Kappakilangu / Maravallikilangu / Tapiaco Chips and WTML

If you have travelled by bus through Tamilnadu, you surely would have come across crispy crunchy chips made with tapiaco roots also known as kappa kilangu or maravalli kilangu. Bus stands have petty shops and they surely stock packs and packs of these delicious chips. We buy potato chips for Sruti and kappakilangu chips for myself and hubby. It surely makes journey by bus so much fun. And I also take my favourite book with me. Tasting the chips while reading through the book with air striking across the face  is my favourite part of the bus journey. This is how my mom taught me to make these chips. When I was going through the net for the recipe, I saw that thry peeled it and sliced it and fried it. But the missing part was placing the roots in boiling water and let them be slightly cooked before going through the slicer. This ensures that the chips turn out perfectly crispy. The only draw back was that the chips browned very fast. I fried them on medium low flame but still they browned. Still they tured out so much crispier and much more better than the store bought ones. Some of the store bought chips would be very hard for teeth but this was quite crispier. I haven’t seen mom preparing these but when I asked her once, she gave me the recipe. I just had it in mind but never tried to make it. Yesterday when I saw some tapiaco roots at the nearby store, I bought them and tried it today. I added red chilly powder mildly as I wanted Sruti to taste it. If you want it spicier, then go for some more red chillypowder. This goes very well with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients:

Tapiaco Root/ maravalli Kilangu-3 medium sized

Salt- to taste

Oil- To Deep Fry

Red Chilly Powder – 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

1. With a knife remove the skin of the roots. It is quite hard so be careful while using knife.

2. Cut the roots into two or three portions depending upon how long the root is.

3. Wash it thoroughly.

4. Add enough water to immerse the roots and add 1/2 tsp of salt.

5. Place it on flame and when the water starts sizzling remove from flame.

6. Allow it to cool completely. The heat is enough to cook the roots partially.

7. Drain water and with the help of a mandoline slicer, slice the roots leaving the centre part.

8. On a large white cotton cloth, spread the slices without overlapping and allow it to air dry for 6-8 hours.

9. The slices will shrink in size and become dry.

10. Heat oil in a pan, deep fry the slices in batches.

11. Keep flame on medium low. Remove the chips once the sizzling has stopped.

12. Transfer to a large plate and complete frying all the slices.

13. Sprinkle salt and red chilly powder and mix well.

14. Once cool store in air tight jar.

15. Enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Bring water to sizzling along with the peeled and sliced roots. Remove from flame and allow it to cool completely. Now remove the roots from water.

Slice the roots with a mandoline slicer.

Arrange them on a white cotton cloth.

Let them air dry for 6-8 hours.

Deep fry them on medium low flame until the sizzling stops. Add red chilly powder and salt and mix well.

Enjoy the chips while reading your fav book..

And today is the first of July and it is time to announce the most famous event of my blog – Walk Through memory lane. if you are new to my blog, please take time to read about the event in detail here. For this month the host is Sapana Behl of Cooking With Sapana. And there is a flipkart coupon giveaway for one lucky winner this month. For more details, please visit Sapana’s Blog.

And now coming to last month’s winner – Rafeeda hosted last month’s WTML and she has got 60 delicious entries for the event. And I selected one with random number generator. The winning entry is number 47 – Molaga Bajji from the aromas From My Kitchen. Congratulations Priya, please mail me and I will send you the details for the eBook.