Sabudana Khichdi....in the microwave

One of the biggest surprises when I moved to Dubai from Bombay was that I could call the gas company and they would send a cylinder within minutes!! Now that was a huge relief for me and also for Terradaze - I had been so terrible with booking gas cylinders in Bombay that there had been umpteen number of times that I would dispatch him to the agent's depot to get a cylinder.

Of course, I hadn't reckoned with Murphy. Yeah, the same guy who lands up when he shouldn't!

And so, there was this day when I invited some people over for a Diwali breakfast. Before they came, Murphy knocked. The gas ran out early in the morning - no sweat, for the the gas co. had faithfully delivered the cylinder withing minutes of calling them in the past. But apparently, we hadn't read the fine print - on Fridays, they would send in the cylinders only after the afternoon prayers!

I had planned to make sabudana khichdi and I desperately wanted to make it for my guests, especially considering that it was amongst the few things that I made very well.

Now what?

Well...I did have my trusted microwave. I have always cooked extensively in the microwave - do check out my microwave paneer jalfrezi , chicken kebabs and the simple bread pudding - but would I dare to make sabudana khichdi in the microwave?

As it turns out, I have never made sabudana khichdi on the stove top again!

Sabudana Khichdi

Ingredients:

Sago - 1/2 cup

Peanuts - roasted, peeled and coarsely powdered - 5 tbsps

Potato - 1, peeled and chopped, optional

Green chillies - 3

Dried red chillies - 2

Cumin seeds - 2 tsps

Curry leaves - 10

Coriander leaves, finely chopped - 2 tbsp

Juice of half a lemon

Sugar - 2 tsps

Salt - to taste

Oil/ghee - 2 tbsps

Method:

Wash the sago under running water, then soak in water for a couple of hours. Drain the water and wash the sago once again. Cover the sago a moist cheesecloth; let it sit overnight or at least 6 hrs, at the end of which the sago should turn soft and spongy.

Peel and chop the potatoes into small cubes and soak them in water; after 10 minutes, discard the water.

Mix the peanut powder, salt and sugar in the sago, toss till the sago is nicely coated with the peanut powder.

Heat oil/ghee for a minute in the m/w. Pop in the cumin seeds and m/w on high for a minute. Add the curry leaves, red chillies and green chillies and m/w for another 40 seconds.

If using potatoes, add them in and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they are tender.

Add the sago and m/w for 4 minutes ( more or less, depending on the power of your m/w), stirring after every minute. When the waxy looking sago turns translucent, the khichdi is done. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice and m/w for a minute.

Serve hot with some green chutney or some swetened yogurt.

Easy as it sounds, sabudana khichdi is very easy to mess up. Here's what I do to ensure that my khichdi ends up nice and fluffy - spread the sago on a kitchen towel for a few minutes before mixing in the peanut powder - this works like magic - the excess water, if any, gets completely absorbed and the khichdi will not be soggy, I assure you.