Sabudana kheer- Tapioca pudding { Gluten-free + Jain}

Last year I went to play garba with my fiancee (now husband) and his friends. Though I am a good dancer myself, the way their bodies moved was highly intimidating. I was dumbstruck and just couldn't keep up with them. As apprehensive as I am to go this time, I will have to go but I will learn garba on youtube beforehand and not embarrass myself.

Sabudana, tapioca pearls is associated with fasting in India. People tend to eat a lot of sabudana items during their fast like sabudana khichdi, sabudana wada and sabudana kheer. Although I am not fasting but it's a great fasting food which is quite filling. 

Navratri has given me a reason to eat one of my childhood favourite "Sabudana kheer" and satiate my sugar craving. I remember scrapping this kheer off my little steel bowl till the time bowl looked spot-on clean. This is my mom's recipe and for a change, I am going to give full credit to her :)

This kheer comforts me even more than the traditional Indian rice kheer simply because sabudana/tapioca pearls swell in the bubbling milk and get all soft and chewy. Starch from sabudana/tapioca pearls makes this kheer extremely silky and smooth in texture. It tends to get thicker so don't forget to thin it down with more milk if you are going to consume next day or later.

Ingredients

1. Sabudana/tapioca pearls - 1/2 cup
2. Milk - 2 cups
3. Cardamom - 2 pods
4. Sugar - 1/2 cup
5. Kesar- few strands
6. Chopped almonds for garnish

Method

• Soak sabudana/tapioca pearls in 1 cup water for 30 minutes.
• In a deep sauce pan, add milk and slightly warm it.
• Once milk has warmed, strain sabudana and get rid of all the excess water.
• Add soaked sabudana/tapioca pearls in milk and mix well.
• Cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes till you notice sabudana getting translucent in colour and cooked through.
• At this point add crushed cardamom seeds, sugar and mix well. Cook for further 5 minutes on low heat.
• Take off stove and let it cool down.
• Serve the kheer warm or cold garnished with saffron (kesar) strands and chopped almonds.

Happy Navratri!

Nishu