As delicious as Sabudana Khichdi or Sabudana Vada are, during Shravan one ends up having too much of them.

So turn your kitchen into a lab and experiment, like Mayur Sanap did, and roll out your version of his Sabudana Thalipeeth. It's a jaldi-five recipe and in tune with the season's diet restrictions.

With soaked sabudana or tapioca pearls and bhagar or barnyard millet flour as the base ingredients, this thalipeeth is wholesome, filling and gluten-free. The roasted peanuts give it a crunch in every bite.

Serve with yoghurt or green chutney and you have a hearty breakfast dish or a mid-day snack.

Sabudana Thalipeeth

Servings: 5-6

Ingredients

• 1 cup sabudana or tapioca pearls, washed and soaked for 4-5 hours
• ½ cup bhagar flour or barnyard millet flour (use rice flour on non-fasting days)
• 1 medium-sized potato, boiled, peeled and mashed
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• 2 light green chillies, finely chopped
• ½ inch-piece ginger, washed, peeled and grated
• 4-5 curry patta or leaves, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp crushed roasted peanuts
• Dash black pepper powder, optional
• 1 tsp sendha namak or rock salt
• 2 tsp ghee, for frying the thalipeeths
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp

To serve

• Dash black pepper powder
• Sweetened yoghurt

Method

• In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together and knead well to make a soft dough.
  Cover the dough with a dish towel and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
  Divide the dough into 1½-inch diameter balls.
  Flatten each ball and roll out into into a thick roti using a rolling pin.
  For a more traditional look, make a small hole in the middle of each thalipeeth using the tip of your finger.
  Repeat the process with the remaining balls of dough.
• Heat a tawa or non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
  Spread a little ghee and gently transfer the thalipeeth onto the tawa.
  Let it fry for a few minutes, and once it turns crisp, flip and cook until golden brown.
  Take off heat. 
  Repeat the process for the other rolled-out thalipeeths.
  Serve hot with sweetened yoghurt and a dash of black pepper.

Editor's Note: For a vegan version of this thalipeeth, fry in cashew butter.

• REDIFF RECIPES