Some of the ironies in life can be best explained in terms of food, dont you think so?
I happened to read an article recently about how Mumbai has developed a mania for Sunday brunch. It seems people are spending around $ 40-80 per person for a Sunday brunch! According to the magazine this trend reflects rising numbers of wealthy people. Well it is said about Mumbai that you can live there with 5 rs per day or 50 K, rs per day. The magazine further goes on to say that this idea of brunch is unimaginable for the millions of Mumbaikars who live below the poverty line.
Well, what got me interested was the ending of the article. Inspite of this so called “Sunday brunch mania” , hotels admitted losing money on those brunches. Here's the irony, for the rich, the problem is their waistline! Those who can afford, can't eat and those who can eat, can't afford!
Coming to think of it, the star of our dish “kappa” also has a shade of irony attached to it. Kappa (tapioca) used to be considered as poor man's food. It was a good starchy substitute for rice for those who cant afford rice. But over a period of time, it got transformed from poor man's staple to an exotic dish. There is a star hotel in Cochin, which has a party hall with thatched roof outside the main building. I'm not sure whether it's still there. I remember seeing this hotel's advertisements in newspapers during my school/college days. They used to have “Thattukada (street food) food festival” in this party hall. Now when I look back, I can see the irony in it. People are paying exorbitant prices to eat poor man's food in a thatched roof hall!
Talking about ironies in life, the biggest irony for me is… I'm not a foodie in the true sense of the word and I've been running a food blog for 7 years! There are days in which my mind keeps wandering and I feel like floating in the ocean without knowing where I'm heading. On such days I'd like to have some comfort food, just to anchor my thoughts somewhere, while I put together the pieces. Kappa and Fish curry, is a kind of food that soothes me. May be because it helps me to feel connected to my roots again, when I'm confused about my identity.
I like my kappa vevichathu to have a smooth almost buttery like texture, with an extra crunch added by the coconut. Not to mention the fiery red fish curry on the side to balance the whole dish :)
Magazine Data from The Economist (July 6th – July 12th 2013)
Recommended Side dishes: Meen Vevichathu, Nadan Beef Curry, Beef Fry, Kallu Shappu Beef Fry, Chicken Curry
Here is the recipe…
Add water and salt to cleaned tapioca. The water level should be 2-3 inches higher than tapioca. Bring it to a boil and reduce the flame to the lowest. Cook till the tapioca is done. Drain the excess water. Mash the tapioca well.
Combine coconut, small onion, green chilli, garlic, jeera, curry leaves and turmeric powder using your finger tips (njeraduka). Make a well in the centre of the mashed tapioca and add coconut mixture. Cover it with tapioca. Cover and cook it for 5 – 7 mins on low flame.
Heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard. Add sliced onion and curry leaves. When onions turn light golden, add coconut and fry it, till it becomes golden brown. Add this to the cooked tapioca and mix well.
Kappa Vevichathu
Ingredients
- 1 kg Kappa (tapioca) ( measured after cleaning)
- 1 cup Grated Coconut
- 2 Small onion / Pearl onion (sliced)
- 2-3 Green chilli (chopped)
- 1/2 – 1 tsp Chopped garlic
- A pinch Jeera (cumin)
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- Curry leaves
- Salt
- Oil (I used coconut oil)
For tempering
- 3 Small onion (sliced)
- 1/4 tsp Mustard
- Curry leaves
- 1.5 tbsp Coconut
Instructions
- Add water and salt to cleaned tapioca. The water level should be 2-3 inches higher than tapioca. Bring it to a boil and reduce the flame to the lowest. Cook till the tapioca is done. Drain the excess water. Mash the tapioca well.
- Combine coconut, small onion, green chilli, garlic, jeera, curry leaves and turmeric powder using your finger tips (njeraduka).
- Make a well in the centre of the mashed tapioca and add coconut mixture. Cover it with tapioca. Cover and cook it for 5 – 7 mins on low flame. Mix it well. You can drizzle some coconut oil at this stage, if you like.
- Heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard. Add sliced onion and curry leaves. When onions turn light golden, add coconut and fry it, till it becomes golden brown. Add this to the cooked tapioca and mix well.
- Serve hot with fish curry or beef curry.
Hi,
Can this be cooked in pressure cooker? If so for how long do we pressure cook it?
Am gonna try this soon, have already bought the Kappa, now lets see how it goes…..
Hi Shashi,
Hope your kappa turned out well..
Cheers
Maria
Hi, I just tried this recipie & it tasted nothing like the Kappa I had before in a restaurant. It was very bitter & I threw it straight in the bin. It was horrible. I used Tulsi frozen cassava which I was told is Tappioca. Is it meant to tase bitter? I put more salt in but it did’nt make any differtence. A total disaster. Any clues as to what I did wrong?
Hi Jon,
I’m sorry to hear it didnt work out well for you.
After going through the comment, I think it’s because of the tapioca you used. There is nothing in the ingredients list that makes tapioca tastes bitter.
Sometimes the tapioca that we use may not be of good quality, which results in not so great results :(
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria..Nice Recipe
Thanks Anu :)
Dear Maria,
Wonderful recipe. Tried out last week, we all equally enjoyed. I liked the garlic taste along with the coconut.Thanks dear for sharing it with us… God Bless, Linnet
Thank you Linnet :) Yeah the slight garlic flavour pairs well with this dish..
WOW! I love tapioca. But, Sadly, It’s not much available in Mumbai. When I was in Kerala, I used to eat this every weekend. Simple yet delicious recipe.
Hi Bhumi,
May be you can check out the frozen section in a supermarket. I buy frozen tapioca and it works really well.
Hope you could eat some kappa soon :)
I will check with the supermarket today. Hopefully, I get one for this weekend! :)
Thank you so much Maria! :)
Typical South Kerala Dish .Yummy and i like it a lot with fish curry
Thanks Sulekha :) hhmm I havent had kappa with any veggie side dishes :( But I think you can try it with egg roast recipe. If you dont eat eggs, you can just make the masala without eggs as a side to kappa.
Cheers
Maria
Hi maria,
Cud u pls tell which jeera to be added to try ur dish?
is it perumjeerakam or kunjujeera
Hi Rehana,
It’s kunjujeera, hope you get to try this soon..
Cheers
Maria
This recipe is wonderful, I’ll definitely try this version. I usually make the kappa vevichethu to have along with spicy green coconut chutney for our Sunday brunches. This is something that I’ve not really tried out and thinking to trying this out soon as both me and my hubby are kappa fans :)
Hi Yasmine,
I do hope you get to try this soon and like it too..
Cheers
Maria