Sabudana Vada/Wada - Tapioca and Potato Fritters

This is an absolutely delicious delicacy. Tapioca is called "sabudana" in the Hindi and Marathi languages (the pronounciation varies a little), and Vada/Wada refers to deep fried dumplings. "Sabunada Vada are deep fried fritters/dumplings made with tapioca and potato, with a lot of ground peanuts sprinkled in. Absolutely lip smacking!! This is a dish that is reserved for special occasions and is one of the foods approved to be eaten on fasting days. However, most folks make it because it is so tasty. Over the years I have eaten this often, in different restaurants, at home and cooked by others and I must say, sometimes the vada can taste terrible, very chewy and dry. As a result, I had always been hesitant to make it, thinking that the recipe to get it perfect could be quite complicated. Finally, upon my family's repeated requests, I decided to try it out. I followed the advise of mom and lo and behold the end result was delicious. I am always thrilled when I am able make a recipe that I have always thought to be difficult. This one has a great end result,  and I hope you enjoy this recipe as well.

Ingredients
2 cups tapioca/sabudana (it should measure 2 cups after being soaked. Start off with 1 cup dry tapioca)
2 large potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 cup shingada/singada/singoda flour (water chestnut flour)
1 cup ground nut powder (see tips for how to make this)
1 tsp cumin powder
green chillies, finely chopped (5-8, to taste)
1/4 tsp baking soda
salt to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp oil, luke warm
oil to fry

Method
See tips on how to soak the tapioca. Take the soaked tapioca and then crush it lightly, by processing in a blender or food processor. This will make it easier to mix it in with the potatoes. Then mix together the processed tapioca, singoda flour and potates. Add salt, cumin powder, ground nut powder, baking soda, and the cilantro. Add the lemon juice, sugar and the luke warm oil. Now mix this all together and knead a little, to form a dough. Take a fistfull of this dough and form it into a ball. Then flatten it to make a disc. Rest these discs on a plastic paper/sheet, so that it doesn't stick to the plate. The discs should be about 2-3 inches in diameter.

Heat the oil in a deep pan. There should be at least 3 inches of oil so that the vada can be entirely immersed in it. To test if the oil has heated enough, drop a inch of dough into the oil. If it rises up slowly, the oil is hot enough. The vadas need to be fried medium heat, so that they cook through. If fried on high heat, they will get cooked on the outside but will stay raw in the center.  Now, slowly release one vada from the side of the pan, it will go to the base of the pan and then slowly rise, once the vada starts gettting cooked. The vada will puff up and once browned, is ready to be taken out. Let the vadas rest on a paper towel to absorb the oil. These vadas will be light and very crispy. Serve with green chutney.

Tips
Singoda/shingada is water chestnut. You can find singoda/shingada flour in the local Indian store. Fry only 1-2 vadas at a time. As soon as the vada is added to the oil, the temperature of the oil decreases. So, fry only a couple at a time so that they get fried evenly and cooked through completely.
I also baked this dough, at 405 F for about 10-15 minutes, turning it over once, but these were not as crispy, though definitely low in calories.
To soak the tapioca, cover it completely with water such that there is enough water to cover all of hte tapioca and then add some more so that the water level is about a centimeter above the level of the tapioca. Soak this for at least 3-4 hours or overnight and then drain the water.

Sabudana Khichadi - Tapioca Pilaf

This is a dish made on special occasions in Maharashtra. It is made as a special breakfast item and is generally regarded as a delicacy. It is often made on auspicious days when people fast and are allowed to eat limited ingredients. Personally, this is a dish I associate with special celebrations, holidays and spending time with family. This is a rich, festive dish and is generally cooked in ghee (clarified butter), with a lot of peanuts. It doesn't have too many ingredients, but is absolutely flavorful. I don't make it too often, and whenever I do, it is a special treat. I hope you enjoy this treat as much as we do.

Ingredients
1 cup sabudana/tapioca pearls
water, just enough to cover the sabudana
1/4-1/2 cup roasted peanuts, ground coarsely into a powder
green chillies, split lengthwise - to taste
salt to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
1 medium potato, boiled and diced

Method
Put the tapioca in a sieve with holes which will not let the sabudana fall through, but will allow the crumbs to be sieved. Then sieve the sabudana. Then rinse it till the water starts running clear. This is an important step to ensure that the sabudana does not become mushy and sticky. Soak the tapioca for a few hours. Do not add a lot of water. You need just enough to cover all the tapoica pearls. You need to soak it till the tapioca is completely softened and this generally take from about 2 to 5 hours. You can even soak it overnight. Then drain the water and keep aside.

To this tapioca, add the ground nut powder, the salt and sugar and mix them so that the tapioca gets lightly coated with these ingredients. This helps in even dispersion of all the ingredients and you don't get any unseasoned bites. Also, add a little salt to the boiled potato pieces and mix to ensure even seasoning.

In a broad pan, heat the ghee and add the cumin to it. Once, the cumin starts to change color (do not let it burn), add the chillies and the potatoes. Cook the potatoes for a couple of minutes till they get a nice fried look. Since you are using boiled potato pieces, you will not need to cook it for a long time (see tips on usage of raw potato). Then add the seasoned tapioca and groundnut mixture and stir fry. As tapioca cooks through, it becomes transparent. You will know it is cooked when all of it has turned transparent. Turn off the heat. Over cooking it will make it dry. Serve with a slice of lemon or with some yoghurt/dahi.

Tips
Do not skimp on the ghee or oil, else the end result will be sticky. Roast the raw shelled peanuts lightly till you can get the roasted smell and they start to darken a little. Then let them cool and grind till you get a coarse powder. Do not grind it for too long, else they will release the oil. To make this a lighter dish, substitute the ghee with olive oil. If you like the potatoes to have a bite, substitute the boiled potato with raw sliced potato. Follow the recipe and fry the potatoes till they are cooked through and then add the remaining ingredients. To prevent raw potato slices from oxidizing and turning dark, cut and put these slices in a bowl of water.