I have shared a few alternate Kappa-Yuca /Cassava recipes in my previous blogs. Here is another delicious way of preparing, Kappa-meat biryani typical in Kerala Christian Cuisines. In this recipeTapioca/Kappa cooked, mashed and combined with meat, masala and seasoned with spices to serve as a single dish meal.
Ingredients
For kappa:
- Tapioca /kappa : 1 kg
- Turmeric powder : ½ T- sp
- Salt for taste
- Water for cooking the tapioca
For Meat:
- Beef : ½ kg
- Turmeric powder : ¼ T- sp
- Chilli powder : ½ T-Sp
- Ginger –Garlic paste : 2 T-sp
- Garam masala : ¼ T-sp
- Sliced onions : 2 (medium)
- Sliced green chilli : 2
- Oil : 1 Tbl-sp
- Curry leaves
For grinding:
- Coconut : 1.5 Cup
- Coriander seeds : 2 Tbl- sp
- Red chilli : 10(adjust)
- Pepper cone : 1 T- sp
- Cardamom : 2
- Cloves : 2
- Cinnamon stick : ¼ inch
Method
- Cook the kappa in the pressure cooker, add enough water to cover the kappa along with turmeric and enough salt, cook it for 1 whistle or until soft.
- Drain the water and smash it, (I didn’t smash it too much since we love some chunks), keep it aside for later use.
- In a pan, add the coconut along with coriander seeds, cardamom and cloves; roast it until golden brown.
- Add the red chilli ~5 minutes before switching off the stove and fry it.
- Allow it to cool completely and grind it into smooth paste (add enough water for making the paste).
- In the pressure cooker, add oil and fry the onion along with ginger-garlic paste and green chilli until brown in color.
- Then add the chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and enough salt and pressure cook the beef for about 6 whistles or until cooked.
- Open the cooker, add the ground masala along with a cup of water and give a good boil.
- Reduce the flame into low and add the smashed tapioca little at a time and mix well.
- Mix everything together and cook it for another 1 minute, the consistency should be semi-liquid ( not watery or thick – but consistency may be varied according to individual taste).
- Switch off the stove and add the curry leaves and give a final mixing.
Tips:
Adjust the quantity of oil and coconut to your taset
Use coconut oil for traditional taste.
Use pearl onions instead of big onion for traditional taste.
