வாழைப்பூ மிளகு குழம்பு!!

In Tamilnadu, especially in villages, banana flower is often used in cooking. It has so many medical values. It must be eaten twice in a week and it purifies the blood and regulates the blood circulation. It also helps a lot in ladies' problems and lessons the pain in the period cycles. 

usually POOVAN VAZHAIPPOO is more healthy and tasty than other varieties. 

Generally banana flour is used to cook as poriyal, paruppu usili and koottu. Then new recipes like vaazhaipoo adai, vadai rasam, thukaiyal are found extremely tasty and delicious! Recently, I have tried a recipe ‘ BANANA FLOWER PEPEPR GRAVY ’   [ Vaazhappoo milaku kuzhambu ‘ ] from the blog www.mannaisamaiyal.blogspot.com and it was so excellent in taste. 

http://mannaisamayal.blogspot.in/2013/12/araithuvitta-kuzhambu-powder.html

Here I thank Mrs.Chithra Ravindran of the above blog for this delicious recipe. I have made a few changes. I have prepared her kuzhambu podi and used in this recipe. Here the recipe goes!

வாழைப்பூ மிளகு குழம்பு

BANANA FLOWER PEPPER KUZHAMBU:

Ingredients needed:

Banana flower [ vaazhaipoo] finely chopped- 1 ½ cups

Tamarind- half of amla size

Kuzhambu podi- 2 tsp

Curry leaves- 1 arc

Chopped small onion-8

Mustard seeds- half sp

Cumin seeds- ¼ sp

Turmeric powder- half sp

Gingelly oil- 2 tbsp

Enough salt

Kuzhambu podi:

Dry roast and powder:

Red chillies-7, coriander seeds- half cup, Bengal gram- half cup, black gram- ¼ cup, 1 arc curry leaves, peppercorns- 1 tsp, cumin seeds- 1 tsp

FOR THE MASALA:

Fry in 2 tsp of gingelly oil and grind to a paste:

Pepeprcorns-1 tsp, cumin seeds- 1 tsp, coriander seeds- 1 tsp, curry leaves-30, small onions-6, tomato-1, shredded coconut- 3 tsp. Fry them one by one to a slightly golden colour and grind.

Procedure:

Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water for half an hour and then extract its juice.

Heat a pan and add the oil.

When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the cumin seeds and the curry leaves.

Add the finely chopped small onions and fry them well.

Then add the chopped banana flower and fry them well on slow fire until they are almost cooked.

Add the tamarind juice and the turmeric powder.

Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the kuzhambu podi and the ground masala.

Mix well and add enough water to the desired consistency.

Add enough salt.

Allow the kuzhambu simmer for 10 minutes.

The tasty vaazhaippoo pepepr kuzhambu is ready to serve!

TAMARIND CHUTNEY

This is Mrs. Geetha Achal’s Puli chutney.
[http://geethaachalrecipe.blogspot.com/2010/07/venkayam-puli-onion-tamrind-chutney.html]
As the recipe has much onion and tamarind, it attracted me very much. Hence I have recently tried this and the outcome was superb and delicious!

புளிச்சட்னி

Ingredients:

Sliced Onion-2
Red chillies-4
Tamarind-a big gooseberry size
Black gram- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil-3 tbsp
Gingelly oil- 1 tbsp

For tempering:

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Curry leaves- a few
Asafetida powder- half sp

Procedure:

Heat a pan and pour the oil.
Fry the black gram and the red chillies to golden brown.
Take away them and in the same oil fry the onion to golden brown.
Grind first the black gram, tamarind and the red chillies to a paste.
Then add the onion with enough salt and grind them to a coarse mixture.
Heat a pan and pour the gingelly oil.
Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the asafetida powder with the curry leaves and fry them for a second.
Pour this on the chutney and mix well.
Delicious puli chutney is ready now!
Serve it with hot sponge idlies.

BITTER GOURD PULI INJI:

When I submitted this link to a friend’s request in another website, this recipe tempted me
very much to try it immediately. The procedure is also simple but the taste is divine. Every one praised me in the home and finished the whole in to a few minutes. I am thinking to prepare it again. Long bitter gourd is suitable for this dish. Before cutting in to pieces, slit it first and remove all the seeds. This way, it tastes better always. I have changed a little bit in the ingredients as well as the procedure.

My heartiest thanks to the website which is in the following link:

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/pavakka_puli_inji_bittergourd_tamrind_and_ginger_pickle

பாகற்காய் புளி இஞ்சி

Ingredients:

Large bitter gourd-1
Small slit green chillies-5
Finely chopped ginger - 1 tsp
Lemon sized ball of Tamarind
Jaggery- 4 tbsp
Pinch of Turmeric powder
Salt – As per taste

For tempering :

Coconut oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Dry red chillies 2 – 3 broken
A few Curry leaves

Procedure:Cut the bitter gourd into thin slices of around 1 cm length.
soak the tamarind in warm water and extract its thick juice.
Heat a spoon of oil in a pan.
Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter, sauté the dry red chillies and curry leaves.
Add the bitter gourd pieces with the ginger and the green chillies and fry until they are soft and half-cooked.
Add the tamarind extract, salt and the turmeric powder and cook for a few minutes
Add the jaggery and cook until the curry is thickened.
The delicious bitter gourd puli inji is ready now!

BEANS PORIYAL:

பீன்ஸ் பொரியல்.

This is Mrs.Asiya Omar’s recipe. This recipe fascinated me very much as it has different ingredients and a different method. I was tempted to try it and had wonderful and very tasty result!
Though this recipe seems a very simple one, the taste is wonderful!
Thank you Asiya!
I have slightly changed the ground paste-added 1 arc curry leaves to grind instead of using it for tempering as she had written.


Ingredients:


Beans- 250 gm
Very thinly sliced Onion- half cup
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Black gram- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Oil- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander-2 tbsp


Grind coarsely the following ingredients:
Big garlic flake-1, shredded coconut-3 tbsp, curry leaves- 1 arc, red chillies-2, cumin seeds- half sp
First powder the red chillies and the cumin seeds. Then add the remaining ingredients and grind coarsely for a second.


Procedure:


Heat a pan and pour the oil.
Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the black gram and fry for a second.
Add the onions and fry them to golden brown.
Add the beans which are slit and cut in to 1 cm length with turmeric powder.
Sprinkle little water and salt and cook on medium fire.
When they are 3/4th done, add the ground paste and mix well.
Cook until the vegetables are done.
Sprinkle coriander and mix well.