Tapioca pudding

Tapioca pudding

Tapioca is an easy food to digest. Tapioca is composed of starch, proteins, vitamins and water, but contains no gluten at all, successfully replacing flour in both sweet and salty dishes. Tapioca, is extracted from the root of the manioc plant (cassava). This plant is native to northeastern Brazil, then spread throughout the South American continent and then to Asia and Africa.

Manioc plant, contains tapioca starch. In Portuguese it is called mandioca and cassava in English. Tapioca was a staple food for the native Tupi population, which lived in northeastern Brazil before the arrival of the Portuguese settlers. And today, tapioca is a staple food in several regions of the world. Sweet pudding with tapioca, prepare with either milk or cream. Coconut milk is also used in cases where flavour is preferred or in areas where it is a common ingredient for cooking.

Due to its high caloric content, tapioca is best eaten in the morning for breakfast. I propose a simple recipe of tapioca puddig, in which you can add your choice fruits of sweetness, cinnamon, vanilla.

Ingredients for tapioca pudding:

We need: 1/2 cup small tapioca pearls, 1 cup coconut milk (or rice, almonds,soy), a pinch of salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanillaextract, 2/3 cup unrefined sugar (or honey, agave syrup). Fresh diced fruit, cinnamon or jam for decoration can be added to your choice.

Tapioca pudding, method of preparation

Boil tapioca pearls in 4 times more liquid, either water or vegetable milk: coconut milk, almonds, rice or soy. More fluid is required as tapioca absorbs it and swells. During boiling, stir constantly, so that the tapioca pearls do not stick to the bottom of the dish, and the fire must be small.

During boiling, tapioca pearls lose their white color and become transparent, due to the starch passing into the liquid, and the composition binds more and more. The boiling time is about 30 minutes. Finally we add sugar, honey or agave syrup. It homogenizes well.

Once cooked, pour into bowls and flavour with jam, berries or cinnamon. It is an excellent dessert that we can even enjoy for breakfast. Because it does not contain gluten, it is easily digested and has antiseptic, healing and disinfectant qualities on the digestive system. By boiling in water or milk, its consistency becomes similar to that of gelatin. You can prepare dessert with fruit or vegetable colds.