Vazappoo Vadai / Banana Flower Vadai

Vazappoo - Banana flower one of the special and full of vital nutrients especially for females. It has the healing properties. Helps to clean up stomach. Helps to clean blood.
It's been ages that people of southern India have been making various delicacies from this flower.
One of the most preferred delicacy made from this flower is VADAI.
It's the most authentic snack recipe of Tamilnadu.
But, its also a pain taking task to clean up the flower bunch and finely chop of the buds.
I wanted to share the step by step process of cleaning process but, unfortunately i forgot to take the snaps. Hence, searched for a correct video which explains to clean the flower and guess what a beautiful video. Thought to share it with you How to clean banana flower?  thanks to http://chakali.blogspot.com/

Wanted to add few more steps to the video above.
1.During the process of cleaning up the flower apply oil on to the hand and proceed as your hand tend to turn black.
2.The black marks do not go that easily.
3.Once you pluck the flower keep them in water.
4.As you start chopping them put them into buttermilk in order to avoid DE-colouring of the flower to black.

Now moving on to the steps to prepare vadai's after you know how to clean the flower.

No.of vadai's can be made - 25
Ingredients:
Banana flower / Vazappoo - 1
Channa dal / Kadala parupu - 1 medium size cup
White or Red onion - 2
Green chilly - 2
Ginger - 1 tps chopped (avoid if you dont preferred)
Curry leaves - 15-20
Rice flour/Arici mav/Chawal ka atta - 3tbs
Red chilly - 2
Oil - Enough to deep fry.
Water - 3cups
Buttermilk - 1/2cup
Salt - 1- 1 1/2 tbs (Depending on your taste)
Asafatida - 1tps

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Soak channa dal in 1 cup water for 3-4 hours.
2. Finely chop of the banana flower and put them into 2 cups of water and 1/2cup buttermilk liquid.

3. Finely, chop of onions, green chilly, ginger, curry leaves.
4. Take out the channa dal after 4hrs. Drain the excess water. Grind them along with red chilly into paste.
5. Keep 1 tbs of channa dal soaked without grinding.
6. Put the ground the paste into a bowl.
7. Add onions, green chilly, ginger, curry leaves, asafatida, ground paste, channa dal- 1tbs which were kept aside from the soaked one's before grinding them to paste.
8. Drain and squeeze excess water from chopped vazappoo.
9. Put them on to the onion mixture.
10. Add salt and mix them well.
11. In order to bind them well add rice flour and mix well.
12. Meanwhile, heat oil to fry the vadai's.
13. Make sure that the oil is hot enough to fry the vadai's
14. Make medium sized balls and flatten them up with 1/2inch thickens by tapping them with your fingers on to your palm.
15. Make sure that the vadai batter is not too hard nor too liquid.
16. It has to have enough dampness to make vadai shape as well as soft.

17. Once the oil gets hot make balls from the batter and flatten them and drop from side walls of the pan to the centre of the oil pan.
18. Never make balls before the oil gets heated up the water would start leaving from the batter.
19. Lower the heat while you drop the vadai's slowly raise the heat.
20. Fry them in medium flame.

21. Once the bottom side of the vadai leaves the pan turn other side.
22. Fry them till they turn golden brown.
23. Press them gently so that they cook well.
24. Once, they are done drain them on to tissue paper.t

Serve hot with pudina chutney or coconut chutney.

 

 

Mangai Veppam Poo Vella Patchchadi - Raw Mango Neem flower Jaggery Patchchadi

This Patchchadi/ liquid sweet is made during the Tamil new year down south of India in Tamilnadu.  Though its been a week past the Tamil new year i still thought its never to late to share this recipe.

Ingredients:
Raw mango - 1 big
Veppam Poo / Neem flowers/Neem ke phool - 1tbs
Jaggery - 1 1/2 big cup
Green chilly -1
Mustard - 1tbs
Oil - 1tps
Water - 2 cups

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Wash the mango and scrape them as shown below in the photograph.

2. Pluck the flowers from the stem and wash them well as they contain small white insects.
3. In a pan add the water add the scrapped mango and green chilly.
4. Boil them till the mango turns half cooked.
5. Meanwhile powder the jaggery and add the same to the water and stir well.
6. Boil them till they become slightly thick.
7. In a small pan splutter the mustard seeds and pour them on to the jaggery mixture.
8. Add the raw neem flowers to the boiled mixture.

Serve as a condiment chill/hot.

Tip :
Do not cook for long after adding neem flowers or else the bitter taste would turn strong from the neem flowers.
If, the Patchchadi is not turning thick then you can add the thickening agent "Rice flour mixed in water-approx 2tbs and mix well" this should make the job.
You can make this even in pressure cooker. 2 whistles must be perfect.

Batata Vegie Humman

Well i learnt this recipe from the Sanjeev Kapoor's program. But, asusual i had my version of it. So check out. No dry masalas, only 1 tbs oil that too not fried. Iam sure people would love it.

Ingredients:
Aloo/Potato - 4
Carrot -1
Green Peas -1 cup
Green chilly -2
Coconut scrapped - 1cup
Toamto -5
Red chilly (can be kashmiri red chilly) - 5
Water - 2cups
Salt - 1 1/2tbs
Coconut oil - 1tbs

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Boil the potato peel them and cut them into cubes. Par boiling them would be good.
2. Cut the carrot into big cubes and par boil them.
3. In a mixer grind the coconut, red chillies, 1 tomato. Make it into smooth paste
4. Here, i have added less chilly as i wanted it to be bland.
5. In a pan add water then salt and the ground paste.
6. Add green chilly to it and mix well.
7. Add the vegetables and bring them to boil.
8. How much thick need is upto your needs.
9. At end add coconut oil for aroma.
10. Serve hot!!

Sweet Corn Ragi Cutlet

Ragi or called as finger millet. Scientific name Eleusine coracana. This contains amino acids which is found in rice, maize, plantain. It gives good source of energy. Its one of staple diet for the farmers who toil hard under the sun. Most of the village side in India consider this millet to boost  their energy. Its cooked in buttermilk to make chill porridge or made into ragi balls which is eaten along with onion, chilly.
It is also mixed with hot milk with sugar and given to growing kids. Flat breads, dosas etc are also made.
It doesn't exactly have any particular taste.
It takes the flavour and taste of the additions which are added to it.

From the usual treats i wanted to make a healthy evening snack and this is where i landed up!!!!

Ingredients:

Ragi flour - 1cup

Sweet corn - 1cup

Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Boiled potatoes - 2
Spring Onion - 1
Green chilly -2
Green coriander - 4-5 strands
Water - 1cup
Milk - 5tbs
Red chilly powder - 1tbs
Garam Masala powder - 1/2tbs
Chat masala powder - 1/2tbs
Amchoor powder - 1/4tps
Salt - 1 1/2tbs
Sugar 1/2tps
Oil - 5tbs

Method/Vidhiee:
1. Dry roast for 1min the ragi powder and cool it.
2. Meanwhile boil the potatoes. Peel of the skin and mash them.
3. Finely chop the green chilly, onions. Grind the sweet corn into coarse powder.
4. Add few drops of oil in a pan. Saute the onions till they turn soft add potatoes.
5. Mix them well add all the dry masalas, salt, sugar
6. Cool them.
7. Take a bowl add the ragi flour, rice flour, green coriander,sweet corn powder,mixed potato masala.
8. Ragi flour is bit hard to knead. So Knead hard but slowly.
9. Add Milk as mentioned.
10. Add water as required so that it becomes a sticky mixture to make cutlet balls.
11. Do not knead too tight as they would turn hard once they are fried.

12. In a pan add oil to shallow fry the cutlets.
13. Make big or medium size balls and flatten them like tyres.
14. If the dough sticks to your hand rub oil/water to your hand and start rolling the dough.
15. Now drop one each time if the cutlet is big. Take care that they have to be cooked on all sides.
16. Do not blacken them :)
17. Shallow fry them till they turn golden brown on both sides. Fry in medium or low flame.
18. To fry the sides. Sprinkle oil from the sides of the cutlet to centre with a ladle.

19. Drain them onto tissue paper.

Serve hot with tomato sauce. Goes well with mint tamarind chutney.
Caution: Its a energy snack so do not stack too much into your tummy :)

Soya Sukha Sabzi

Ingredients:
Soya chunks - 200gms
Spring Onions - 3
Tomatoes - 2
Green chilly - 1
Ginger - 2inches
Shahi jeera - 1tbs
Kashmiri chilly powder - 1tbs
Turmeric powder - 1/2tbs
Jeera powder -1 tps
Amchoor powder - 1/2tbs
Garam masala powder - 1tbs
Oil - 2tbs
Water - 4cups
Salt -1tbs
Green coriander for aroma and garnish

Method/ Vidhiee:
1. Boil the soya chunks in water.
2. Drain them and sqeeze excess water.
3. Again wash them in cold water and sqeeze water.
4. Meanwhile finely chop onions, tomato, green chilly, ginger.
5. In a pan add oil shahi jeera splutter them.
6. Add onions, green chilly, ginger and saute till onions turn transparent.
7. Add toamtoes and saute them.
8. Add all dry powders and mix well. Add salt and mix again.
9. Add the soya chunks and mix well.
10. Keep the pan closed for 3mins in medium flame.
11. Open the lid of pan and saute agiain. Garnish with green coriander.

Serve hot!! Your Soya Sukha Sabzi is ready. You can have this as a snack too..

Manathakali Keerai Poodi/ Powder

One fine day i found 5-6 bunches of Manathakali Keerai. Please read the link of Wikipedia >>>  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_nigrum to know the features of this spinach.
I tried to find the exact name of this plant and its called as Black Nightshade. As i browsed still further about this wonderful plant which has high medicinal properties. It has the element to cure ulcers, cleans of bad enzymes. But, the other side of the fact is that its berries are considered to be poisonous when they are ripe.
Down south of India even the berries of the plant are eaten when they are green. The green berries are mostly dried under sun, salted and then fried in oil. Which is very much edible.

 Well from my childhood i have seen my mom, grand mothers making Manathakali Keerai kootu, Koyambu, Curry etc.. but for the first time i have tried to innovate a bit and made powder from the leaves of this spinach. This keerai has absolute medicinal properties and can cure ulcers, stomach aches.
Making every 2 weeks gushes out bad worms from our system.

Ingredients:
Leaves of Manathakali Keerai - 3 cups (Washed and dried)
Dry red chilly - 3-4
Channa dal - 1/2 cup
Asafatida - 1tps
Vellam/Jaggery - 2tbs
Salt to taste or approx - 1tbs

Method/ Vidhiee:
1. First step is to separate leaves from the stem. Then wash them thoroughly.
2. Drain excess water wipe them with soft cotton towel.
3. Dry them under sun (1 day) / under shade (2-3 days)
4. On the day of doing this powder follow the below steps.
5. Heat a pan dry roast channa dal till they turn light brown.
6. Dry roast red chilly after plucking their nodes.
7. Also saute the dried leaves on the pan till they turn crisp
8. .Off the flame and just saute the asafatida and salt.
9. After all ingredients cools down. In a mixer jar put channa dal, red chilly, asafatida, salt, jaggery.
10. Grind them into fine powder.

How to eat ?????

Have hot steamed white rice. Pour some spoons of til oil/ ghee mix well. Add the Manathakali powder mix well and eat 3-4 balls of it. I must really say first the toungue would taste jaggery then salt, at last the bitterness of the leaf.