Sabudana Kheer | How to make Sabudana Kheer

From main course and snacks to desserts – sago or sabudana is a versatile ingredient that is used to make a variety of dishes and has many uses in Indian cuisine. It is also a favorite of us Indians, especially during the Hindu fasting or vrat season. While you may crush over the regular khichdis and vadas made with sabudana, here’s an Indian dessert made with it, which is all things delish. Sabudana Kheer, the sweet pudding made with sago pearls, milk and sugar is also a popular pick as fasting food during the Hindu Navratri Festival. Simple and easy to make, and absolutely delicious.

About Sabudana Kheer

Like I mentioned earlier, Sabudana Kheer is basically an Indian sweet pudding, in which the main ingredient is sago or tapioca pearls (sabudana).

In addition to this, it also has whole milk, sugar and flavorings like green cardamom powder, nuts and saffron that results in a yummy dessert. You can also call it as Sago Kheer, Sago Pudding, Tapioca Kheer or Tapioca Pudding.

My Sabudana Kheer recipe is super easy and simple to prepare. This is also our family’s favorite kheer and we make it very often. We also make this sago kheer during our vrat days for the festival of Navratri.

Obviously, I have learned to make Sabudana Kheer from my family and so, this recipe too is a keeper recipe – one we have been making for many years. This sweet dish is quite popular as fasting food during many religious festivals in India.

In this recipe, I cook the sabudana in water first, which helps in cooking them faster in the later stages. You can choose to cook the sago pearls in milk, but it will take more time.

After the milk is added, the sabudana is slowly simmered further, which softens the sago completely by breaking some of the tapioca pearls.

This process releases the starch from the sabudana which helps in thickening the kheer too. The end result is a creamy, smooth delicious Sabudana Kheer.

How to make Sabudana Kheer

1. Rinse ½ cup sabudana (sago) for few times in running water until the water runs clear of starch.

Soak it in 2 cups of fresh clean filtered water for 15 to 20 minutes in a thick bottomed pan or a saucepan. My method is extremely helpful and handy if you have forgotten to soak sabudana.

2. Place this pan on your stovetop and cook sabudana until you see the pearls starting to float on top. They loose their denseness and become light.

The opaqueness in the tapioca pearls gives way to translucency and they start swelling up. This takes about 5 to 6 minutes on low to medium heat.

3. Next, add 2 cups whole milk, ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder and stir.

4.  Add 4 to 5 tablespoons raw sugar or as needed according to your taste preferences.

5. Continue to simmer till the sabudana pearls have softened well and the kheer has thickened. This takes about 20 to 25 minutes on low to medium heat. 

Stir often, so that the kheer or sabudana does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Some of the tapioca pearls would break too and also help in the thickening of the kheer.

These sago pearls are plain starch and this helps in the thickening. Turn off the heat and add cashews and raisins or choose to add your preferred nuts.

Do a taste test and add more sugar if the kheer feels less sweet to you.

6. Serve the creamy Sabudana Kheer hot, warm or chilled. If you want, you can garnish the kheer with a few saffron strands or some chopped cashews.

Serving Suggestions

You can serve or relish the flavors and texture of the Sabudana Kheer by serving it either hot or warm. It can also be refrigerated and served chilled. While serving, you can garnish the kheer with some more nuts.

Sago Kheer can be consumed on its own or served as a part of a satvik (no onion, no garlic) meal or platter.

Consistency of Sabudana Kheer

This Sabudana Kheer has a creamy and smooth consistency. To achieve this, just remember to cook the sabudana very well.

Once cooked, the sago pearls should not give you any resistance when you bite into them. Meaning, the pearls should not feel hard to your teeth.

Sago Kheer naturally thickens after cooling. So, keep in mind the consistency you want, in case you want to serve it cold.

You can adjust the consistency by adding more or less milk. For a slightly thin consistency add more milk and vice versa.

If the kheer becomes too thick, you can adjust the consistency by adding some milk to it while serving. Sabudana Kheer is easy to digest too.

What is Sabudana

Sabudana is also called as ‘sago’ or ‘tapioca pearls.’ These are small round shaped pearls made from the starch obtained from the roots of the cassava plant (yuca, tapioca). Hence, aptly named so as well.

In northern and western parts of India, these opaque white pearls are called ‘sabudana.’ In Kannada, it is known as ‘sabbakki;’ in Tamil, it is called ‘javvarisi;’ in Telugu, it is referred to as ‘saggubiyyam’ and in Malayalam, it is known as ‘chowari.’ It may have some more names depending upon which regional cuisine it is used in.

Sabudana is pure starch. Thus, it one of the quintessential ingredients that is a part of fasting food. Sago pearls are also gluten-free.

In addition to this luscious and creamy Sabudana Kheer, we make a lot of snacks with it like Sabudana Khichdi, Sabudana Vada, Sabudana Tikki, etc.

Expert Tips

1. Soaking: My recipe does not call for soaking sabudana for hours. So, real handy, if you have forgotten to soak sabudana. But if you have time, then you can soak sabudana for 2 to 3 hours. Soaking sabudana will reduce the cooking time.
2. Choose the right sabudana: For making Sago Kheer, use the regular sized sabudana available in the market. Do not use nylon sabudana which comes in large sizes as well as small sizes.
3. Cooked sabudana texture: After cooking well, sabudana should be soft, slightly sticky and look translucent. They should not be dense, chewy or have any bite to them.
4. Sweeteners: In place of sugar, you can add any sweetener. If using jaggery, palm sugar, palm jaggery or coconut sugar – when the kheer is done, place it on your kitchen counter-top for 4 to 5 minutes. This will cool it a bit. Then, add any of these grated or chopped sweeteners. Mix and serve.
5. Flavorings: I always add green cardamom powder or saffron (kesar) in my kheer recipes. But you can experiment and add any vibrant floral flavors like orange extract, rose water, screw pine water, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, lavender extract, or anything you fancy.
6. Nuts: You can always add your choice of nuts and dry fruits. Choose almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, dates, dried figs, chironji (charoli), etc. You can also skip adding the nuts or dry fruits altogether.
7. Vegan option: Make the Tapiocal Pudding with almond milk. Follow these steps – first cook sabudana in water until softened completely. Add almond milk, sugar and gently simmer. Do not boil. Finish off with the nuts or dry fruits. Use the same method if adding coconut milk. Let the coconut milk become warm or get heated gently and do not boil.
8. Storage: Refrigerate the leftover kheer for about 2 to 3 days.

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This Sabudana Kheer recipe post from the archives first published in September 2013 has been updated and republished on March 2023.