This is a special post for two very special people who are the inspiration behind The Belly Rules The Mind - our moms!!! Soniya and myself were very thrilled the other day when Instant Pot reached out to us to collaborate (not a sponsored post) with them for Mother’s Day. We had to come up with a recipe that our moms would have made if they had an Instant Pot back then. Unanimously we came up with both our favorite childhood dessert, Tapioca Pudding. We also love Rice Pudding, it was funny how we both thought of Tapioca Pudding cos we already had the Rice Pudding recipe on the blog. We are crazy about our Instant pot and feel that it is one of the best investment that an individual can make if they are in to cooking their own food. You should check out our post on whether the Instant Pot is worth the hype and to master the Instant Pot in just 3 buttons. Do not get scared with the number of options and buttons you see on the instant pot. Most recipes can be achieved with the knowledge of just 3 buttons. In case you are wondering, yes we do fail in our food experiments and that is what we love about our passion of cooking. We do the trial and error and all the hard work to provide you with straight forward instructions so that you feel like a pro EVERY TIME!
What if our moms had Instant pot back then?
Now when we think of it, all we can think of is hours and hours of standing and stirring and making sure there are no sticky bottoms as Tapioca Pudding requires a lot of attention. Quite a bit of effort, eh! Even if it was a short order, it was always made with a smile and lots of love. We were just talking about how we both are not even half as patient and accommodating as our mothers were back then. Ever thought, if we could go back in time and gift our moms an Instant Pot, life would have been so much easier for them. Ofcourse they would have been spoiled with the ease of use and reliability of the Instant pot, but hey who wants to work hard when you can work smart? Yeah, they had their traditional pressure cookers, but you still had to baby sit them and time them or count the number of whistles. Instant Pot makes life so easy for us. So this post is dedicated to our moms, if they had an Instant Pot back in the days. The first thing we both would have requested would have been our favorite Tapioca Pudding.
What is Tapioca Pudding
Tapioca Pudding a sweet pudding made from small tiny tapioca pearls from the cassava plant. Don’t mistaken them for sago which are made from sago palm tree. Tapioca and Sago are often used interchangeably in many cultures. It is made using milk or cream as the base for the pudding and varies in consistency from thin, thick or even even with your fork. Traditionally it’s sweetened with sugar and garnished with either, dried fruits, jams, compotes, nuts, rose petals etc. It can be served hot or cold We gave this classic dessert a healthier Belly Rules The Mind twist, like our moms would have done if back then there was more awareness about the harmful effects of refined sugar. We used fruits to sweetened the pudding. Since I am lactose intolerant, we also gave it a vegan twist without compromising on the flavors.
How to make Tapioca Pudding from scratch
First make sure you are using small fine tapioca pearls not the ones you use in bubble tea. Thoroughly rinse them and keep them aside for 15 minutes. Since you are going to be pressure cooking the pearls you don’t need to soak them. In the mean while gather all your ingredients, milk (coconut, whole or nut milk), bananas, mangoes, vanilla extract and water. Just 5 ingredients!!! Before sharing this recipe we tried making it once with over ripe bananas and other with just rightly ripe bananas. Yeah another thing to make apart from Banana Bread. It turned out great with both except that the one with overripe bananas darkened a little in color when refrigerated plus it also had more fibers from banana.
Mash the bananas and puree some of the mangoes while keeping some mango aside for garnishing. In a steamer pot or heat proof bowl add the coconut milk , mashed banana and vanilla extract . Mix well and add the tapioca pearls and water to that. Pour water into the inner pot and place the streamer pot on a trivet and place it into water. Cover the Instant Pot lid, seal the vent and pressure on high for 10 minutes. As soon as the timer beeps after 10 minutes, immediately release the pressure. Remove carefully and stir the pot or jars with a fork. Tightly cover with aluminium foil and bring the pudding to room temperature before refrigerating it. Once cool pour the mango puree and garnish with a 3-4 small mango cubes and refrigerate.
Why I should try this Tapioca Pudding
Well there are lots of reasons why you should try this tapioca pudding.
First of all, this Instant Pot version of tapioca pudding is ready in less than 30 minutes. It literally takes 1o mins of cook time and a few more minutes to gather the ingredients and rise and keep the pearls aside. It’s made with 5 easily available ingredients. It’s refined sugar-free. We haven’t used any processed form of sugars to sweetened this pudding. It’s sweetened with the natural sugars from fruits. It’s vegan, egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and paleo. Tapioca pudding is one of those comfort foods that conjures up happy childhood memories. It’s everyone favorite. Great for parties and a crowd, as it’s and inexpensive dessert and can be made ahead of time. It can be enjoyed warm or cold, all year round. Can be portion controlled when made or served in small bowls or jars.
Should I soak the tapioca pearls?
No. Since you are going to pressure cook the tapioca pearls, you don’t need to soak them even if the packet instructions say so.
How to make sugar free Tapioca Pudding or diabetic friendly Tapioca Pudding?
It’s already refined sugar free, but if you are diabetic or want to reduce or skip the sugars from the fruit, then you could also sweeten it with Monk Fruit Extract. It’s a natural sweetener, made from the Chinese Monk Fruit. It is a ZERO calorie sweetener and is known to not spike up sugar levels so it’s great for diabetics.
What flavors go well with this healthy Tapioca Pudding Recipe?
Throw in some berries or our Strawberry Jam (3-Ingredients) as a topping Whip some fresh cream, pineapples tidbits and our Pineapple Jam Blueberry cardamom Chocolate caramel Saffron, dried fruits and nuts Rose petals and pistachio
Tapioca Pudding recipe is an excellent recipe to make for your friends / family dinners
Our moms are currently in India but the day we reunite soon, we are definitely making this for them. Can’t thank them enough for all the love and support they have always showered on us. Thank you mom, we know you are reading this. Love you!!! So what’s the first recipe you can think of your mom would have cooked if she had an Instant Pot back in the days, leave us a comment below. Hope you consider trying this Tapioca Pudding Recipe and relish it as much as we did. When you make this, don’t forget to take a picture and send it our way. Tag us on Facebook or Instagram using the #tbrtm.
Instant Pot Tapioca Pudding Recipe
Instant Pot Ultra 6 Qt 10-in-1 Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer Bob's Red Mill Small Pearl Tapioca (4-24 OZ) Thai Kitchen Organic Gluten Free Lite Coconut Milk McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract, 1 fl oz 6 Jars Yoghurt Jars pudding Jar with Lid Yogurt Glass with Plastic Cap Replacement Glass Jars for Yogurt Maker Yogurt Glass with Plastic Cap PE CAP 100ml 150ml 200 ml (7.0 oz - 6 jars) Stackable Steamer Insert Pans with Sling - Instant Pot Accessories for 6, 8 Qt - Stainless Steel Food Steamer for Pressure Cooker & Pot in Pot Accessories - Cook 2 foods at Once Lakanto Liquid Monkfruit Sweetener | Zero Calories | Original Flavor
