Sago coconut Pudding.. ”Taro Sago” – Burmese Dessert

Sabudana is extremely low in fat but also low in protein. As it’s just starch, other than the carbohydrates, nutrition-wise, sabudana does not contain any minerals or vitamins and has very low amounts of calcium, iron, and fiber. However, you can make up for this by using other ingredients with it, such as milk for making sabudana kheer/payasam/gruel or vegetables and peanuts for making sabudana khichdi. Sago powder can be used as a thickening agent in gravy dishes, and sago flour can be used to make flat-breads. Sago can be made into vadas and boiled and sun-dried and made into pappadums too.. 


Anyways, here follows an experimented form of Sabudana kheer with coconut milk and jaggery. These days, am trying to substitute sugar when and wherever possible. With this recipe too, I have taken out the sugar completely and replaced it with coconut milk and jaggery. It was sweet enough with a different colour ( Of jaggery ) and nice aroma.. I read somewhere its a Burmese dish, though am not sure.. 

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup sago pearls
2. 1 cup coconut milk 
3. 1/4 cup jaggery 
4. 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 
5. a pinch of salt
6. 1 cup milk 


Method:
1. Soak Sabudana for an hour in water so that it swells up. Keep aside
2. Heat water in a pan, disolve  jaggery in it and keep stirring till it melts completely. Drain the impurities and keep aside the jaggery syrup.
3. Heat coconut milk in a pan, let it boil. Add jaggery syrup and stir frequently for 10-12 min on a medium flame. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Pour in a bowl and keep in fridge to cool off. 
4. Heat 3 cups of water in pan, add sabudana in it and let it boil. Simmer it for next 10-12 min or unless it gets transparent. Drain it and rinse under cold water so that the pearls looses some starch and become grainy. 
5. Heat milk in the pan, add sabudana with a pinch of salt and simmer for 8-10 min. Turn off the flame and let it cool on room temperature. 
6. After almost 2 hours, when the coconut milk mix in the fridge is cool enough, add sabudana-milk into it and  mix well. 
7. Enjoy it chill . You can keep it further again into fridge for chiller pudding. 

Transparent Sago pearls after draining

Creamy dark color due to jaggery

Notes:
1. You can replace sugar with jaggery if you dont like the taste of jaggery. 
2. You can skip milk completely too. Just boil sabudana in water and drain. 
3. You can also serve it warm. I like it cold, as jaggery tastes better when cold 🙂


Linking to Sameena’s Diwali recipes
Kalyani’s Global food festival