Kappa Biryani also known as Tapioca Erachi Biryani is a spicy flavourful Kerala dish made with Kappa (Tapioca), meat or veg of choice, spices, onions, roasted coconut and coconut oil. It is a traditional recipe that is comforting, home style and filling.
Kappa Biryani
Kappa biryani may be slightly unusual for many, but it is actually a popular dish from Kerala made with tapioca, meat of choice, spices, coconut.
It is a traditional recipe but very tasty and makes a hearty filling and comforting meal. Enjoy with a cup of Sulaimani tea for a filling meal.
About Kappa Biryani
Kappa is also known as cassava or tapioca is a starchy root vegetables which is used in Kerala and parts of Tamilnadu like Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli. Tapioca is cooked in many forms like masala kappa, mashed tapioca, tapioca adai and more.
This recipe for kappa biryani is made with mutton which is cooked and mixed with onion, spiced mixture to create a curry. Cooked tapioca is added into the curry along with golden roasted coconut to finish the dish.
As a shortcut, if you have leftover chicken curry or meat curry. You can add in cooked tapioca along with well roasted coconut. It is an easy method to make this traditional kappa biryani.
More Recipes
Even though this dish is called as biryani, it doesn't taste like biryani. Tapioca has a soft mushy texture which absorbs the curry and taste so flavourful.
No idea why it is called as biryani, may be the spices and ingredients used in this recipe are similar to ingredients which we use for making biryani. But it is an alternative recipe that is made without rice and more filling than biryani.
The main ingredient in this dish is the roasted coconut which we add in the end. It adds a taste that is unmatched.
More Tapioca Recipes
Ingredients
- Mutton - use bone-in mutton for this dish. Instead of mutton you can use chicken or meat as well.
- Tapioca - use fresh tapioca for this recipe which cooks faster and taste delicious.
- Onions - sliced onions is cooked until caramelised to give the sweet taste.
- Spices - whole spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, is used for tempering. It has a bunch of spice powders also.
- Coconut Oil - no alternatives, make this dish with coconut oil for authentic taste.
- Coconut - fresh coconut is roasted until golden brown is mixed into the biryani.
Step by Step Pictures
Pressure Cooking Mutton
1)Start by cooking mutton, take mutton in a pressure cooker, add salt, turmeric powder and water.
2)cover and cook for 6 whistle, simmer for 15 mins. Turn off the heat and let the steam escape all by itself.
3)Open the cooker and check whether mutton is cooked and set aside.
Preparing Tapioca
4)Choose fresh tapioca. peel off the skin from the tapioca.
5)Immerse tapioca in cold water. Let it soak for few minutes.
6)Take each tapioca and chop into small pieces.
7)immerse it in cold water to remove excess starch. Wash them well.
Cooking Tapioca
8)Strain the water from tapioca and take it in sauce pan. Cover with fresh water.
9)Add in salt to taste. Bring it to a full boil and cook until tapioca is tender and cooked. Don't over cook it. Because when we mix it with the curry it doesn't get mushy.
10)Once tapioca is cooked. Strain the excess water from tapioca and set aside.
Roasting Coconut
11)Now take some coconut, make sure it is fine grates. Else take it in a blender and grind them to a fine powder without adding any water. Take fresh coconut in a kadai.
12)Roast them till golden brown.
13)Remove this to a bowl and set aside. We will use this in the end.
Temper spices
14)Heat coconut oil in the same pan which we roasted coconut, We are going to make kappa biryani in this pot only. Add in whole spices. I am using fennel seeds, cinnamon, mace, kalpaasi and cumin seeds.
15)Add curry leaves also and fry in the oil for a minute.
Make Masala base
16)Add in sliced onions and cook onions till it gets golden brown in colour.
17)It will get sweet and caramelized.
18)Add in ginger garlic paste and saute for couple of minutes until fragrant.
19)Now onions have turned golden in colour.
20)Add in spice powders, I am using chilli powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder.
21)Stir fry the spices with the onions for couple of minutes until fragrant.
Make Mutton Kappa
22)Now add in the cooked mutton along with any stock left from the cooking.
23)Mix this really well and cook for few minutes.
24)Add in the boiled tapioca and mix well into the curry.
25)Once it is mixed, let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes. So the tapioca can absorb the flavours.
26)Add in the roasted coconut into the mutton and mix well. The coconut will absorb the excess moisture.
27)Finally add in coriander leaves and mix well.
28)Masala kappa biryani is ready.
Expert Tips
- Make sure to use fresh tapioca for taste and texture.
- You can use mutton, chicken or meat for this dish. If you prefer vegetarian, use mixed vegetables.
- Fry sliced shallots or onions in coconut oil and add in the end for flavour.
Serving & Storage
Serve with a cup of tea for a filling meal. Leftovers can be stored in fridge upto 3 days.
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Kappa Biryani Recipe | Kerala Tapioca Biryani (Kappa Erachi Recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
For Cooking Tapioca
- 500 grams Tapioca (Kappa or Cassava)
- 2 teaspoon Salt to taste
- 2 litre Water as needed for cooking
For Pressure Cooking Mutton
- 500 grams Mutton (Lamb) (Bone-in)
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 2 teaspoon Salt to taste
- 2 cups Water as needed
For Tempering
- ¼ cup Coconut Oil
- 2 teaspoon Fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1 piece Cinnamon
- 1 no Mace
- 2 no Kalpaasi
- 3 sprig Curry leaves
For Curry
- 2 large Onion peeled & sliced thinly
- 2 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 2 tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 tablespoon Red Chilli Powder
- 2 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
For Garnishing
- 1 cup Fresh Coconut finely grated
- ¼ cup Coriander Leaves finely chopped
Instructions
- Pressure cooking Mutton - Start by cooking mutton, take mutton in a pressure cooker, add salt, turmeric powder and water. cover and cook for 6 whistle, simmer for 15 mins. Turn off the heat and let the steam escape all by itself. Open the cooker and check whether mutton is cooked and set aside.
- Cooking Tapioca - Peel and cube tapioca into small pieces. Take it in a small sauce pan, add salt to it and cover it with water. Bring it to a full boil and cook till tender. Strain through a colander and set aside.
- Roasted Coconut - Now in a kadai, add in coconut and dry roast till golden. Set aside.
- Tempering Spices - Now in the same pan, add in coconut oil and add in all the whole spices and curry leaves and fry the whole spices for a minute.
- Make Curry Base - Now add in onions and cook till golden golden. Add in ginger garlic paste and cook for 2 mins until raw smell leaves from it. Add in spice powders and mix well into the oil.
- Mutton Curry - Now add in cooked mutton along with all the water and mix well. bring it to a boil, cook for 2 minutes.
- Make Mutton Kappa - Now add in cooked tapioca and mix well. cook till it thickens and simmer for 10 more minutes on very low heat.
- Garnishing - Now add in roasted coconut and coriander leaves. Mix well. Serve.
Neha
Thanks a lot.. I was looking for this recipe in many websites. this is exactly i wanted.. 🙂