Name: Tapioca Fritters with a Coconut-Sesame Seed Sauce (Sabudana Vada)
Yield: Makes 20 Fritters (Serves 10)
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 2 to 4 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chiles, to taste, stems removed; 1 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt; 1 medium-size tomato, cored and coarsely chopped; 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems; ½ cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts; 10 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chiles, stems removed; 1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, boiled until tender, and mashed; 6 medium-size to large cloves garlic; 2 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 2½ inches long, 1 inch wide, and ⅛ inch thick); 2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt; Canola oil for deep-frying; 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds; ¼ cup shredded dried unsweetened coconut; 1 tablespoon canola oil; 1 cup uncooked medium-size white tapioca pearls; ½ cup firmly packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems; 1 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

Preparation info

Makes 20 Fritters (Serves
10
)

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

Tapioca (sago), a starch, is processed from the stem of the cassava plant. Pushing tapioca through special molds yields its pearl-like shape. The snowy-white Indian tapioca pearl is often larger in size than its Southeast Asian counterpart, which also comes in assorted pastel colors. In the U.S., tapioca pearls are widely available in natural food stores, supermarkets, and Asian grocery stores. Tapioca is more familiar in this country as a sweet, thickened pudding, but the same pearl