Vazhakkai podimas is a south Indian dish, made with vazhakkai or raw banana. This dish is very easy to make with less ingredients, flavorful and healthy. This is my mom's recipe. I love to eat this for rasam rice or puli kulambu. You can cook the raw banana either in pressure cooker or in stove top. I prefer stove top method. Raw banana we use in this recipe should be soft but not mushy. It tastes yummy as a side dish for sambar rice or rasam rice. Sorry my photograph was not good, because its been raining for the past 3 days. So it was not clear.
Ingredients
1 Medium Size Raw Plantain, Grated
2 Tsp of Oil
1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
1 Tsp of Urad Dal
2 Red Chillies
Pinch of Asafoetida / Hing
Few Curry Leaves
3 Tbsp of Chopped Onion
1/4 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
1 Tbsp of Grated Coconut
Salt to Taste
Method
- Wash and cut both the ends of raw plantain.
- Heat a pan with enough water, add raw banana to it, cook till it changes skin color and turns soft but not mushy. It takes about 10 mins in high flame.
- After it cool down, peel off the skin and grate it.
- Heat a pan with oil, add red chillies (Break it), mustard seeds and urad dal, after it splutters, add asafoetida, curry leaves, chopped onion, turmeric powder and salt, fry for 2 mins.
- Keep the flame in low, add grated vazhakkai (raw banana), cook for 2 mins.
- Add the grated coconut, mix well and turn off the flame.
- Serve hot with sambar rice or rasam rice or pulikulambu.
Tips
- You can cook vazhakkai in pressure cooker for 1 whistle instead of cooking it in the pan.
- Add chopped green chillies for more spicy taste in addition to red chillies.
- You can also add 1 tsp of lemon juice at the end for a slight tangy taste.
Health Benefits of Vazhakkai / Raw Banana
- Good source of resistant starch, a type of starch that cannot be broken down by enzymes in our digestive system, acts like fiber than starch, good for diabetes.
- High in potassium and vitamin B6.
- High in fiber content.
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