If you’re craving a great South Indian comfort food, what more could you ask for than a warm, cozy bowl of Kappa and Beef? Kappa (more commonly known as tapioca or yuca) and Beef is like the better version of steak and potatoes. This dish is simple to make, but FULL of delicious flavor.
For all my South Indian readers, don’t worry, I will be sharing the more classic favorite: kappa and meen curry 🙂
I hope you enjoy this recipe and, as always, if you decide to make this recipe, I’d love to see how it turns out for you. Tag me @thefoodiecutie_ on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter 🙂
INGREDIENTS
- Kappa (tapioca/yuca), 3 fresh roots or 5 lb bag frozen, cubed
- Beef, 1 lb, cube (about one-inch chunks)
- Salt, 1 tbsp
- Meat Masala, 2 tbsp
- Red Chili Powder, 2 tsp
- Ground Coriander, 2 tsp
- Ground Turmeric, 1 tsp
- Garlic Cloves, 8 cloves
- Ginger, 1 inch
- White Onion, 1, thinly sliced (or 3-4 shallots)
- Curry Leaves, 1 sprig
- Coconut Oil, 2 tbsp
HOW TO MAKE IT
Start by washing the beef a few times then drain all water (pat dry if needed). Now marinate the beef with HALF of all the ingredients listed under beef. Set the other half of the ingredients aside. Mix the beef and the ingredients really well.
Meanwhile, place the cubed kappa in a pot on high heat and boil it with a pinch of turmeric. Boil this until tender. Once tender, add about a tbsp of salt and mix until it dissolves. Drain under cold water, then set aside. (*make sure all the water is drained. Kappa water can be bitter so we don’t want to mix this is with the beef)
Take the marinated beef and add it to your pressure cooker. (Instant Pots are the same as a pressure cooker. Select “high pressure” if using this.) Pressure cook for about 15 minutes. You do not need to add any water. Beef (and any meat you pressure cook) has a lot of natural moisture that will extract under pressure. You should see some of the juices from the beef in your cooking pot after the 15 minutes are up – don’t drain this! Add in the cooked kappa to the same pot with the beef and mix together so the juices coat the kappa. Set this aside.
Now, in a wok (or traditional uruli if you have it) on medium high heat (medium if you’re using an uruli), add in the coconut oil. Once melted, add in the onions, garlic and ginger. Once the onions become soft, add in the curry leaves and fry for a minute or until the curry leaves curl slightly.
Now, add in the cooked kappa and beef and keep this moving with your mixing spoon so things don’t stick and so you can fry out the moisture. Reduce the heat to prevent sticking if necessary. While you fry out the moisture, add in your remaining spices. Mix well and check for salt. Done!
Hi! My hubby’s fave dish (I prefer meen curry). I was thinking of trying this. How much kappa did you use for 1b of beer? For the pressure cooker did you use an instant pot? If so do you need to add water before pressure cooking to avoid the dreaded burn message?
Looking forward to trying this out!
Hi Lisa!
Mmm, yes, meen and kappa is delish!
Great questions! I used a 5lb bag of frozen yuca (by Goya). If you’re using fresh yuca root, this translates to about 2-3 medium size roots. I prefer using frozen because it takes away the guessing game of selecting a good/non-rotten root at the grocery store 😃
I use a Cuisinart pressure cooker, but Instant Pots are essentially just a pressure cooker with more cooking options. Looking at the Instant Pot, it looks like you can make a selection for “pressure” and then choose between “low” or “high.” The beef should be cooked on high pressure for about 15 minutes.
And, no need to add any water 😃 The beef (and any meat you pressure cook) will have a lot of natural moisture in it. When you pressure cook it, the moisture extracts from the pressure.
Hope this helps!
Thank you !
Looks really amazing ! Keep posting more such recipes .