My friend Shalini shared her recipe for Vazhaipoo vadai. Separating the stamen out of each floret is a time consuming process. But, the taste of the crunchy vazhaipoo vadai is worth the time. Click here to learn more about Plantain flower. Here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
Plantain flower - 1 medium
Channa dal - 1 cup ( soak in water for 2 hrs)
Turmeric powder - half cup
Water - 2 cups
Onion - 1 medium - chopped finely
Coriander leaves - half bunch - chopped finely
Salt as required
Oil for deep frying
Grind the following coarsely for the masala:
Cinnamon - half inch stick
Cloves - 5
Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon
Peeled garlic - 2 to 3 pods
Green chillis - 3 to 4
Getting the plantain flower ready:
Take a bowl full of water mixed with turmeric powder.
Take out the outer purple layer of the plantain. You will see a bunch of white flowers.
Take one bunch out.
Take each floret and remove the stamen, which has a black tip and also peel off the small skin that is attached to the floret. Please refer the picture below.
Chop the florets and mix it in the turmeric water so that it does not change color.
Repeat this procedure until you have atleast three fourth cup of chopped plantain florets.
Method:
Drain the water from the channa dal and grind it without adding water.
Mix in the ground masala, chopped onion, salt and chopped coriander leaves.
Drain the water from the chopped plantain florets and mix it with the batter.
Since no water is used while grinding the consistency will be thick.
Take a tablespoon of the batter and shape it into a ball. Flatten it by pressing a little.
Deep fry both sides until golden brown.
Vazhaipoo vadai is ready and can be served with any kind of chutney.
Serve the crisp vadais immediately. It's a great starter and an authentic delicacy from Tamil Nadu. There are many versions of preparing the vadais. Few people mix asafoetida powder, cumin seeds or even substitute red chillis for green. When the masala is ground using the old fashioned mortar and pestle, vadai's taste is enhanced.
14 comments:
Nice way to include plantain flowers in our diet.
Vadais crispy and tasty , i dread the cleaning process though. Cool pictorial on what to remove - picture worth a thousand words :)
This is a new dish to me, looks delicious Mythee!:)
lovely looking vadas myth. my mil made patra/patrode using plaintain flowers and they were absolutely delicious. unfortunately i dont get them in my part of the world :(
They are the crispiest vadai illa? Amma adds pottukadalai too :)
Back at home we had curried with the flower but never fritter, it looks delicious
these vadas look very crispy..adition of banan flowers makes it tastier too...lovely entry..
yummy vadas, looks so inviting. I have some banana flowers with me. thanks for this idea.
Reminds me of the movie Kandukondain Kandukondain where they prepare this vadai.Will bookmark this recipe. thanks for sharing.
Mmm ... haven't made these in a long time. I love sitting around and peeling the flowers -think that's my favourite part of making these :)
I haven't had plantain flowers so far! They look so pretty! The vadas look delicious & crsipy!
thank you for a lovely click.
Beautiful vadais, Myth! I adore vazhaipoo. We usually make poriyal with it. I'm wondering is there any dal that can be substituted for chana dal as far as you know? Just curious. Congrats on the award, too! :)
I love your step by step instructions. I've never cooked with plantain flower so must look for it in the shops!
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