Kappa Puzhukku | Maravalli Kilangu Recipe (Mashed Tapioca Root)
A straightforward, tasty, and wholesome Tapioca recipe featuring Kerala-style Kappa Puzhukku, also known as Kappa Vevichathu. This dish involves seasoning, spicing, and mashing the tapioca root for a flavorful preparation.
Ingredients
For Cooking Kappa (Tapioca Root, Yuca)
- 1 tapioca root large – 500 grams (yuca, cassava, kappa, maravalli kilangu)
- 2 cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt or add as required
For Tempering Mashed Tapioca
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil – edible and food-grade
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons pearl onions – chopped, or add shallots or onions instead
- 1 dry red chilli – stem and seeds removed
- 1 green chili – chopped or ½ to 1 teaspoon, chopped
- 7 to 8 curry leaves
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 to 2 tablespoons grated coconut
Instructions
Cooking And Mashing Tapioca Root
- Take the tapioca. Rinse it in water first.
- Then peel and chop the kappa. Rinse again in water.
- While chopping, you can opt to remove the centre string or remove the strings later after the tapioca is cooked.
- Place the tapioca pieces in a pan. Add ½ teaspoon salt or as required.
- Add 2 cups water. Cover the pan with lid and cook tapioca on medium heat.
- In between do check. Cook chopped tapioca root till fork tender.
- A fork or knife should easily pierce through the cooked tapioca pieces.
- Drain all the water from the cooked tapioca.
- Mash with a potato or vegetable masher to a smooth texture. While mashing, remove any hard strings if you find them.
- Keep mashed tapioca aside.
Making Kappa Puzhukku
- Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a small pan or tadka pan.
- Lower the heat. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle.
- Then add the red chilli, and chopped green chilli and 7 to 8 curry leaves.Fry for a few seconds till the red chilies change color and the curry leaves become crisp.
- Next add 2 tablespoons chopped pearl onions or shallots. You can even use regular onions.
- Mix and begin to sauté pearl onions. Sauté onions till they have softened.
- Then add the grated coconut and mix well.
- Turn off the heat and add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder. Mix again very well.
- Pour this tempering mixture in the mashed kappa. Mix everything very well again.
- Lastly drizzle 1 tablespoon coconut oil and mix again.
- Serve Kappa Puzhukku as a side dish with a Kerala main course food or with thick onion chutney or kerala coconut chutney or red chilli chutney. You can even have it as is.
Notes
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- Instead of cooking tapioca in a pan or pot, you can opt to cook in a stovetop pressure cooker or in an Instant Pot adding water as required.
- For cooking tapioca in a 2 to 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker, add 2 cups water or as needed covering the chopped tapioca pieces. Pressure cook on medium heat for 2 to 3 whistles.
- Add onions instead of pearl onions or shallots.
- You can leave out the coconut if you do not have it.
- Do use edible coconut oil and do not swap it with any other oil.
- This recipe can be halved or doubled easily.
Nutrition
Calories: 287kcalCarbohydrates: 56gProtein: 3gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 467mgPotassium: 431mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 249IUVitamin C: 99mgCalcium: 36mgIron: 1mg
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