Vidyascooking

Tapioca Chaat is a quick and healthy snack to serve during tea time. People who want to avoid deep frying and use just steam cooked tapioca as it is in this recipe.

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Ingredients:
250 Grams Steam Cooked Tapioca
1 Medium Onion Finely Chopped
5 Sprigs Spring Onions Finely Chopped
3 Sprigs Curry Leaves Finely Chopped
3 Sprigs Coriander Finely Chopped
1/2 Lime
1/2 Tbsp Chilly Flakes
1/2 Tbsp Chaat Masala
1 Tbsp Chilly Paste or Chilly Chutney
Oil for frying
Salt as per taste...
We can also use grated carrots, chopped apple, crushed peanuts and finely chopped cucumber in this recipe.

How to prepare Chilly Chutney Recipe for Chaats

Please click here how to clean and cook tapioca

Method:
Heat oil in a wok on medium flame allow to reach temperature.

Once the oil reaches temperature gently drop the tapioca pieces one at a time in the oil and fry till light golden brown in color.

Drain from excess oil and reserve on a tissue paper.

Add the fried tapioca pieces to a mixing bowl and toss all the ingredients one at a time.

Add the chopped onions, spring onions, coriander, curry leaves, chaat masala, chilly flakes, chilly paste and salt, toss to coat.

Just before serving add lime juice and serve hot...Enjoy😊

We can prepare with just steam cooked tapioca.We have to add lime juice before adding all the ingredients so that the tapioca absorbs the lime juice. Use fresh and hot tapioca toss all the ingredients and serve as hot as possible.

Basics of Indian Cooking is a series for reference and beginners. I'm sharing few techniques how to buy, cook and use tapioca in few recipes. Tapioca is steam cooked and served for breakfast or evening snack during tea across south india.

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How and When to buy tapioca?
Best season to purchase tapioca is from october till January. Tapioca has a woody outer skin and a bark, while purchasing always make sure the bark is in reddish brown or pink in color. Tapioca must be hard and firm not soft.

Never buy tapioca with dark spots it will be woody and is very old. I normally ask the vegetable vendor to chop the tapioca in half to inspect the inner core if it has green or dark spots. The woody peel or outer peel must be flaky and easy to inspect the inner bark.

How to Store and Clean Tapioca?
When in season buy tapioca as fresh as possible. Best way to store tapioca is steam cooked and refrigerated or bagged and frozen till use. I normally purchase in bulk and store at least a kilo frozen.

Best method to clean tapioca is to wash it thrice and soak it in water for 30 minutes to an hour. The outer peel will be easy to peel and the bark will burst in few spots making it easy for us to peel. We need a knife and a tub of fresh water before we start peeling the tapioca.

Inspect the tapioca once its soaked in water, check if the outer bark is visible and score the bark. Try peeling the bark using your thumb while holding the root firm, it is easy to peel. If the tapioca is very fibrous the bark will be tough to peel just peel and discard the fiber portion entirely its not edible.

Once the tapioca is peeled wash twice in water and soak for 15 minutes in fresh tub of water to eliminate excess starch. By soaking tapioca it also softens and is easy to chop in desired cubes or finger length for fries.

After 15 minutes chop the tapioca into desired shapes and reserve in a bowl. Generously sprinkle salt all over the chopped tapioca and coat well, set aside for another 10 to 15 minutes. The salt will eliminate any impurities, the tapioca being a bland root vegetable will absorb salt and be tasty once steam cooked.

Once the tapioca is cured in salt wash thoroughly in water atleast twice and place in the steamer.

I normally cook the tapioca in pressure cooker. Since I have a colander which fits inside my pressure cooker. Add 2 cups water in the cooker and then place the colander and start to layer my chopped tapioca, place the lid and cook it for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the size of tapioca pieces. Do not place a whistle and cook the tapioca it will over cook and get mushy.

Steam cooked tapioca is best for fries it will absorb less oil and is very healthy. Chopping tapioca into fingers makes it easy to serve for toddlers and also pack for school lunches.

Tapioca has a fibrous string in the center which is not edible, once steam cooked remove the fiber and discard the string Children who are not familiar eating this root vegetable might tend to hate the edible fiber best way to serve it is with butter and sugar.

Once tapioca is steam cooked we can use it in many recipes and also serve as it is. We can always store tapioca in the fridge and steam it before use.