Sabudana Kheer

Sabudana Kheer is a popular, decadent, creamy, and classic Indian sweet or pudding dessert prepared using tapioca or sago, milk, and sugar.

What is Kheer?

Kheer, also known as payasa, kheeri, payasam, phirni, payesh, ksheeram, goddi, etc., in different Indian languages, is one of the most popular sweet dishes or wet pudding. Kheer is prepared mainly using milk, a sweetener like sugar or jaggery, and rice or sabudana (sago or tapioca pearls) as the main ingredient. You can check my recipe on rice kheer or doodhpak here.

You can also substitute rice with vermicelli, dals (lentils), bulgar wheat, millet, and so on. It is flavored with coconut milk, cardamom (elaichi), saffron (kesar), or rose. To make it even richer dry fruits and nuts are also added.

What is sabudana?

Sabudana is a starch extracted from cassava roots. It is called sago or tapioca pearls in English, sabbakki in Kannada, saggubiyyam in Telugu, javvarisi in Tamil.

In India, sabudana savory recipes are mainly prepared during fasting, upvas, vrat days as it keeps you full for a longer time. Sweet recipes using sabudana are prepared during festivals like Janmahastami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Diwali (Deepawali), Karwa Chauth, Eid, Christmas, etc. As rose petals are used in this recipe, it is a great dish to prepare during Valentine's day! You can also prepare Sabudana kheer for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, raksha bandhan, etc.

Some of the popular sabudana recipes are

• SABUDANA KHICHDI
• SABUDANA VADA
• INSTANT SABUDANA FRIES OR SABUDANA FINGERS OR INSTANT SABUDANA VADA (no soak version)
• SABUDANA DOSA

Ingredients for Sabudana Kheer With Rose and Dry Fruits

½ cup Sabudana (Tapioca Pearls or Sago)
1 ½ cup Water
1 ½ cup Milk
½ cup Sugar (adjust accordingly)
2 tablespoon Cashews
2 tablespoon Almonds or Badam
2 tablespoon Pistachios
1 tablespoon Raisins
2 tablespoon dried Rose petals (food grade)

How to make Sabudana Kheer with Rose and Dry Fruits

• Wash sabudna and soak them in water for 2 hours (This step is optional but mainly done so that cooking time is reduced.)
• Meanwhile, in a nonstick pan on medium to low flame, you can dry roast almonds, pistachios, and cashews till they become aromatic. Keep this aside.
• In a pan or pot on medium flame, add sabudana and 1.5 cups water and cook till sabudana becomes semi-transparent and is 90% cooked through. Keep stirring to avoid them from burning at the bottom.  You can take few sabudana pearls and check if they have started becoming soft. Sabudana pearls should not be dense or hard. You can check my video on how to make sabudana kheer
• Once the sabudana has almost cooked through ,add milk and bring it to a boil and cook till sabudana becomes soft and transparent. Keep stirring during the process - as the starch from sago and milk fats can settle at the bottom and burn.
• Now add sugar, start with ¼ cup and adjust accordingly. I have added ½ cup as this gave the right amount of sweetness to the kheer.
• Finally, add the roasted nuts, raisins, rose petals, and simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes. Switch off the flame. Rose-flavoured Sabudana Kheer is now ready. Serve hot or cold, and enjoy!

Tips to make the best sabudana kheer

• Keep stirring while preparing sweets like this to avoid burning at the bottom, and always cook on medium to medium-low flame.
• I have cooked sabudana in water first and then in milk because sabudana cooks faster in water.
• You can even soak sabudana water in hot water for 30 minutes.
• Adjust the amount of sugar to taste.
• Cooking time varies depending on the pan you use and the intensity of the flame.
• Kheer thickens as it cools down. You may add water and adjust the consistency accordingly.
• Vary the amount of nuts to taste.
• Instead of dried rose petals, you can add flavorings like cardamom (elaichi) or saffron (kesar).
• I use whole milk to make a rich kheer. But for a light version you can even use low-fat milk, skim milk, half and half, etc.
• You can even make kheer using condensed milk. In this case, entirely skip the sugar or adjust its amount accordingly.
• If sabudana breaks, don't worry. You may have overcooked, but it will only make your kheer more creamy and thick and tastes equally good.

How to serve Sabudan Kheer?

Sabudana Kheer can be served hot or chilled as dessert after any meal. The choice is yours.

Can I store leftover sabudana kheer?

Leftover sabudana kheer can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Can I make Sabudana kheer vegan?

Yes. To make a vegan Sabudana Kheer, substitute milk with coconut milk for best results. You can also use any other nondairy milk like almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk.

How to make kheer with milkmaid or condensed milk?

You can use condensed milk to make any variety of kheer. For the recipe above, reduce the amount of milk to ¾ cup and add ½ cup of condensed milk. Skip sugar entirely or adjust the sweetness accordingly.

Sabudana Kheer with jaggery

If you want to add jaggery, make sure you add it at the end once you switch off the flame. Else the mixture may curdle. Here are the steps: First, prepare jaggery syrup by melting jaggery with a bit of water in a pan, and cook till it thickens. Once the jaggery syrup cools down completely, add it to the cooked sabudana mixture and stir well.

Sabudana Kheer with dates

To make it even healthier and festive, you can add finely chopped dates to the kheer instead of sugar to give that sweetness. But see that you add dates after sabudana is completely cooked in water-milk mixture and the flame has been switched off. Cooking dates for long will alter the taste of traditional kheer.

Instant Pot sabudana kheer

• Wash sabudana and soak them for 30 minutes in 1 ½ cups of water in your Instant Pot (IP). Make sure your instant pot is switched off 🙂
• Switch on the instant pot and simmer for 4 to 6 minutes in saute mode till the sabudana or tapioca pearls become semi-translucent. They should not be hard or dense to touch.
• Now add 1 ½ cups of milk, another ¼ to ½ cup water, stir well, and close your IP with the lid.
• Press the pressure cook button and set the pressure to low. Cook for 10 minutes with pressure valve in sealing position.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then do a quick pressure release.
• Open the lid, set IP to saute mode, add sugar starting with ¼ cup and adjust to taste.
• Add roasted dry fruits and nuts, rose petals, and simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes, and you are done.

YOU CAN ALSO CHECK SOME OF THE POPULAR INDIAN RECIPES ON MY BLOG

• BEST INDIAN SWEETS AND DESSERTS
• DIWALI SWEETS RECIPES
• DIWALI SNACKS RECIPES 
• FASTING, VRAT, UPVAS RECIPES
• POPULAR & EASY BURFI RECIPES

Full video recipe on how to make the best sabudana kheer

Detailed recipe for Sabudana Kheer with Rose and Dry Fruits | How to make the best Kheer at home

Recipe card

Sabudana Kheer With Rose And Dry Fruits | How To Make The Best Sabudana Kheer

Kushi

Sabudana Kheer is a popular, decadent, creamy, and classic Indian sweet or pudding dessert prepared using tapioca or sago, milk, and sugar. Kheer can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.

5 from 15 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Desserts, Snack

Cuisine Andhra Pradesh, Asian, bengal, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indian, Karnataka, kolkata, Maharashtra, north indian, punjabi, South Indian, Tamil Nadu, Telangana

Servings 6 servings

Calories 205 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ ½ cup Sabudana (Tapioca Pearls or Sago)
• ▢ 1 ½ cups Water
• ▢ 1 ½ cups Milk (Use coconut or any non-dairy milk for vegan version)
• ▢ ½ cup Sugar (adjust accordingly)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Cashews
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Almonds or Badam
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Pistachios
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Raisins
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Dried rose petals (Use food-grade rose petals. Roses available commercially are sprayed with insecticides, so beware)

Instructions

 

Sabudana Kheer On Stovetop

• Wash sabudna and soak them in water for 2 hours. This step is optional but mainly done so that cooking time is reduced.
• Meanwhile, in a nonstick pan on medium to low flame, you can dry roast almonds, pistachios, and cashews till they become aromatic. Keep this aside.
  2 tablespoon Cashews, 2 tablespoon Almonds, 2 tablespoon Pistachios
• In a pan or pot on medium flame, add sabudana and 1.5 cups water and cook till sabudana becomes semi-transparent and is 90% cooked through. Keep stirring to avoid them from burning at the bottom.  You can take a few sabudana pearls and check if they have started becoming soft. Sabudana pearls should not be dense or hard. You can check my video on how to make sabudana kheer
  ½ cup Sabudana, 1 ½ cups Water
• Once the sabudana has almost cooked through, add milk and bring it to a boil and cook till sabudana becomes soft and transparent. Keep stirring during the process – as the starch from sago and milk fats can settle at the bottom and burn.
  1 ½ cups Milk
• Now add sugar, start with ¼ cup and adjust accordingly. I have added ½ cup as this gave the right amount of sweetness to the kheer.
  ½ cup Sugar
• Finally, add the roasted nuts (from above), raisins, rose petals, and simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes. Switch off the flame.
  1 tablespoon Raisins, 2 tablespoon Dried rose petals
• Rose-flavoured Sabudana Kheer is now ready. Serve hot or cold, and enjoy!

INSTANT POT SABUDANA KHEER

• Wash sabudana and soak them for 30 minutes in 1 ½ cups of water in your Instant Pot (IP). Make sure your instant pot is switched off 🙂
• Switch on the instant pot and simmer for 4 to 6 minutes in saute mode till the sabudana or tapioca pearls become semi-translucent. They should not be hard or dense to touch.
• Now add 1 ½ cups of milk, another ¼ to ½ cup water, stir well, and close your IP with the lid.
• Press the pressure cook button and set the pressure to low. Cook for 10 minutes with pressure valve in sealing position.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then do a quick pressure release.
• Open the lid, set IP to saute mode, add sugar starting with ¼ cup and adjust to taste.
• Add roasted dry fruits and nuts, rose petals, and simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes, and you are done.

Notes

• Keep stirring while preparing sweets like this to avoid burning at the bottom, and always cook on medium to medium-low flame.
• I have cooked sabudana in water first and then in milk because sabudana cooks faster in water.
• You can even soak sabudana water in hot water for 30 minutes.
• Adjust the amount of sugar to taste.
• Cooking time varies depending on the pan you use and the intensity of the flame.
• Kheer thickens as it cools down. You may add water and adjust the consistency accordingly.
• Vary the amount of nuts to taste.
• Instead of dried rose petals, you can add flavorings like cardamom (elaichi) or saffron (kesar).
• I use whole milk to make a rich kheer. But for a light version you can even use low-fat milk, skim milk, half and half, etc.
• You can even make kheer using condensed milk. In this case, entirely skip the sugar or adjust its amount accordingly.
• If sabudana breaks, don’t worry. You may have overcooked, but it will only make your kheer more creamy and thick and tastes equally good.

Nutrition

Calories: 205kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 4gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 27mgPotassium: 184mgFiber: 1gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 109IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 94mgIron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

If you like this Sabudana Kheer, Sago Kheer or Tapioca Pudding,

Don't miss to check out some of my favorite and delicious Indian desserts and sweets (meetha or mithai) to try this festival season or any time of the year.

Milk Barfi / Milk Powder Burfi	Kaju Katli / Kaju Barfi
7 cup Barfi	Vermicelli Kheer
Carrot Halwa, Carrot Pudding	Gulab Jamun

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