Sabudana/ Sago Khichdi

Sabudana or Sagu Khichdi is a traditional Maharashtrian farali dish mainly prepared during fasting days. However, both D and I love this very much and so I make this quite often for breakfast as well. I usually make huge quantities of this khichdi so that I can use the leftovers to make sabudana vada or sabudana thalipeeth which we equally love. My mom makes the best khichdi and over the years I have learnt to make it pretty close to hers. The soaking process of the sabudana is the key to making a good khichdi. Here's my mom's recipe of sabudana khichdi.

Ingredients -
2 cups sabudana/ sago
1 medium boiled potato
1/2 cup peanuts
4 green chillies
2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 tbsp ghee/ clarified butter
fresh grated coconut
finely chopped cilantro
1-2 tbsp sugar or to taste
salt to taste

Method -
1. Wash the sabudana throughly with water and discard the white water, drain and set aside. Sprinkle the sabudana with some water and toss them with a spoon. Repeat this process every 30 mins or so for the next 2-3 hrs or till the sabudana is soft.
2. Add sugar and salt to the sabudana and lightly mix.
3. Peel and chop the potato and add some salt and sugar to the potatoes as well.
4. Grind the peanuts, green chillies and 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds into a coarse powder.
5. In a pan, heat some ghee and add cumin seeds.
6. Now add the potatoes and mix well.
7. Then add the sabudana, mix and cook for sometime covered on medium flame. Occasionally toss the khichdi.
8. Now add the peanut, cumin seeds and green chillies mixture.
8. Cook for approx. 10-12 min.
9. Garnish with fresh grated coconut and chopped cilantro.

This goes to Niloufer's 'Cooking with Seeds - Sago' event, originally started by Priya.