A quintessential Kerala dish, Kappa vevichathu or mashed tapioca has finally found its way to our dinner table. Growing up on an island meant this dish was mostly never on the menu. However, it would be a constant during our yearly holidays in Kerala. There are a handful of traditional dishes like Kappa Vevichathu, kumbilappam, pesha appam that did not hold much meaning to me until way after my father passed away. Now, after all these years, all of these dishes that my father used to love have slowly become my favourites as well. I guess its my own special way of staying connected with my dad. Food is definitely the ingredient that binds us all together if you ask me!
Ingredients
Kappa 1/2 kg
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
2-3 dried red chillies
1 stalk of curry leaves
1 tablespoon coconut oil
To grind together
2 cloves of garlic
2 green chillies
2 -3 shallots sliced
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
100-150gm grated coconut
How To
Wash and peel kappa/tapioca well. Chop them into small 1.5-2 inch slices and wash and rinse repeatedly(at least 3 times). I used frozen kappa so I did not have to chop them up. In a pressure cooker, add the cleaned kappa pieces and add salt to taste. Add enough water to boil kappa (I usually use a wee bit more than the level the kappa is at) and cook until 1 whistle. Remove the pressure cooker immediately from the stove and release the steam by placing the cooker under running tap water. Set aside.
Coarsely grind together the ingredients mentioned under the corresponding section with a little bit of water. Keep aside.
Open the cooker and drain the water off the boiled tapioca. Using a potato masher, mash the kappa coarsely and add the ground ingredients to this and mix well. Keep aside.
In a small pan, heat the coconut oil and add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Add this to the tapioca mix and mix well. Serve hot with spicy red fish curry! Enjoy!
