Sago – Sabudana

Sabudana (Tapioca Pearl / Pearl Sago) is a vegetarian processed food.

Commonly known as Sago in India, Sabudana is made from the starch extracted from Tapioca root (tuber). Commercial product of Sabudana is in the shape of small pearls.

Sabudana in local words in India include – Sagudana in Hindi,  Javvarishi in Tamil & Chowwary in Malayalam.

Sabudana is high carbohydrate low fat food used across states in India.  In India, sabudana is the first food item (apart from milk) most Indians feed to new-born and  is also consumed by most to break their fast during festivals. Sabudana is preferred over other food items because it is full of starch  and does not contain any artificial sweeteners or chemicals.

Sabudana / Sago is also used as a health food for sick as it gives quick energy and is easy to digest.  It is a well known fact that sabudana has cooling effect on our system and hence sabudana-gruel is given to people who have excess bile.

Nutrition benefits of Sabudana:

100 grams of sabudana contains 351 kcal, 87 grams carbohydrate, 0.2 gram fat and 0.2 gram protein. Sabudana provides just a large quantity of starch, with low amount of minerals, vitamins, calcium, iron, and fiber, however lack of these nutritions are made up by adding other ingredients such as milk, vegetables and peanuts.

Sabudana is available in available in two major varieties,  Roasted Sago (Pearl Sago )  & Boiled Sago (Nylon Sago).