Vazhai Poo Curry - Banana Blossom Curry

VAZHAI POO CURRY

Vazhai Poo or banana blossom is harvested from the banana tree, when the flower is distanced ' four fingers' ( abut four inches ) away from the banana bunch.
The efflorescence looks like a huge teardrop shaped bud, with each deep purple bract tightly covering a row of banana blossom bunch. Removing the bracts and finding the florets is as enjoyable as a treasure hunt. Preparing the florets for cooking is another interesting activity which can be indulged in by all the members of the family on leisurely days.
The Tamil names used to identify the inedible parts of banana blossoms are very amusing. The whole family has an exciting time finding and pulling out the stigma or 'kallan' meaning thief, encased inside each floret ! The sepals or 'paavaadai' meaning skirt, covering the florets is also removed with the same gusto !


                                            



INGREDIENTS

Chopped banana blossoms - 2 cups
Green gram dal - 1/2 cup ( soak for ten minutes )
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sesame oil - 2 tsps
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Split black gram dal - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 2 ( broken )
Curry leaves - a few
Fresh coconut gratings - 4 tbsps


                                                   


TO PREPARE THE VAZHAI POO ( BANANA BLOSSOM ) FOR COOKING

Grease your fingers well before chopping the banana flower to prevent black stains on your hands.


                                             

1. Remove the bracts and separate the florets.
2. Work towards the pointed tip of the flower till no more florets can be separated. The resulting yellowish pendant shaped portion is the 'heart' of the banana flower which can be chopped and used for the curry.
3. Open the florets one by one by rubbing the tip gently, using the tips of your forefinger and thumb.


                                              

  The stigma is seen  like a pin or match stick in the centre.The pink plasticky sepal is seen at the bottom on the right hand  side corner of the picture.



                                             

4.Pull out the hard plasticky stigma from the centre of the floret,  and also the plasticky sheath like sepals which cover each floret.
5. Chop the florets and immediately immerse in watery butter milk to prevent  blackening of the flowers.


                                                 


                                             
TO PREPARE VAZHAI POO CURRY
                             
1. Boil 3 cups of water with turmeric powder and asafoetida.
2. Squeeze out the chopped banana florets from the butter milk and add to the boiling water.
3. Cover and cook on low fire for about ten minutes.
4. Wash and drain  the soaked green gram dal  and add to the cooking florets.
5 . Cook without lid till the lentil is just done and not mushy.
6. Add salt and cook till all the water is evaporated and switch off flame.
7. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
8. When the mustard seeds splutter add split black gram dal and roast till golden brown in colour.
9. Add broken red chillies.
10. When the chillies are crisp add curry leaves followed by the cooked flowers and lentil.
11. Stir well till all  the moisture disappears.
12. Switch off flame and garnish with fresh grated coconut.


                                            
                                                 
 


Savour the flavoursome Vazhzai Poo Curry with hot rice and sambar or with curd rice.

Tomato Onion Sandwich

Bored with sandwich which is bland and not spicy? Here is a simple spicy stuffed sandwich which is easy to prepare and tasty to eat.

 

Ingredients:

Bread slices - 4 nos

Butter - 2 teaspoon

Onion - 1 medium size, finely chopped

Tomato - 1 large size , finely chopped

Red chili powder - 1 teaspoon

Green chili - 1

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Split urid dal - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 2teaspoon

Curry leaves - 1 string (optional)



Method:



1) Remove the brown edges of the bread using knife.

2) Take a wide pan and heat oil on it.

3) When oil is warm enough, add mustard seeds and urid dal. Let the seeds pop up.

5) Add curry leaves, green chilies. After few seconds, add onions and saute them well.

6) When onions turn translucent, add tomatoes and fry the mixture continuously until the tomatoes are mashed completely.

7) Add salt and red chili powder to the pan and mix them well. Cook for 5 minutes and turn off the flame.

8) Now apply butter both the sides of the bread and gently heat them.

9) Lay two roasted breads on a plate and spread the Onion Tomato mixture evenly to cover the whole surface of the bread.

10) Cover both the breads just like a sandwich.

11) Your simple bread sandwich is ready.

Palkova / Milk Sweet

Palkova is a mouthwatering Indian sweet made up of milk and sugar.There are specific places in Indian famous for certain dishes. One among them is Srivilliputhur, Virudhunagar district, TamilNadu. Though Palkova is prepared in many places the taste of Srivilliputhur palkova is unique and unmatched.



To make one cup of palkova, we require atleast 2-3 litres of milk.Though the process is simple, it consumes a lot of time. However the outcome is so delicious that you'll simply forget the time you spent in kitchen.

Ingredients:



Whole Milk -2 litres

Sugar - 1 cup

Cashew nuts, Pistachio, Saffron - 3 nos each(optional)



Method:



1) Take big heavy bottomed Pan.

2) Pour milk into it and boil it in high flame.

3) Keep stirring continuously or at an interval of 5 minutes when you see the level of milk slowly rising up .

4) Follow this stirring for one and half hour.

5) After one and half hour, the milk is reduced in quantity and would have become thick.

6) Turn the flame to medium level now.

7) Now add sugar to the thickened milk and stir it continuously.

8) Stir continuously without any pause. To ensure that you get an optimum colour, make sure the bottom of the pan doesn't get burnt due to overheating .

9) After 20-30 minutes, milk looks like a thick white paste.

10) Further cooking thickens the milk paste.

11) Turn off the flame, when the milk paste is a bit watery (like a thick paste having some water content in it). The paste slightly hardens when it starts to cool down.

12) Transfer this paste to a bowl and allow it to cool down.

13) If you want your palkova to be of a square shape, pour the paste to a plate and spread it evenly. Cut them into equal squares as it cools down.

14) Decorate with cashew nuts.

15) Delicious Palkova is ready.

Note:

1) If you do not have time to do this lengthy process, add a tablespoon of lemon juice after step 4 which means when the milk starts to thick, add lemon juice and remove the whey if you find it more.