Tapioca (Kappa/Maravallikilangu) Tart with Spinach Filling

Tapioca is a starch extracted from the cassava root.  Called as maravallikilangu in tamil and kappa in malayalam, it is a staple food in most places and is rich in carbohydrates and is fat free and protein free.  Thus, it is an instant energizer.   Since it does not contain much nutrients, it is accompanied or cooked with protein rich foods.  Here, I have used spinach filling to enhance the nutritional value of the carbohydrate rich tapioca.

Tapioca tart is a savory snack unlike the regular sweet tarts of all kinds we see around.  Serve it hot and it is a real lip smacker.  Being gluten free, it is a boon to gluten allergic people (gluten is mostly found in maida, wheat flour, etc.)

My daughter is fond of this dish and keeps asking for kappa tart fondly.  The original recipe as I had seen on TV had mixed veg and paneer filling but I opted the spinach filling to make it more nutritious and add up spinach in some form in my daughter's menu.  I made mini tarts or tartlets for convenience of gobbling up but this recipe can be made as a big tart too and also garnished with cheese as per your choice.

Here goes my recipe and hope you all would like it too.

Ingredients:

For the Tarts:

Tapioca - 1 kg (boiled and mashed)

Onion - 1 (finely chopped)

Finely Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp

Green Chillies - 3 (finely chopped)

Curry Leaves - Few (finely chopped)

Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp (finely chopped)

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste

Oil - 4 tbsp


For the Filling:

Spinach (Palak) - 1 small bunch

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Capsicum - 1 (chopped)

Green Peas - 1/2 cup

Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - To taste

Sugar/Jaggery - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

For the Filling:

1.  Clean and wash spinach and chop finely.

2.  In a kadai, heat oil and saute chopped onions and chopped spinach leaves.

3.  When half cooked, add capsicum and green peas and saute well until cooked. 

4.  Add chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, sugar/jaggery, garam masala powder and mix well until everything blends together.  Keep aside until use as filling in tapioca (kappa) tarts.

For the Tart/Tartlets:

1.  Wash and cut tapioca into roughly large pieces and pressure cook them (for about 5 to 7 minutes).  Allow to cool.  Peel the skin and mash them smoothly.

2.  In a kadai, heat oil and fry finely chopped onions until it turns pink.

3.  Add in all other ingredients except tapioca and mix well.

4.  Next, add in the mashed tapioca little by little and mix well.  This is the tart base.  Adding mashed tapioca altogether at one time will make it difficult to mix.

5.  When slightly cool, make even sized balls of the tapioca mixture.  Take a ball and flatten in your hands and make a cup to line your mould.  I used an aluminium cupcake mold to make small, bite-size tartlets.  Place the cup shaped tapioca dough into the greased cupcake molds (aluminium molds are ideal) and bake them at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes.

6.  When baked, remove from the oven and cool for a minute and carefully remove from molds.  Your kappa tarts (tartlets) are ready.  Fill with the ready spinach filling topped with tomato sauce and serve immediately.

Notes:

To avoid puffing up of the dough while baking, prick in the center of the tapioca cups with a knife or a fork.  I also placed a small, greased aluminium tartlet cup in the center to avoid puffing up and to get a cup shape after baking too.

Any filling of your choice can be used viz., soya, paneer, egg, or mixed vegetable dry curries.