kadailile (Sabudana ka Paani/ Cooked Sweet Tapioca Pearls)" is done and ready to be served hot or cold too if desired. This drink is very good in case of indigestion or in case of body weakness due to illness. When excess body heat gets created due to medicines this serves the purpose of cooling the heat.

** Though sabudana payasam is the most popular dish in southern parts of India, during summer vacations amma prepared these for us to savor during mid morning and we loved it very much. You can add on milk if desired which too I have blogged, though then it will be more of payasama sort of a dish.

** For added color of flavor or when serving for kids you can add a few strands of kesar/ saffron, it not only imparts a lovely color but also looks wonderful and enhances the taste of the dish. Try it, simple traditional dishes are always loaded with nutritional goodness that are lesser known but nevertheless true.