It's easy to confuse sago with tapioca. Both are typically round, small, dry and opaque. When soaked and cooked, both become larger, translucent, soft and spongy. The only difference, however, is that while sago is made from palm tree starch, tapioca pearls are extracted from the starch of a plant named cassava. While the sago or sabudana continues to make it to our plates as delish khichdi and sinfully deep fried vadas, it's the counterpart that seems to have taken the fancy of city chefs.