Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad

Delicious Marcheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/ Yucca Pappad a crispy flat bread made with fresh yucca root , red chilies, hing, water and salt.

Some recipes are just nostalgic; it rekindles your memories of childhood. Yes this Maracheeni pappadam/Appalam/ /marvalli kizhangu appalam/kolli kizhangu/Kappa/ Cassava/Yucca Pappad is one of that kind. My grandma used to make it lot during the summer. Summer holidays when I visit her, she makes lot of goodies for me. Jackfruit chips, this maracheeni pappadam/ appalam, arisi vathal etc. Pappadam/pappad are thin crispy flat bread usually made by sun drying the dough with lentil flour, jackfruit, yucca and spices. Later deep fried or grilled.
Even though cassava or yucca is native of Brazil, it grows well in India especially in Kerala, southern part of India. It is important part of my hometown cuisine. Boiled cubes of cassava with salt are best combo with fish curry or spicy chutney. We make curries, chips with them. Next in my list will be making chips with them. One which gets from the store lacks the taste I used too.

My grandma and aunt wake up early in the morning, peel yucca / cassava skin, and then cut them into small pieces. And wash several times as there will be soil in the yucca/cassava since it is root tuber. Once washed well then grind them with red chili into a fine paste. Then asafoetida/hing/peruamkayam and salt is added along with more water and made it very loose batter.

Then cook the entire batter into thick bottomed vessel with constant stirring for about 10-15 minutes you will get thick custard like paste. About ¼cup of this paste is dropped into a straw mat made with palm (similar like this) or thick cheese cloth and lightly spread it into round about 5 inch diameter and dried under sun for whole day.

Once it is dried well, spray the water on the back side of the cloth or along the side if using straw mat and remove them by peeling. Then dry the entire thing for two –three days under the sun.

It is ready for consumption. You can deep fry or microwave them and eat it.When my grandma makes it my duty is guard the drying paste from those clever wandering crows who like to snatch everything. At that time I thought them as nuisance.

I was planning to make this maracheeni papadam for long time, every time when I visit Fiesta store and see Yucca/cassava it will comes into my mind. Finally I decide to try it myself; I can’t find them in any of Indian store. S

ince I have only a vague idea of my grandma’s recipe my hubby told me try with two or three yucca root that way you will not spending too much energy or time on it. I tried three times to perfect the recipe.

How to make Maracheeni Pappadam? 

You need fresh Yucca/ cassava root. Make sure it shouldn't have any brown or black spot inside. 

Red chili :  You can adjust the amount of red chilies according to your spice level. 

Salt : Use any salt 

Hing: This gives characteristic flavor to Maracheeni pappadm. 

First one is good, but I spread it too thin, so it is really hard for me to peel them from the cloth. Next time I added too much water so it overcooked and taste was not good. Finally third time charm, I was able to find out perfect amount of water and how to cook and spread. Yes I got it right.
Usually I buy them and carry with me when I was visiting my hometown Thriuvanthapuram. Now nobody stays there only distant relatives, so going to Thiruvanthapuram while visiting India got least priority. As hubby’s mom and dad and sisters in Mumbai, it becomes port of entry while going to India. My sister‘s family and dad is in Delhi, it is next stop after Mumbai. No choice for me to only to make it for recreating the taste which I got used from childhood.
If you want to taste some crispy flatbread, try this little tedious work, but end result is best. You can also make with yucca flour; however I like the taste of fresh cassava or yucca root to make this dish.

To make Marcheeni pappadam  first peel the skin of yucca/ cassava 

Cut it into thin slices like this 

Grind with red chilies 

Batter 

Yucca  -chili mixer is getting cooked 

As it cooks it will get thickens like this 

Once it is fully cooked it looks like a thick paste

Make small rounds batter like this 

After sun drying for 1-2 days 

You need to moisten the back of the cloth where you dried  Maricheeni pappadam and carefully peel from it like this . 

Dried completely  so that there is no moisture content in the Marcheeni pappadam / Yucca waffers.

Fried in the oil 

Print Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad

Delicious crispy fried flat bread made with fresh yucca, red chili and asafetoida.

Prep Time1 day d

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time1 day d 20 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: applam, Cassava, Maracheeni Pappadam, Pappadam, Yucca Pappad

Servings: 45

Calories: 36kcal

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped Maracheeni/Kappa/Yucca/Cassava about 3 roots
• 6 cups water
• 9 red chilies
• 2 ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon asafeotida/perumkayam/hing if you want a gluten free option don't add this
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Instructions

• First peel the skin and remove it and then remove the central vein and cut it into small pieces like this.
• Then add red chili and 3 cup water and grind it into fine paste. Ground paste will be around 6 cups.
• To this add 3 cups of water, coconut oil, salt and asafeotida .Transfer everything to thick bottomed pan.
• Boil the mixture with constant stirring. In the beginning it will be loose batter
• and it get thickens into thick custard like paste about 10 minutes. Remove from the fire and set
• aside for cooling.
• Once it cool enough to handle, pour ¼ cup of this yucca paste into thick cheese cloth or straw mat made of palm. And lightly spread it into 5 inch diameter. Let it dry in the hot sun for one day.
• When it is completely dried if you using cloth simply spray the water on the back side of the dried yucca /marcheeni applam. Then carefully peel them from the cloth and
• dry once again in sun for 2-3 days. If you are using straw mat just spray the water around the sides of the dough and peel carefully.
• Once it is completely dried, heat canola oil and fry them both sides. It takes about 30 seconds on both sides.
• Serve as side for rice or as snack with tea

Notes

You can store this Maracheeni pappadam for almost 1 year in air tight containers. 

Nutrition

Calories: 36kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 88IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Other recipes using  Kappa/Yucca/Cassava Root

1) Kappa Vevichathu/Cassava root cooked with spices

2) Kappa Mullapicha Pattani,/yucca root  and sprouted peas cooked with spices

Other sun dried fritter recipes

Arisi vathal/Rice fritters

Swathi

This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread.  All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.