Vegetable - Tapioca

Tapioca Root

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About the Vegetable :Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava root .The cassava is a perennial plant that grows best under tropical, moist, fertile, well-drained soils. Completely grown plant reaches to a height of about 2-4 m. Under the cultivation fields; cut-stem sections are planted just as in sugarcanes. After about 8-10 months of plantation, long, globular roots or tubers radiate from the stem just underneath the soil surface up to a depth of 2-4 feet. Each tuber weighs one to several pounds depending up on the cultivar type and feature grey-brown, rough woody textured skin. Its flesh features white colour starch rich sweet-flavoured meat that should be eaten only after cooking. See Varieties

Scientific / Binomial name :Manihot esculenta (Crantz).

Popularly Known as :Cassava,Yuca,

Usage :

• Cassava tubers are popular ingredients in fries, stew-fries, soups, and savoury dishes all over the tropic regions.
• In general, cassava sections are fried in oil until brown and crisp and served with oil, salt, and pepper seasoning in many Caribbean islands.
• Starch rich yuca pulp is sieved to prepare white pearls (topioca-starch), popular as sabudana in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The pearls used in sweet pudding, savory fritters, sabudana-kichri, papad etc.
• Cassava flour is also used to make bread, cake, cookies, etc. in several Caribbean islands.
• In Nigeria and Ghana, cassava flour is used along with yams to make fufu (polenta), which is then savoured with stews.
• Cassava chips, and flakes are also widely eaten as a snack.