Sago vadaam
Happy new year eve 2021 peeps! What a different year 2020 has been for us all. Amongst all the things that I could not do this year, the thing I missed doing the most is travelling. I normally end up meeting my mom a few months once, my brother & co atleast yearly once. I met my mon thankfully in Feb 2020 but the last I met my bro & co was Aug 2019. I was feeling terrible about not meeting them in person though we have been video chatting quite a bit this year. Anywho, one random day I was talking to my nephew Athu & I badly wanted to see him. Asked my sil if she can travel since things had opened up in Dubai and she readily agreed to. There were multiple hurdles that had to be crossed including passport renewals and with each hurdle, we were not even sure if the trip would materialize. However, here they are in Dubai sitting next to me as we played a long round of sequence (board game) and now watching some Master chef :). I am so thankful and grateful for having been able to meet them this year. It’s definitely a good new year celebrations for me considering I am around all my favourite people.
Vadaam is something that I hve been wanting to blog forever. Thanks to being at home all the time, I could actually document some vadaam this year. I aimed for more but didn’t work out. I made this batch of vadaam back in Aug 2020 and finally got around to blogging it :). Hope you guys try it out next summer. I surely I am.
- 2 cups sago/ javvarisi/ sabudana
- 10 nos long green chillies
- 4 tsp rock salt
- 10 cups water
- 1/4 cup rice flour
- 1 tbsp asafoetida
- 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
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In a mixer jar, grind green chillies, 1t rock salt and 1T water to a smooth paste.
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Soak 2c javvarisi/ sago/ sabudana in 3c water overnight.
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Take a wide kadai/ pressure cooker and empty the javvarisi along with any remaining water into it. Along with this, add 4c water and mix.
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In a small vessel, mix 1/4c rice flour with 1c water. Pour this into the kadai/ cooker along with the javvarisi.
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Also add 3t rock salt, 1tbsp asafoetida, green chilli paste.
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Mix everything well and bring the mixture to a boil (5 min on high heat/ biggest flame).
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Add 4 more cups water & 1.5tbsp lemon juice and bring the mixture to a boil once again which should roughly take another 5 mins on high heat.
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At this point, the javvarisi will be well cooked and will be in a koozh/ porridge consistency. Turn off the heat and close the vessel for 10 mins.
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Meanwhile, heat 1c water and keep it handy just in case the javvarisi koozh thickens quite a bit so the hot water can be added to loosen it up a bit.
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After 10 minutes, open the kadai/ cooker and give the javvarisi koozh a mix. What you are looking for is a loose batter/ flowy consistency. So if the mixture seems a little thick, just loosen it up a bit by adding hot water little by little. We had to do this since we felt the mixture was a bit too thick.
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If you think the mixture is too watery, heat it up for a few more mins so it will thicken a bit more.
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Ensure you have clean/ thick plastic sheets or silpats. Lay these in a place where you get ample sunlight during the day (balcony/ terrace). Ensure to keep weights around so the sheets don't fly/ turn with winds.
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To the balcony/ terrace, take the kadai/ pressure cooker that has the vadaam koozh, a bowl into which you can scoop out koozh portions to lay them out, ladle to scoop out the vadaam koozh, a bowl of room temp water to clean up any mess or to add into the koozh in case it thickens a lot.
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Take some vadaam koozh into the bowl from the kadai/ cooker; Use the ladle and scoop out tiny roundels onto the sheet.
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Proceed with the above step till you complete laying all the vadaam koozh onto the sheet.
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Allow the vadaam to sun dry.
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If you live in a place where the nights get cold or humid (ours gets super humid during summers), pull the sheet into a room and close it with a muslin/ light cotton cloth. Mil uses a saree. In case your nights don't get cold or humid, you can leave it out in the balcony/ terrace with just the cover on.
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The next day morning, take off the cover and leave it to sun dry for the entire day. Repeat the same night step as above.
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In a typical good chennai/ dubai summer, you will notice that the vadaam is entirely dry with no wet spots on it.
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In case the vadaam is not completely dry, you can either repeat the same step as above or transfer the vadaam to a tray and let it dry.
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Once the vadaam is fully dry, transfer to a ziploc and seal it well. Ensure to write the date on the ziploc so you can always use the oldest to newest stock whenever you fry some up.
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Heat some vegetable oil (totally depends on how much you want to fry) and once oil completely hot, fry the vadaam in batches.
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Serve alongside some hot sambhar/ rasam rice or you can just munch up some as snack just like that.
- Mil typically does the green chilli paste the previous night so as to avoid using the mixer early in the morning. This can also be done in the morning.
- You can add all the water at a single stretch instead of doing it bit by bit as well. My mil typically does this so as to make sure she uses the water to clean up the vessels clean of its content. Say, once she adds the green chilli paste, she cleans it with some water & adds it into the pan.
- The time above does not include the laying the vadaam on the sheet as well as its drying time. It takes about 10-15 minutes to lay out the vadaam; 2 days typically for it dry well on the sheet;
- Spice down if you cannot handle spicy vadaams.
- Scope of spoiling this is very little. Worst case the javvarisi will lose it shape that’s all.
Stepwise pictures
Things to be done the night before making the vadaam
In a mixer jar, grind green chillies, 1t rock salt and 1T water to a smooth paste. 
Transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigerator. 
Soak 2c javvarisi/ sago/ sabudana in 3 cups water overnight.
Making of the vadaam
Soaked up javvarisi/ sabudana the following morning. 
Take a wide kadai/ pressure cooker and empty the javvarisi along with any remaining water into it. Along with this, add 4c water and mix. 
In a small vessel, mix 1/4c rice flour with 1c water. Pour this into the kadai/ cooker along with the javvarisi. 
Also add 3t rock salt, 1tbsp asafoetida, green chilli paste. 
Mix everything well and bring the mixture to a boil (5 min on high heat/ biggest flame). 
This is how mine looked after 5 mins. 
Add 4 more cups water & 1.5tbsp lemon juice and bring the mixture to a boil once again which should roughly take another 5 mins on high heat. 
At this point, the javvarisi will be well cooked and will be in a koozh/ porridge consistency. Turn off the heat and close the vessel for 10 mins. 
Meanwhile, heat 1c water and keep it handy just in case the javvarisi koozh thickens quite a bit so the hot water can be added to loosen it up a bit. After 10 minutes, open the kadai/ cooker and give the javvarisi koozh a mix. What you are looking for is a loose batter/ flowy consistency. So if the mixture seems a little thick, just loosen it up a bit by adding hot water little by little. We had to do this since we felt the mixture was a bit too thick. If you think the mixture is too watery, heat it up for a few more mins so it will thicken a bit more.
Laying instructions
Ensure you have clean/ thick plastic sheets or silpats. Lay these in a place where you get ample sunlight during the day (balcony/ terrace). Ensure to keep weights around so the sheets don’t fly/ turn with winds.
To the balcony/ terrace, take the kadai/ pressure cooker that has the vadaam koozh, a bowl into which you can scoop out koozh portions to lay them out, ladle to scoop out the vadaam koozh, a bowl of room temp water to clean up any mess or to add into the koozh in case it thickens a lot.
Take some vadaam koozh into the bowl from the kadai/ cooker; Use the ladle and scoop out tiny roundels onto the sheet. 
Proceed with the above step till you complete laying all the vadaam koozh onto the sheet.
Allow the vadaam to sun dry.
Instructions for the next 2 nights/ days.
If you live in a place where the nights get cold or humid (ours gets super humid during summers), pull the sheet into a room and close it with a muslin/ light cotton cloth. Mil uses a saree. In case your nights don’t get cold or humid, you can leave it out in the balcony/ terrace with just the cover on.
The next day morning, take off the cover and leave it to sun dry for the entire day. Repeat the same night step as above. In a typical good chennai/ dubai summer, you will notice that the vadaam is entirely dry with no wet spots on it.
In case the vadaam is not completely dry, you can either repeat the same step as above or transfer the vadaam to a tray and let it dry. Once the vadaam is fully dry, transfer to a ziploc and seal it well. Ensure to write the date on the ziploc so you can always use the oldest to newest stock whenever you fry some up.
Frying instructions
Heat some vegetable oil (totally depends on how much you want to fry) and once oil completely hot, fry the vadaam in batches. 
Serve alongside some hot sambhar/ rasam rice or you can just munch up some as snack just like that.
