These air fryer sabudana vada are crisp outside and soft inside. They are made with soaked sabudana, boiled potato, mint, ginger, green chilli and rock salt, so they work well for fasting days as well as a simple snack. The shaped vadas are frozen before air frying, which helps them hold their shape.
Sabudana is also called sago or tapioca pearls. For fasting, serve these vadas with a vrat-friendly mint chutney, sweet yogurt, or coconut chutney. You may also like sabudana khichdi or sabudana kheer.
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How to make air fryer sabudana vada? (Recipe video)
Ingredients
- sabudana - soaked in water for a few hours, then drained well
- boiled mashed potatoes or sweet potato
- ginger paste or grated ginger
- mint leaves
- green chilies - adjust as per taste
- rock salt as needed
- oil for deep frying or 1 tablespoon oil for air fryer
Refer to recipe card for exact measurements and detailed quantities.
Prep sabudana and make the vada mixture
- Wash sabudana well under water until most of the starch is removed.
- Soak it in enough water for a few hours, until the pearls soften and puff up. Drain any excess water and keep the sabudana in a sieve for a while so it does not stay wet.
- Mix together soaked sabudana, mashed potatoes, ginger, green chilies, mint leaves, and salt. If you are making them for vrat, use sendha namak or rock salt.
- Shape the mixture into 10 to 12 small vada or 6 to 8 medium-sized vada.
How to cook sabudana vada in the air fryer
For the air-fryer method, always freeze the shaped vadas for 4 to 6 hours, or until completely firm. Cook them directly from frozen without thawing. Preheat the air fryer to 180°C (355°F).
Brush the frozen vadas lightly with oil and place them in a single layer in the air fryer basket.
Air fry for about 25 minutes, flipping once during cooking. Brush lightly with a little more oil if needed, and cook until crisp and golden on both sides.
Serve warm with chutney or sweet yogurt.
Deep fryer cooking option
Heat oil in a wok or kadai over medium heat. To check if the oil is ready, drop in a tiny bit of mixture. If it rises and bubbles gently, the oil is ready.
If the mixture feels soft, refrigerate the shaped vada for 20 to 30 minutes before frying. Deep fry the sabudana vada over medium heat until golden brown and crisp from all sides. Freezing is not required for deep frying. Remove and place on paper towel to absorb extra oil. Serve hot with spicy green chutney or sweet yogurt.
Sweet potato variation
You can also make sabudana vada with sweet potato instead of regular potato. For best results, boil the sweet potato, let it cool completely, and then move it to the fridge before using. Chilled sweet potato is easier to shape and holds better.
- Mix the soaked sabudana with mashed sweet potato and other spices.
- Divide the mixture into equal portions and shape into small flat vada.
- For the air fryer, always freeze the shaped vadas for 4 to 6 hours, or until completely firm. Cook them directly from frozen without thawing.
- Preheat the air fryer to 180°C (355°F). Brush the frozen vada with some of the 2 tablespoons oil and air fry for about 25 minutes. Flip once during cooking, brush with the remaining oil as needed, and cook until crisp and golden on both sides.
- If you are using frozen vada, they may need at least 5 more minutes to cook.
Related recipes
Air Fryer Sabudana Vada recipe
Equipment
- kadai/frying pan (traditional method)
- or air fryer for low oil version
- Mixing bowl
- Sieve
- skimmer spoon / chhana for frying
Ingredients
- 1 cup sabudana soaked for about 4 hours; yields about 1 ½ cups after soaking
- 2 medium potatoes mashed and peeled (refer notes) You can use sweet potatoes; for 1 ½ cups soaked sabudana, use ½ cup boiled sweet potato
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 1 tbsp. coriander/mint leaves Do not use coriander during fasting/vrat
- 1-2 chopped green chilies adjust as per taste
- salt as per taste
- 2 tbsp. oil for air fryer
- Oil for deep frying if you are deep frying
Instructions
- Wash sabudana well and soak it in enough water for about 4 hours, until the pearls soften and puff up. Drain any excess water well.
- Mix together the soaked sabudana, mashed potatoes, ginger, green chilies, mint leaves and salt.
- Shape the mixture into 10 to 12 small vada or 6 to 8 medium-sized vada.
Frying (Traditional method)
- If the mixture feels soft, refrigerate the shaped vada for 20 to 30 minutes before frying. Deep fry in medium-hot oil until evenly golden and crisp on all sides. Freezing is not required for deep frying.
For air fryer version (with potato or sweet potato)
- For the air fryer, always freeze the shaped raw vada for 4 to 6 hours, or until completely firm. Cook them directly from frozen; do not thaw.
- Preheat the air fryer to 180°C (355°F).
- Brush the frozen vada with some of the 2 tablespoons oil and air fry at 180°C for about 25 minutes. Flip once during cooking, brush with the remaining oil as needed, and cook until crisp and golden on both sides.
- Serve warm.
Video
Notes
FAQs
If there is moisture in vadas or oil temperature is not right, it will burst while frying.
Run the sabudana under water 3-4 times,in a sieve until you get clear water. This way you can remove starch.Then soak it with just enough water for 30-40 mins.
Kuttu ka atta or buckwheat flour. Other flours you can use are rajgira ka atta(amaranth flour), singhare ka atta (water chestnut flour).These days people also eat quinoa.
Place sabudana or tapioca pearls in bowl and cover it with enough water. Keep it aside for 3-4 hours until it fluffs up. Drain the excess water by keeping the soaked sabudana in a sieve. If you add less water, it will result in under-soaked sabudana which is still tough to mash. In that case just add more water to the bowl and check after 30 minutes.
Storage
Store them in an air-tight container in the fridge and serve again by shallow frying in a little oil or air frying for 3 to 5 minutes in a preheated air fryer.
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