Gluten-free vegan tapioca pudding

Tapioca is derived from the root of the yucca plant that is native to northern Brazil. It is a starch that is packaged in the form of flakes, flour or granules, which are often called pearls. It is commonly used in place of wheat flour in South America, the West Indies, and India. It is also widely used in hot and tropical climates in a variety of ways. It is primarily in the western world where tapioca is used to make the pudding dessert that we are familiar with. Other countries use it to make savory dishes like the Indian dish Sabudana Khichdi, which is often made with potatoes, roasted peanuts, coconut, curry leaves, and lemon.

While it is a natural food, tapioca is almost pure starch and is not good for low calorie diets, but it is good for children and those trying to gain weight. It’s not bad for you, but it has little nutritional value. Tapioca is not very fattening. To save fat when making this recipe, replace soy milk and coconut with light soy milk. Tapioca is naturally sugar-free. Add less sugar to this recipe to decrease the amount of sugar, or use an alternative sweetener like stevia. Tapioca also makes a great treat for people with celiac disease or other gluten sensitivities because it is gluten-free.

This is an old-fashioned recipe as it takes time, but it has a new modern vegan twist and with a little cardamom it’s a bit exotic.

This recipe takes 1 hour to soak, 30 minutes to cook, and feeds approximately 4 people.

Ingredients

– 2 cups of soy or almond milk

– 13.66-fl. oz. can of coconut milk

– ½ cup tapioca pearls (not instant)

– ¾ t. cardamom

– 1 t. vanilla

– ½ cup brown sugar

– Pinch of salt

Soak the tapioca pearls in soy milk for one hour in the medium saucepan. You don’t have to do this, if it’s not convenient, but the tapioca will take longer to cook if it’s not ready. After soaking the tapioca in the soy milk for an hour, the tapioca will start to clump a bit. Stir in the soy milk and tapioca, removing all the lumps. Then add the coconut milk, sugar, spices, and salt. Put the pot on the fire and bring it to a boil. Then lower the heat to medium heat and stir almost constantly for about 30 minutes. When done, the tapioca pearls will start to look translucent and the mixture will thicken. Then remove the pot from the heat. It doesn’t have to be as thick as regular tapioca when it’s done because it will thicken over time. If you want warm tapioca, cover it and let it thicken a bit on the stove. For an even thicker cold tapioca, put it in the fridge for a few hours. Warm tapioca is great with different spices like cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg. Or you can put fresh berries or ripe peaches in chilled tapioca for a fresh taste.