Simple, delicious and nutritious Tapioca recipe of a Kerala style Kappa Puzhukku. This dish is also referred to as Kappa Vevichathu and is basically a seasoned, spiced and mashed tapioca root preparation.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course, Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Kerala, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 tapioca root (large - 500 grams (yuca, cassava, kappa, maravalli kilangu))
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or add as required)
  • 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

Method

Cooking and Mashing Tapioca Root

  1. Take the tapioca. Rinse it in water first.
  2. Then peel and chop the kappa. Rinse again in water.
  3. While chopping, you can opt to remove the centre string or remove the strings later after the tapioca is cooked.
  4. Place the tapioca pieces in a pan. Add ½ teaspoon salt or as required.
  5. Add 2 cups water. Cover the pan with lid and cook tapioca on medium heat.
  6. In between do check. Cook chopped tapioca root till fork tender.
  7. A fork or knife should easily pierce through the cooked tapioca pieces.
  8. Drain all the water from the cooked tapioca.
  9. Mash with a potato or vegetable masher to a smooth texture. While mashing, remove any hard strings if you find them.
  10. Keep mashed tapioca aside.

Making Kappa Puzhukku

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a small pan or tadka pan.
  2. Lower the heat. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle.
  3. 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.
  4. Next add 2 tablespoons chopped pearl onions or shallots. You can even use regular onions.
  5. Mix and begin to sauté pearl onions. Sauté onions till they have softened.
  6. Then add the grated coconut and mix well.
  7. Turn off the heat and add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder. Mix again very well.
  8. Pour this tempering mixture in the mashed kappa. Mix everything very well again.
  9. Lastly drizzle 1 tablespoon coconut oil and mix again.
  10. 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.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.