Sabudana Kheer – Instant Pot
Oct 11, 2018
Creamy pudding made with tapioca pearls, this Sabudana Kheer is a popular dessert in India during the fasting season of Navratri. Naturally gluten-free, I made this sabudana kheer in my Instant Pot!
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Creamy pudding made with tapioca pearls. This Sabudana Kheer is extremely popular during the fasting season of Navratri in India!
It’s gluten-free and made in the Instant Pot!
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Indians are celebrating Navratri worldwide this week. The festival of Navratri lasts for 9 days (nav=nine and ratri=nights) during which people pray to goddess Durga, keep fast and eat vegetarian meals only.
My childhood memories of Navratri revolve aronund food. While my dad used to fast for all 9 days, I was always more interested in the yummy fasting food. So during the fast in Navratri, you are not allowed to eat grains like rice, wheat. You also can’t eat lentils, regular salt, onion, garlic and so many other things.
But in spite of all the restrictions, the food is so fingerlicking good! There are sorts of things made with potatoes and paneer, sabudana (tapioca pearls), kuttu (buckwheat flour) and so much more!
One of my absolute favorites is this Sabudana Khichdi. It’s quick, easy and so delicious! Almost everyone l know loves it. Don’t forget to check out the recipe for the perfect non-sticky Sabudana Khichdi.
Desserts are also made in abundance during Navratri. In my home, mom always made 2 sweets quite often during fasting – lauki ki kheer (pudding made with bottle gourd) and sabudana kheer (pudding made with tapioca pearls).
While mom always made sabudana kheer on stove top, I made it in my Instant Pot!
How To Make Sabudana Kheer
It’s really simple with only 3 main ingredients – sabudana, milk and sugar.
The rest of the ingredients cardamom powder, nuts and raisins are optional but recommended. I highly recommend not skipping the cardamom, its so good there!
I suggest using whole milk for this recipe if you like your kheer creamy. If you don’t care then you can very well use low fat milk.
Keep in mind the kheer thickens considerably as it cools down. So it might look watery at first but will become super creamy as it cools.
To make sabudana kheer in the Instant Pot, I first soaked the sabudana for 15 minutes in my Instant Pot (with the Instant Pot turned off) and then cooked it along with milk and water and low pressure.
Once the sabudana is cooked, I added sugar, cardamom, nuts and raisins and it was done. So simple that anyone can make it! You can skip the nuts and raisins though if you are not a fan.
Sarvesh isn’t huge on raisins so I skip them sometimes.
This sabudana kheer is naturally gluten-free.
Can You Make Sabudana Kheer Vegan?
Of course!
Just substitute regular milk with coconut milk, the flavors go really well together.
You can also make it refined sugar free and use jaggery in place of sugar.
I best enjoy this sabudana kheer chilled but it’s a personal preference. If you want to eat it warm, simply add some milk and re-heat.
The kheer thickens considerably so if you prefer thinner consistency, just add some milk before serving.
Method
1- Rinse the sabudana until water turns clear. Then soak it in 1 cup (8 oz) water for 15 minutes. I soaked it in the Instant Pot itself (with the IP switched off of course!)
2- Once the sabudana has soaked for 15 minutes, plug in the Instant Pot and then press saute. Let it simmer for 5 to 6 minutes until the pearls become translucent.
3- At this point add remaining 1/2 cup (4 oz) water and 1.5 cups (12 oz) whole milk. Stir and close the pot with its lid.
4- Press the manual or pressure cook button and then use the pressure/pressure level button to set pressure to “low”. Cook on low pressure for 10 minutes, with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then do a quick pressure releasing by manually turning the sealing valve from sealing to venting position.
5- Open the lid and press the saute button. Add the sugar and mix.
6- Then stir in the cardamom powder.
7- Also add in the cashews and raisins. You may also add few strands of saffron if you like at this point.
8- Stir everything and let it simmer for saute for 2 minutes.
Unplug the Instant Pot. Sabudana kheer is now ready, enjoy it warm or cold. The kheer will thicken and turn creamy as it cools down.
You may need to add more milk to thin it up a bit before serving (if desired). I love this kheer chilled!
If you’ve tried this Sabudana Kheer Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Sabudana Kheer - Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sabudana 90 grams, tapioca pearls
- 1.5 cups water divided, 12 oz
- 1.5 cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoon sugar or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1 tablespoon broken cashews
- 1 tablespoon golden raisins
Instructions
- Rinse the sabudana until water turns clear. Then soak it in 1 cup (8 oz) water for 15 minutes. I soaked it in the Instant Pot itself (with the IP switched off of course!)
- Once the sabudana has soaked for 15 minutes, plug in the Instant Pot and then press saute. Let it simmer for 5 to 6 minutes until the pearls become translucent.
- At this point add remaining 1/2 cup (4 oz) water and 1.5 cups (12 oz) whole milk. Stir and close the pot with its lid.
- Press the manual or pressure cook button and then use the pressure/pressure level button to set pressure to "low". Cook on low pressure for 10 minutes, with the pressure valve in the sealing position.Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then do a quick pressure releasing by manually turning the sealing valve from sealing to venting position.
- Open the lid and press the saute button. Add the sugar and mix. Then stir in the cardamom powder.
- Also add in the cashews and raisins. You may also add few strands of saffron if you like at this point.
- Stir everything and let the kheer simmer for saute for 2 minutes.
- Unplug the Instant Pot. Sabudana kheer is now ready, enjoy it warm or cold. The kheer will thicken and turn creamy as it cools down.
- You may need to add more milk to thin it up a bit before serving (if desired). I love this kheer chilled!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Kept giving me the “burn” error when attempting to pressure cook at LOW – now I’m going to try and just finish in the sauté mode….definitely not a success for me 🙁 Not rating it though
Hi Chery, that’s really more than enough liquid for it to pressure cook and it should not get burn error. The only think I can think of is either there’s something stuck to the bottom of your pot which is giving this burn error. Or I have heard some newer 8qt models are very prone to this message.
Thank you. I will try with the small sabudana. I have the 4Qt model. I might try also with a pot in pot method where I put water in the IP and then put the sabudana in a container inside on the stand. I use this method for making dal and yogurt as clean up is easier and I can make smaller batches.
Is it okay to double this recipe?
sure
I thought I had left a review on Amazon when I bought this, I tried finding it but could not. I was going to use it as I thought it had directions. Since it was not there I found your page and gave it a try. I followed directions perfectly but chances up last step. I did add 1 tsp of vanilla and beat 3 egg whites that I beat with sugar.I did a natural release after 4 minutes and stirred in the egg whites.
It is still cooling but I can tell by appearance that it will be good
This turned out so good my family was licking the pot. Can’t wait to try a vegan version for myself. 🙂
awesome!
I made this today and it went totally wrong and I don’t know why. I used small sabudhana and followed directions exactly, but when I opened the instant pot they were entirely broken down, and the mixture was grainy, and the milk and water had separated.
Hmm it could very well be that your sealing ring had some residue which contaminated the milk and hence it separated. I strongly recommend using two separate rings for sweet and savory and make sure ring is completely clean and dry before using in the recipe.
It was my clean sweet sealing ring, and it was definitely sitting right. No idea what happened as never had a problem with your recipes before! The sabudhana themselves had completely disintegrated. Maybe they were too small? Maybe I’ll try again.
Hi There,
Can we use any non-diary milk for this recipe? If so, what will be the ratio ?
I haven’t tested this recipe with non-dairy milk. You can try with the same ratio.
Is this recipe for small or large sabudhana? I have your cookbook and tried the coconut mango pudding recipe twice. Both times, the large sabudhana did not become translucent after soaking and sauteeing and the instant pot said burn during the pressure cook cycle and the sabudhana stuck to the bottom on the pot. I followed the directions exactly but was wondering if I should have used small sabhudhana instead.
I also made your butternut squash dal recipe and my family loved it!
Hi Shamitha, it’s for small sabudana. Do you have a 8qt and a newer IP model? Unfortunately, these newer models are prone to the burn issue. Please try again with smaller sabudana and also use more liquid. Thanks for buying my book.
I found your website when I searched for a recipe for sabudana kheer. I tried this recipe substituting sugar with gud. Turned out really well. It would be helpful if in the nutrition section, you could post what the serving size is. It says calories per serving, but doesn’t say what the serving size is. I notice that’s the case for all the recipes I’ve looked at so far. Thanks very much for all your recipes
Servings are listed at the start of the recipe. This one makes 4.
I just discovered your sight today and I love it! Your pictures and recipes look gorgeous! I adore Indian food and was wondering how you think this dish would hold up using full fat coconut vs whole milk? I’m vegan. Thanks and look forward to checking back in with you!
Thanks Melinda! Coconut milk will work extremely well here! In fact there’s a recipe for a Coconut Mango Pudding in my cookbook (which released earlier this month and is on Vegetarian & Vegan Indian Cooking With Your Instant Pot) and it is vegan! 🙂
Looks like a very delicious dessert!