Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Sago Cutlets

Sabudana or Sago pearls are very similar to Tapioca and may be easily confused for the other. But they have very distinct tastes. Sago is used extensively in Indian cooking.

Until recently I didn't know that they are mostly carbohydrates and have minimal nutritional value! On the other hand, they are delicious, especially in these cutlets! And you can get your protein from the nuts! :)


Sago Cutlets

1/2 cup Sago Pearls
4 small Potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed
2 Green Chillies, chopped fine
2 tbsp Cilantro Leaves, chopped fine
3/4 cup Bread Crumbs
Salt to taste
1/4 cup Nuts, crushed (almonds or peanuts or cashews work well)

Soak the sago for about 8 hours. Drain the sago and dry on a tea towel.

Mix together the sago, mashed potato, chillies, cilantro, salt, bread crumbs and nuts.


Roll them into walnut-sized balls and flatten to form a cutlet shape. You can make them as large or as small as you'd like - smaller ones cook faster.


Heat about a teaspoon of oil on a skillet and place the cutlets, a few at a time. Allow to cook until slightly browned and flip over, until both sides are golden brown.


Serve hot with chutney. The cutlets are great the same day. If you are saving them for later, store in the refrigerator and heat in a toaster oven for a few minutes before serving.

37 comments:

Ranjani said...

You're right, until recently even I was not aware that they lacked nutritional content and they suck up waay too much oil! But these are majorly yummy and sometimes that's all that counts!

Shama Nagarajan said...

wow..a different yummy one..have a gift for u..please check it

Chutneytales said...

Looks very different and a yummy cutlet..I love the idea of adding nuts to it :)

Finla said...

I have never made anything with sago and this looks really yumm.

FH said...

I make these sometimes but not often. Looks so yummy, can't wait to try it again! :)

Priya Suresh said...

Quite a different cutlet, love the addition of nuts..

SJ said...

I have seen sago cutlets that are deep fried, but this looks healthy+tasty!

Anonymous said...

How different and truly delicious sounding.

Vaidehi Bhave said...

yummy !! great with green chutney

vaidehi

Lisa Turner said...

I adore little cutlets like this, though I've never cooked with sago. Something I would be sure to like though.

Poornima Nair said...

The cutlets look perfect. They are so much better that the deep fried vadas. Have bookmarked this one.

Jamie said...

They look wonderful. I love sabudana because of the crushed nuts, this would be a great twist on that.

Lavanya said...

cutlet looks yummy....

delhibelle said...

the bright side is that you have defattened the deep fried sabudana wada, the dark is that it is still a carb bomb,but sometimes isn't that exactly what we want:)

Beyond Curries said...

First, I didn't know that they both were different. Secondly I have not prepared anything with sago as the main ingredient. We used it only for vadams in our house and ocassionally my grandmother would soak it along with lentils while grinding adai. It gave such a crispy and great adais that everybody would ask her the recipe.

As Rashmi as mentioned frying it in a tava definitely makes it little bit healthy.

Bharti said...

I think my mom made these once and they were darn tasty.

Arundathi said...


Thanks everyone. Yes, the nuts definitely add a nice crunch to the cutlets.

Ranjani - yea yea - taste is great, but it wouldve been nice to discover something that was healthy and tasted great

Shama - off to check it now...thanks

Madhumathi/ Happy Cook/ Asha/ Priya/ SJ/ Joanne/ Vaidehi - Do try it again - its delicious!

Lisa - Love the stuff on your blog and I have a feeling you'll like this too!

Poornima Nair - thanks

Jamie - Yes and the sabudana taste is more pronounced so its delicious

Lavanya - thanks

Delhibelle - Thanks - can't deep fry for the life of me.

Madhuram - Yeah tapioca and sabudana are very different. What a great idea to use it in the adai mix!

Bharti - yeah they're so good!

Uma said...

looks mouth-watering.

Malar Gandhi said...

Totally new recipe to me. I had no clue that one cud fix cutlet out of sago...nice one, dude.

Deepthi Shankar said...

I have had sabudana vadas that are deep fried. never tried it this way. looks awesome

Kitchen Chronicles said...

Beautiful looking cutlets. better than the deep fried ones.

bee said...

they hold shape this well? never would've guessed. i have a packet lying around somewhere. the only way i make them is khichdi. this is worth trying.

Arundathi said...


Uma - thanks

Malar Gandhi - Thanks. Yea - sago is very adaptable.

Deesha - thank you. a little more healthy than the deep fried version.

Lakshmi Venkatesh - Yup, much better.

bee - yup, they hold shape very well - infact they act as a binding agent when shaping the cutlets. try it sometime!

Jescel said...

oh, we call that sago in my country too! but I've never had those in savory applications.. only in drinks and desserts... pretty interesting.

A_and_N said...

My mom always made Upma with them! This seems so easy to make! Will try :)

Arundathi said...


Jescel - Oh that is interesting. I've never had it in a sweet/ dessert. Cool.

Arundathi said...


A &N - Upma sounds great too! Thanks for the idea!

Raaga said...

I've had loads of this as a child... and also bought it on the train in Bombay... there's this lady who brings the stuff everyday to VT station :)

Skillet frying is a great idea. I usually make this: http://chefatwork.blogspot.com/2007/07/sabudana-khichdi.html

Arundathi said...


Raaga - You've gotta skillet fry the stuff. Sago soaks up too much oil, so deep frying makes them soggy and oily!

Priya Narasimhan said...

I am going to make this cutlet and send it to Ashwini's MBP-Snacks and Savouries event. Will let you know how the cutlet turned out. I have tasted deep fried ones called sabudana vada, a maharashtrian speciality, I guess. Seeing shallow fried one for the first time. Thanks for sharing this recipes.
Priya

Arundathi said...


Priya Narasimhan - Oh didnt know sabudana vadas are a Maharashtrian specialty. that's cool. I hope you enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

Love sabudana vadas! The vadas look so yummy.

Arundathi said...


homecooked - Thanks!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I love these sabudana vadas and the similar khichdi Maharashtrians make when they are fasting.
That your version isn't deep fried makes it more appealing.

Priya Narasimhan said...

Hi Arundhati,
I made the cutlets today. It was awesome. I also sent this as my entry to Ashwini's MBP-Snacks and Savouries event. Do have a look at my blog.
Thanks.
Priya.

Arundathi said...


Aparna - I've never had the khichdi...must try it someday! Thanks

Priya - I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the post!

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