Vazhaipoo Meen Kuzhambhu – Vegetarian gravy prepared with deep fried tender banana flowers in a tamarind – coconut milk based gravy; a perfect curry for vegetarians to realize how non-veg curries taste.
Some recipes which you never know will turn into your favorite when you prepare for the first time. Today’s recipe is one such. I like fritters prepared with a banana flower. It brings back my childhood memories. When I stayed with my aunt (periamma) during my childhood, my uncle (periappa) bought a variety of fritters every single day for our tea time. Of all, my personal favorite is banana flower fritters – vazhaipoo vadai. Vazhaipoo vadai with spicy red chutney accompanied with the witty dialogues of my cousins and my aunt’s ginger tea was the best time of the day. A lot can happen over a cup of coffee – gossips about school friends, criticism, lovely fight and progress of our studies. Every time, I bought this flower, I prepared fritters and I am bored of the repeated preparation of the same recipe with the ingredient. When I googled, I stumbled upon the blog -7amsuvai which had this wonderful recipe. The title intrigued me and I couldn’t resist myself from scanning the post. In the end, I realized the meaning behind the name of the dish. The deep fried banana flowers looked similar to the Smelt fish and the curry looked like fish curry. And it tasted like delicious fish curry. If you are a vegetarian and if you ever wondered how non-vegetarian curries taste, then you should try this curry to get the taste of the non-veg curries. Maybe, once you taste the curry, you might end up in falling love with it and convert into a non-vegetarian.
The only reason why most people avoid banana flower is the tedious and time-consuming process involved in cleaning the flowers. But, trust me, this curry is worth every second you spend in cleaning the florets and you will thank me at the end.
Cleaning Banana Flower
- Peel the outer purple skin.
- Under each skin, you will find a bunch of pale yellow flowers.
- Discard the skin. Repeat the same process until the white flower is reached. You will notice that the bunch of flowers will be smaller and softer in the center
- Place the bunch of flowers in the buttermilk to avoid discoloring. The flowers will turn black if kept outside
- Separate each flower from the bunch. Each flower will have a pollen at the center of the flower and the outer white skin.
- Discard the pollen and the outer white layer from each flower.
- The flowers are ready for cooking
Ingredients:
Banana Flower Fry
- 1 ½ cup cleaned Banana Flower
- 4 tablespoon Bengal Gram Flour
- 2 tablespoon Rice Flour
- 1/8 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- Salt, as required
- Water, to prepare the dough
For curry:
- 2 tablespoon Gingelly Oil
- 12 shallots, chopped finely
- 1 big Tomato, chopped finely
- 6 Garlic Cloves, peeled and halved
- 2 Green Chilies, slit lengthwise
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 2 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- 2 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- Lemon Sized Tamarind
- ½ cup Coconut Milk
- 2 – 3 cups Water
- Salt required
To temper:
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Black Urad Dal
- ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
- Handful Curry leaves
- Handful Coriander leaves for garnish
Method:
Preparation of Banana Flower Fry
- Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai over medium flame.
- Meanwhile, combine Bengal gram flour, rice flour, spice powder and salt in a bowl
- Add water little by little until the dough reaches required consistency. When you dip banana flower, it should be coated with the thin layer of the batter. The batter should not be runny and at the same time should not be too thick
- Dip flower in the batter and coat them evenly with the batter
- Deep fry in the hot oil once they turn golden in color
- Drain the excess oil and place them in a tissue paper
- Repeat the same process for all the flowers
- Ensure to fry them in small batches and do not overcrowd the kadai
- Keep it aside
Preparation of Curry
- Add fried banana flowers only at the time of serving as they might turn soggy if added earlier
- Just before the serving, add the fried banana flowers and serve with rice
- Pour the tempering over the curry and give a stir
- In a small pan, add the ingredients mentioned under tempering and saute until the seeds crackle
- Remove from the flame; keep it aside
- Add salt; Add coconut milk and cook over low flame until the desired consistency is reached
- Now add the tamarind juice, remaining water and bring it boil
- Add spice powder and combine them well. Cook for about 5 minutes until they are blended well
- Meanwhile, soak tamarind in a cup of hot water and extract tamarind juice. Discard the pulp
- Add chopped tomatoes and cook until they become mushy
- Saute until the onions become translucent and the raw smell of garlic goes off
- Once the oil is hot, add shallots and garlic gloves
- Heat oil in a non-stick kadai over medium flame
If you try the recipe (which I highly recommend personally), do let me know how they tasted in comments. If you like space, do like and follow my profile at here – Facebook, Google, Instagram
Thanks,
Karthi
