Cassava/tapioca in flaxseed masala

Cassava/tapioca is one of the many root vegetables I like because of its association with the years that I lived in Dar-es-Salaam as a kid. I mainly knew it in its roasted or fried form, although I also liked its boiled and salted avatar. I’d seen recipes for cassava from fresh, but never any for dried cassava.

I'd come into possession of dried cassava pieces a few weeks ago, when I had tagged along with Pete to York (or somewhere thereabouts) where he was to meet someone to collect some esoteric sound equipment. The ride was itself worth it for the scenery, but even better was the fact that the meeting point turned out to be right next to a reasonably big “Indian” store – well, it was actually an Iraqi store, but it contained enough Indian/Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern stuff to make me happy.

I wanted to explore the shop, but Pete said his contact would be there imminently and the whole exchange wouldn’t take 5 minutes, so I resigned myself to a quick trip into the store to get some whole urad dal which I’d run out of. I saw plenty of interesting things in there to make me wish I could browse for a bit, but I didn’t hang around as we had a 3-hour drive back to Shrewsbury (and I was working the next day, so it was in my best interests to get back home as soon as possible) - and I was on a promise to my husband, in any case.

I believe that keeping my virtuous promise to Pete (“I’ll only be a minute at the shop, honest” - which he didn’t really believe since he knew what I was like) was instantly rewarded in the form of a serendipitous call from Pete’s contact to say that he was running late by about 30-40 minutes. I must have lit up the street with my delighted smile, because my husband gave me a grin and said “Oh all right, go on with you, only don’t buy up the shop will ya?”

I didn’t buy up the shop, but I did have a thoroughly enjoyable time browsing every aisle and its contents, trying to figure out what the items were (made somewhat difficult because sometimes I didn’t know the script or the language), and finding things to buy that I didn’t know I wanted to try until I saw them. Among other, more mundane things, I bought two (to me) exotic items - a bag of dried cassava/tapioca pieces, and something called “mograbiyeh”, made of semolina (which Google revealed later was like couscous, except the grains were the size of peppercorns).

I reserved the mograbiyeh for later and decided to experiment with the dried cassava/tapioca first. To be honest, I didn’t have the first idea what to make with it, but I figured Step 1 would be to rehydrate them. So I turned out a third of the bag into a bowl of water and let it soak overnight. I still didn’t know what Step 2 ought to be, and Google didn’t really suggest any recipes specifically using dried cassava.

I decided to bake the rehydrated pieces (which, I assumed, had been originally cooked and then dried) in the oven, because I really do love cassava chips and I had my Dar-es-Salaam memories in mind. Sadly, they mostly turned into baked wood chips and had to be consigned to the bin, my teeth not being what they once were.

My second experiment was to soak and then deep-fry the pieces to see if that would make better chips. The experiment was a success in a way, because the end result was definitely better wood chips; but in terms of edibility, not so much. My teeth continued to be not what they once were.

Now there was only the final third of the bag left to play around with, and I decided that the only thing to do now was improvise a curry. So I did. And here it is in recipe form, in all its successful glory.

Recipe for: Cassava/tapioca in flaxseed masala



Ingredients:


1 cup dried cassava/tapioca pieces, soaked in water for 3-4 hours
1 tbsp flaxseeds
6-7 black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic
4-5 dry red chillies (or to taste)
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp garam masala (I used Kitchen King)
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Break up the soaked cassava/tapioca pieces into more or less even bits. Boil them in water until they are cooked. They should be very soft (easily pierced with a knife tip) but not mushy.

Drain and reserve.

2. Grind the flaxseeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, garlic and red chillies to a fairly smooth paste, without adding water.


3. Heat the oil in a pan and fry and ground masala paste for 1 minute, stirring briskly.

4. Add the sliced onions and fry for 3-4 minutes, or until they start to turn translucent.


5. Now add the tomatoes and stir them in.

Let them cook down with the onions until mushy.


6. Next, add the cooked cassava/tapioca pieces
and mix them with the tomato-onion masala.


7. Dissolve the tamarind paste in 1-1/2 cups water and pour it in. Stir well and add salt to taste.


8. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn down the heat and let the curry simmer for 5 minutes while the gravy thickens.

Garnish with coriander leaves before serving hot with cooked millet or quinoa. Can also be eaten with chapaties/rotis.

RECIPE: CASSAVA/TAPIOCA IN FLAXSEED MASALA

Ingredients:

1 cup dried cassava pieces, soaked in water for 3-4 hours
1 tbsp flaxseeds
6-7 black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic
4-5 dry red chillies (or to taste)
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp garam masala (I used Kitchen King)
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Break up the soaked cassava/tapioca pieces into more or less even bits. Boil them in water until they are cooked. They should be very soft (easily pierced with a knife tip) but not mushy. Drain and reserve.
2. Grind the flaxseeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, garlic and red chillies to a fairly smooth paste, without adding water.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and fry and ground masala paste for 1 minute, stirring briskly.
4. Add the sliced onions and fry for 3-4 minutes, or until they start to turn translucent.
5. Now add the tomatoes and stir them in. Let them cook down with the onions until mushy.
6. Next, add the cooked cassava/tapioca pieces and mix them with the tomato-onion masala.
7. Dissolve the tamarind paste in 1-1/2 cups water and pour it in. Stir well and add salt to taste.
8. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn down the heat and let the curry simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving hot with cooked millet or quinoa. Can also be eaten with chapaties/rotis.

This time it's apple pie

And a better pie than my first attempt, although still not anywhere near perfect to look at. I'm not going to make any more pies for awhile, though... they're simply too calorious (to coin a word) for words - all that butter and margarine and sugar - extravagantly sinful. I baked this pie just to ensure that the first one wouldnt remain a one-off effort :)



This was a deliberate pie. With raisins. Too, I remembered to brush the top of the pie with milk AND sprinkle it with white sugar before baking - something I'd neglected the first time around. The milk gave the pie a beautiful golden glaze, and the sparkly sugar crystals provided the finishing touch. I have to say it looked very pretty! I ate the odd bit of it but my sweet tooth is very easily satisfied and I was glad of the unsweet crust to temper the sweetness of the filling.

My husband and friends demolished the pie in two sittings. Well, I'm glad about that, that's a good thing, else I'd have been a very sad bunny. There's nothing more disheartening than to see something you've made (expending great effort, too) sitting there uneaten and unappreciated until you have to throw it away.

Recipe for: Double-crust apple pie



Ingredients:

For the pie dough (crust):

2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
6 tablespoons cold margarine (can use shortening instead)
5-7 tablespoons ice water

Method:

1. Stir together the flour, cinnamon powder and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Cut in the butter with two knives. Add the margarine and combine with a large fork until the mixture resembles coarse oatmeal.

3. Sprinkle the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over the flour mixture and stir
with a fork until all the flour is moistened and the dough holds together
and doesn’t crumble.

4. Gather into a ball. Knead lightly (but not too much) until the dough is smooth. It's ok if the butter is still a bit lumpy. Lumpy is good!

5. Divide the dough into two, form into smooth balls, wrap each ball in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the apple filling:

4 large Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and evenly sliced (or cubed, according to preference. I sliced mine.)
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg/cloves or allspice
1/2 cup golden raisins
1-1/2 tbsp cornflour
1-1/2 tbsp quick cooking tapioca, powdered

1. Toss the apple slices with the lemon juice.

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a separate bowl and set aside.

Assembling the pie:

Method:

1. Roll out one ball of pie dough (leave the other in the fridge till required) on a lightly floured surface into a 10-inch circle, about 1/2 cm thick.

2. Lift up the circle of dough carefully and centre it in an 8" pie dish. Pat it gently in place at the bottom and up the sides.

3. Trim the edge even with the rim of the pie dish.

4. Roll out the other ball of dough into a circle that is about 1 inch larger than the rim of the pie dish. Set aside.

5. Put in a layer of sliced or cubed apples and sprinkle liberally with the sugar-raisin mixture. Add layers of fruit, sprinkling each layer with the sugar mixture. Mound the apples slightly in the centre and top off with the remaining sugar mixture.

5. Place the second circle of pastry over the fruit filling and trim the edge to about half an inch larger than the bottom crust. (I used scissors!)

6. Tuck the overhanging top edge under the bottom crust. Crimp the edges all around with the tines of a fork. Make a few slits at the top so that the steam can come out while the pie is baking.

7. Refrigerate the uncooked pie for 15-20 minutes. Then brush the top with some cold milk and sprinkle some white sugar all over.

8. Place in a pre-heated oven and cook at 180C (350F) for 45 minutes or so, until the top is golden and a skewer passes easily through the fruit when it's poked in the top.

9. Let the pie cool completely before slicing. It can be served warm (re-heat in a hot oven for 5 minutes or use the microwave) or cold with cream/vanilla icecream.