Sabudana Vada stuffed with Paneer
on Oct 19, 2020, Updated Dec 16, 2020
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This is a foolproof recipe to make the BEST sabudana vadas. Crunchy, chewy and stuffed with paneer, these sabudana bombs are perfect for Navratri and make for a filling breakfast or snack!
Crispy, golden brown and crunchy sabudana vadas are irresistible with a cup of chai. We have gone all out on this recipe and taken it up a notch by stuffing the sabudana vada with a delicious paneer filling that makes it pretty filling. Which is perfect for fasting days IMO!
Quick Walk Through: Sabudana Vada Stuffed With Paneer
How to Soak Sabudana Right
Making anything with sabudana starts with soaking, because if you do this step wrong, there’s a chance the whole dish will be ruined. Here are points to help you with this process:
- Wash and rinse the sabudana pearls: Use water as the soaking liquid for the sabudana. Pour it evenly in a 1:1 ratio until there’s enough water to cover the sabudana properly. Too much water will result in extremely sticky sabudana.
- Leave it to soak for a minimum of 6 hours or even better, overnight, and you’ll never use any other method again.
- It’s important to put only as much water as necessary, because if there is extra liquid content which the sabudana can not soak in, the frying process becomes a mess. So stick to the ratio.
- Once soaked, squish a few sabudana pearls between two fingers. If the insides are even a little hard, that means they need to be soaked for longer. They should get mashed easily between your fingers
Note
Sabudana pearls which are not soaked properly can burst while frying – dangerous!!
The Paneer Filling
The paneer filling for these stuffed sabudana vadas is really light, soft and moist. Stuffing the paneer inside the sabudana vada helps packs in loads more flavour and texture! The soft paneer goes so well with the crunchy vada. I usually use my Homemade Paneer in 15 Minutes for this recipe as it delivers the softest and creamiest paneer in no time!
Three ways of cooking these sabudana tikki
- You can stick to the OG method like me and deep-fry them in oil on the stove top. We’ve seen our moms and grannies make it this way, and let’s admit it – it’s friggin’ mouth watering. The temperature of the oil should be medium hot – this way the vadas won’t soak up oil, will be crispy outside and will have a nice mouthfeel.
- If you are diet conscious, you can bake these in the oven. They will need to be lightly brushed with oil or ghee 2-3 times during the baking process. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius and bake the vadas in a greased baking tray for 10 minutes. Brush some oil on them, turn them over and bake again for 10 minutes. Then turn on the grill mode and grill the vadas for 4-5 minutes to get that nice golden brown crispy outside layer.
- The newest method around the block is air-frying. It’s fast and super healthy. If you have an air fryer, just pop these vadas in them and watch as they crisp up in minutes!
Richa’s Top Tips
Mixing the ingredients is the easy part. The tricky part begins with the stuffing of the vadas.
- Ensure that the sabudana vada mix is not too dry or too watery, it needs to be just right to coat the paneer.
- The paneer filling should be evenly and completely covered with the sabudana mixture.
- Once the vada patties are stuffed, make sure they are all even in thickness and uniform in shape so they cook evenly.
So that’s how to spice up your festival party! Serve these sabudana tikki with Green Coriander Chutney for breakfast, or with some chai! Here’s wishing you and yours a very Happy Navratri from me and mine!
Watch Stuffed Sabudana Vada Bombs Video
Sabudana Vada Bombs stuffed with Paneer
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sabudana or Tapioca Pearls
- 1 cup Water, to soak Sabudana
- 4 boiled Potatoes
- 3 Green Chillies, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Jeera, Cumin seeds
- 1 cup roasted Peanuts, skin removed and crushed
- 8-10 Curry leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped Coriander
- 1 teaspoon Jeera Powder, ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Chilli Powder, or Paprika
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Oil for frying, Ghee/ Canola/ Rice Bran/ Sunflower
For the stuffing
- 150 grams Paneer, or Cottage Cheese, drained
- ½ teaspoon Jeera Powder, ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Chilli Powder, or Paprika
- 1 tablespoon chopped Coriander
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Wash the sabudana with water in a sieve. Soak the washed sabudana in 1 cup water for 6-8 hours. To check if the sabudana is soaked, press one pearl in between your fingers and it should mash easily.
- To make the sabudana mixture, mash potatoes and add green chillies, peanuts, curry leaves, coriander, jeera powder, sugar, chilli powder, lime juice, salt and soaked sabudana. Mix this well.
- Next make the filling by adding paneer, jeera powder, chilli powder, coriander and salt to another bowl. Mash and mix it well with your hands. Form the paneer mixture into small lime sized balls.
- To make the sabudana vada bombs, wet your palms with water. Take a golf ball sized sabudana mixture on your palm and flatten it. Place a ball of paneer mixture in the center and press the sabudana mixture around the sides so that it covers the ball on all sides. Take a small piece of sabudana mixture and place it on top to cover the paneer on all sides and form the sabudana vada. Repeat this till all the sabudana vadas are formed.
- Fry in medium hot oil till the vadas are golden brown on all sides. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- The nutrition info is calculated for 2 vadas per serving
- These can easily be made without the stuffing. You can skip the stuffing and form these into cutlets and deep fry as instructed.
- To check if the oil is hot, just add a small portion of the mixture to the oil. Ig it floats to the top and sizzles, the oil is hot enough to deep fry. The oil must be at temperature of 170C – 180C for frying.
- To check if the sabudana is soaked, press one pearl in between your fingers and it should mash easily. It should not feel grainy or gritty.
Indian food in Calgary
Wow! I had never heard of this food, it looks and reads delicious. In Spain I can only find dried curry leaves. This is a problem? Does the flavor change a lot? I don’t give you boredom with oil anymore ha ha ha. Thanks in advance. Greetings from Spain. Take care
Hey Wendy! Dried curry leaves will work in punch. They don’t have the same flavour intensity as fresh, but it’s better than not adding them.
Also I hope I can visit spain someday to eat the best Churros 😉
Loved this recipe! Thanks for the inspiration. Based on what I had in the kitchen, I subbed the peanuts for walnuts and instead used a mix of cheddar/mozzarella/parmesan because I wanted it all melty inside. How did yours stay together without egg? I ended up adding an egg to the sabudana mix because the first batch broke apart. What a delicious snack!!
My vadas stayed together because boiled and mashed potatoes doubled up as a binding agent. Glad you enjoyed these sabudana vadas! CHeese stuffing sounds soooo good!
Have not attempted this “Stuffed Sabudana Vada Bombs” recipe but noted that the printed recipe makes no mention of whole Jeera (Cumin) seeds as being one of the ingredients shell mixture but the video shows it being included. Should I include whole Cumin and how much? Also, in the part of Canada where I live, and despite there being quite a large Sheik population, I have been unable to find “Curry Leaves” in any of the stores close to me. Is there any sort of substitute I could use? Love your recipes and most Indian food. It has flavour!!!
Hey Kevin! I’m sorry for replying so late. You can add a teaspoon of jeera. Curry leaves add an amazing flavour to this recipe, but you can skip them if you can’t find them