Kerala's favourite Tuber

Kappa chips, deep fried slices of kappa, are a beloved snack. They’re crunchy but brittle, holding their own against molars, never shattering like potato chips. A regular on a Malayali expatriate’s list of things to carry home from Kerala, they carry the tug of nostalgia for those of us who live elsewhere. In the summer, slices of kappa are dried in the sun to make unakka kappa (dried kappa) so that kappa is within reach even when the fresh variety is hard to come by.  

While kappa was traditionally consumed by farming communities, it has now lost its classist connotations, and is now a thing of feasts. A relatively recent, ingenious invention, kappa biryani is a combination of two of Malayalis’ favorite things - mashed tapioca and beef. It is akin to a biryani inasmuch as the core of the dish – kappa taking the place of rice – is combined with exquisitely spiced meat. The similarity ends there. Biryani is elegance on a plate – a canvas of white rice, streaks of soft yellow saffron, and strokes of golden-brown caramelized onions. Kappa biryani looks like dog food – turmeric stained mashed tapioca combined with dull brown meat. What it lacks in looks, it makes up in taste. 

When it comes to flavor profile, kappa biryani has more in common with shepherd’s pie, the British classic, than with biryani. Both call for spiced, cooked beef and a tuber mashed until it’s meltingly soft. However, unlike a shepherd’s pie, which calls for attention to assembly – layering minced beef over a bed of mashed potatoes - kappa biryani places no such demands on the cook. The kappa and beef are simply mixed until combined. It is served with no pretentions. Or sides. At the end of the meal, I stagger away from the table, weighed down by the heft of the kappa biryani and a full heart.