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Sunday, April 12, 2020

Edamame and Sago (Sabudana) Vada in Air Fryer


I am posting this  recipe for Indian Sabudana Vada which is usually made in India by adding potatoes and spices and is deep fried. I made it here with adding shelled edamame to add some protein to this dish.  I had tried the deep fried version of this recipe but it just soaked too much oil and I decided not to post that version.  This time I decided to make these in Air fryer.  They came out perfect minus all that oil.  However let me give you some information on Sago or Sabudana
Sago is a starch extracted from the spongy center, or pith, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of Metroxylon sagu.  It is a major staple for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and Moluccas , where it is called saksak, rabia and sagu. The largest supply of sago comes from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia. Large quantities of sago are sent to Europe, and  North America for cooking purposes.  It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a glue-like paste papeda   or as a pancake. Sago is often produced commercially in the form of "pearls" (small rounded starch aggregates, partly gelatinized  by heating). Sago pearls can be boiled with water or milk and sugar to make a sweet sago pudding. Sago pearls are similar in appearance to the pearled starches of other origin, e.g.Cassave   starch (tapioca) and potato starch, and they may be used interchangeably in some dishes.
The name sago is also sometimes used for starch extracted from other sources, especially the sago cycad, Cycas revoluta. The sago cycad is also commonly known (confusingly) as the sago palm, although this is a misnomer as cycads are not palms. Extracting edible starch from the sago cycad requires special care due to the poisonous nature of cycads  Cycad sago is used for many of the same purposes as palm sago.
The fruitt of palm trees from which the sago is produced is not allowed to ripen fully. The full ripening completes the life cycle of the tree and exhausts the starch reserves in the trunk to produce the seeds. It leaves a hollow shell and causes the tree to die. The palms are cut down when they are about 15 years old, just before or shortly after the inflorescence appears. The stems, which grow 10 to 15 meters high, are split out. The starch-containing pith is taken from the stems and ground to powder. The powder is kneaded in water over a cloth or sieve to release the starch. The water with the starch passes into a trough where the starch settles. After a few washings, the starch is ready to be used in cooking. A single palm yields about 360 kilograms (800 lb) of dry starch.

In Brazil, sago is extracted from cassava root, in what is known in English as tapioca. It is usually mixed with sugar and red wine and then served as a pudding dessert called sagu de vinho   (wine sago), popular in the southern state of Rio Grande do su. When soaked and cooked, both become much larger, translucent, soft and spongy. Both are widely used in Indian, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan cuisine in a variety of dishes and around the world, usually in puddings. In India, it is used in a variety of dishes such as desserts boiled with sweetened milk on occasion of religious fasts. In India, "Tapioca Sago" is considered an acceptable form of nutrition during periods of fasts for religious purposes or for infants or ill persons. In the UK, both sago and tapioca have long been used in sweet milk puddings.
In New Zealand, sago is boiled with water and lemon juice and sweetened with golden syrup to make lemon sago pudding.
In India, Tapioca Sago is used mainly to make the food items like "Kheer","Khichadi", "Vada" etc.
Sago from Metroxylon palms is nearly pure carbohydrate and has very little protein, vitamins, or minerals. 100 grams of dry sago typically comprises 94 grams of carbohydrate, 0.2 grams of protein, 0.5 grams of dietary fiber, 10 mg of calcium, 1.2 mg of iron and negligible amounts of fat, carotene, thiamine and ascorbic acid and yields approximately 1,490 kilo-joules (355 kcal).
Ingredients: 
  • 2 cups of Sago pearls (Sabudana)
  • 4 medium potatoes
  • 2 cups of shelled edamame (16 oz bag)
  • 1 bunch of fresh Cilantro
  • 5 spring onions with greens
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup of unsalted roasted peanuts
  • 1-2 fresh Jalapeno peppers
  • Water to soak Sabudana


Spices:
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoon of powdered roasted cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon of powdered cayenne pepper 
  • 1 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon of mango powder
  • 1 teaspoon of garam masala (all spice) optional
  • Juice for 1 fresh lime 
  • Cooking oil spray
 

Method:
  • Wash Sago pearls thoroughly.
  • Soak them in water for one hour.
  • Drain all the water out and let some water remain in base of the bowl and let it sit covered for 3-4 hours.
  • Boil and peel potatoes
  • Finely chop all the greens and garlic cloves

  • I bought shelled edamame in 16 oz frozen bag which you can microwave for 5-6 min in bag, prep it this way and let them cool.
  • Coarsely grind the roasted peanuts in food processor, empty in bowl and set aside.
  • In the same food processor finely grind the cooled edamame.
  • Add cilantro to this and turn the food processor until the cilantro is chopped.
 






  • Drain the remaining water from soaked sago pearls. They should be soft by now.
  • Add ground peanuts and ground  edamame. 

  • Add all the spices, lime juice, and mash potatoes in the sago pearl  with all the spices.
  • Mash until the potatoes are not lumpy.
  • You can mash potatoes separately and add this to the mixture.
  • Mix everything well until everything is well incorporated.


 Make golf size balls and flatten them.
  • Preheat the air fryer at 400 degrees.
  • Line the try with parchment paper, spray with cooking oil.
  • Place the flattened ball on the parchment paper lined tray.
  • Spray the top of balls with cooking oil.
  • Air fry for 10 min on one side then carefully flip to other side and air fry for 10 additional minutes.





  • I have Cuisinart  air fryer, which is the best.
  • You can see through the glass door and light is on when the door is closed and it is on.
  • When you open the the door the air fryer shuts off which gives you time to flip the content safely.
  • Repeat the process until all the balls are air fried.

















      • Serve hot with mint cilantro chutney or any of your favourite sauces.
      • This recipe yields small 40 vadas.
      • You can cut the recipe in to half to make 20.
      • These freeze well too.


      Enjoy !!

      Information of Sago source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License
      Recipe  and Photographs by Surekha.

      Chili/Garlic/Cilantro Naan


      As I mentioned in my earlier post of dinner rolls, I made 12 dinner rolls from the recipe I just posted and saved the 4 rolls to make naan. You can make plain or garlic naan out of this. I decided to make Chili/Garlic/Cilantro Naan.





        Ingredients:
      • 8-10 cloves of garlic
      • 1 fresh Jalapeno or 2 Serrano peppers
      • One small bunch of fresh cilantro
      • You will need a rolling pin and pizza stone
      • Chop garlic and peppers in food processor and then add washed cilantro and give it another spin or two until cilantro is chopped.
      • Take it out of food processor and set aside in a bowl.
       


      • You have to let the rolls rise again for second time the same way you did for dinner rolls.
      • While the dough is rising again you can prep.


      • You will need a pizza stone to bake the naan.
      • Spray the pizza stone with cooking oil spray
      • Heat the oven to 550 degrees F with pizza stone place on middle rack.


      • While the oven is heating you can roll the dough ball in to naan.
      • The dough will stretch and shrink so make sure you stretch the round in between and one it is shaped to desired size go to next step.


        • Place a handful of chopped Chili/Garlic/Cilantro on rolled naan.
        • Spread it evenly and pressing it lightly on to naan.
        • Repeat the process until all the four naans are rolled and ready to go.
        • You can place them on plastic chopping board or and roll all four of them while the over in preheating.

        • Place two naan in preheated oven on the stone (you have to bake two at time.)
        • You have to watch them rise and stand right there by the oven.
        • Bake it for  3 - 5 min, if desired you and turn them over in between to bake on other side, but you don't really need to.
        • I said 3-5 min because all the ovens are different and be sure not to keep the oven door open for long time as it will cool quickly.


          • Take the baked naan out of over and brush it with butter.
          • You can make more at one time as these will freeze well. you can just heat them up as you heat up and frozen naan, if you decide to freeze them don't brush with butter until ready to serve.
          • You can plain naan with same recipe and can use these naan for naan pizza.
          • Serve hot with your favorite curry!!
          Enjoy !!





            Recipe and photographs by Surekha.