Kappa Puzhukku | Mashed Tapioca – Cassava – Yuca Recipe
Kappa/tapioca/ cassava ( known as the poor man’s food) was promoted in Kerala, India by the erstwhile Travancore rulers during World War II when the state faced an acute shortage of rice, which was then the staple food of the people. A large number of people, especially the labour class, accepted the starch-rich kappa as a substitute to the costly rice.
History:
Thus kappa came to be known as the staple food of the poor in the state those days. Hotels refused to include kappa in their menu due to its working-class image. The promotion was left to the toddy shops, where the proletariat turned up for relaxation after a day’s hard work.
Kappa puzhukku (mashed tapioca) along with fish curry/ beef curry is still the hot dish in the toddy shops throughout the state. But nowadays it comes in many forms in the hotels with chefs experimenting variety of cuisines from the local product.
Kappa Puzhukku | Mashed Tapioca – Cassava – Yuca Recipe instructions to cook.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
serves: 3-4
Ingredients
- Tapioca/ kappa– 1 kg
- Shallots (small onions)– 5
- Green chillies – 5
- Garlic cloves – 5
- Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
- Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp
- Coconut oil – 3 tablespoons
- Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Water – to cover the tapioca
- Grated coconut – 2 cups
Method
- Peel the thick brown and thin pink skin from the root and cut it into small bite-sized pieces. Wash it well.
- Boil the tapioca pieces along with salt and a pinch of turmeric powder and cook for 10 minutes. Drain the water and keep it aside.
- Grind together grated coconut, green chillies, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, garlic and shallots coarsely.
- Mash the cooked tapioca and add the ground mix and cook for some time.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds and fry curry leaves.
- Add this to the tapioca mixture.
- The kappa puzhukku is ready. Serve hot with fish curry or beef curry.
More Kerala recipes:
- Ela ada
- Pani puri recipe
- Kozhukatta
- Pazhampori recipe
- Drumstick rasam
- Appam with stew
- Idli chutney recipe
- Erachi puttu
- Onion bhaji
Kappa Puzhukku | Mashed Tapioca – Cassava – Yuca Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg Tapioca / kappa / cassava
- 5 shallots (small onions)
- 5 green chillies
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- water (to cover the tapioca
- 2 cups grated coconut
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Peel the thick brown and thin pink skin from the root and cut it into small bite sized pieces. Wash it well.
- Boil the tapioca pieces along with salt and a pinch of turmeric powder and cook for 10 minutes. Drain the water and keep it aside.
- Grind together grated coconut, green chillies, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, garlic and shallots coarsely. Mash the cooked tapioca and add the ground mix and cook for some time.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds and fry curry leaves. Add this to the tapioca mixture.
- Kappa puzhukku is ready. Serve hot with fish curry or beef curry.
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I have never tried making kappa this way. Looks good. Will give it a try one of these days!
It’s a heirloom one. Easy to make and delicious.
This is a great recipe! I make yuca salad the Cuban way, but your is so much more interesting – thank you, Sumith!
If you like yuca, defenitely you will love this mild spicy one. Thank you Dolly.
We love yuca but never made it this way – great!
I’ve never heard of this, but it looks tasty!
It’s easy to cook, healthy and delicious. Very rich in fibre. You will love it Kathryn.
It looks delicious!
Thanks Freda.
Interesting tidbit about tapioca. I’ve had tapioca chips. At home,I generally steam it , cut into cubes with a sprinkle of salt and chilli powder. It tastes really good. Will definitely try this recipe. Very new to me. Thanks for sharing Sumith!
Thank you Radhika, sorry for this late reply. The message was in my spam folder. Pls give it a try, you will love it! Me too love Tapioca chips.
Looks delicious…have yet to experiment cooking with Tapioca;))
I Thanks Shy, it’s great to go with fishim curry. Give it a try you will love it!!
Wow! Wonderful mouth-watering recipe!
Thank you Megala
Sounds amazing ?
Thanks Kreso.
Great recipe, Sumith. Looks scrumptious… ?
Thank you Maniparna
This is such an interesting post, Sumith. I have not heard of this before and the history about the dish you included is really good to know.
Thank you Robbie.
OMG!! don’t tempt people like this….
Thank you Anu an all time favourite!
Looks delicious and its very interesting to read about the history associated with kappa,
Thank you Sheela
This is awesome Sumith. I recently discovered Cassava and made a Vietnamese sweet cake and loved. Will try this.
I should try a sweet version. It’s very good for health as well. Very rich in fibres. Thanks for stopping by Zeba.