Fasting Favorite · Crisp Tapioca Fritter
Sabudana Vada
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It became a street food staple largely because it's one of the few fried snacks considered acceptable during Hindu fasting days (upvas), when grains and lentils are off-limits but tapioca and potato are not.
Soaked tapioca pearls are mixed with mashed potato, roasted peanuts, and green chili, shaped into small patties, and deep-fried until the outside turns crisp while the pearls inside stay chewy and translucent. Maharashtra's street stalls sell it hot with a side of yogurt and peanut chutney, especially around fasting festivals.
Why it's made this way: Its ingredients fit within Maharashtra's upvas fasting rules, which exclude grains but permit tapioca, potato, and peanuts, and that dietary loophole is exactly what turned it into a year-round street snack rather than just a festival food.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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