Friday, March 30, 2012

Vazhaithandu Thoran/ Banana Stem Stir Fry



Did you know that all the parts of the banana plant are good for health? Right from the flower, raw banana, ripe banana to its stem.  

Banana stem or Vazhathandu as it’s called in Tamil is a wonder vegetable. It has many nutritive and health benefits. It is a rich source of dietary fibre, and minerals like potassium. It is also rich in vitamin B6, which helps in production of haemoglobin. It helps in lowering blood pressure and also helps in weight loss.

However, the cutting the banana stem is cumbersome and time consuming. The outer flesh is removed and then the stem is sliced into thin roundels. These roundels are then finely chopped and added to a bowl of water in which a few drops of buttermilk or curd is added. This is done to prevent discoloration.

Here is a simple, healthy and delicious recipe for a stir fry that tastes yum when served in accompaniment Sambar or rasam and rice.



What you’ll need
  1. Vazhathandu/ Banana Stem – 1 medium
  2. Tuar Dal – 4 tbsp
  3. Fresh Grated Coconut – ½ cup
  4. Green Chilly – 1
  5. Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
  6. Salt to taste

For tempering
  1. Oil – 2 tsp
  2. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
  3. Urad Dal – 1 tsp
  4. Curry Leaves – 5 or 6

Method
  1. Wash and soak the tuar dal in water for 20 minutes.
  2. Finely chop the banana stem and put it in a bowl of water with a few drops of buttermilk added to it.
  3. Heat a Kadai, add half the chopped banana stem, then add drained and soaked dal, again add the remaining banana stem.
  4. Add turmeric powder and ¼ cup of water, cover and cook on medium flame, till the dal and vegetable is done. The dal should not turn mushy.
  5. Add salt to taste, cook uncovered for a few minutes or till all the moisture is absorbed.
  6. Grind coconut and green chilly, without adding water.
  7. Add this to the cooked vegetable and mix well.
  8. Heat a frying pan with oil. Add mustard seeds, once they splutter add urad dal. Fry till the dal turn golden brown then add the curry leaves.
  9. Pour this tempering over the cooked vegetable and mix well.


Healthy and delicious Banana Stem Thoran is ready. Serve as an accompaniment with plain rice, and Sambar or Rasam.

Note:
  1. While selecting the banana stem, look for a white stem, which indicates that it is fresh.








20 comments:

Hema said...

Love this, I do it exactly the same way as you do it, missing it here..

Radhika said...

I love this poriyal very much but as you said the cleaning of this drives me mad.

Nisa Homey said...

Love to have this with hot steaming rice..

hotpotcooking said...

Nice one. Looks yum.

Kanan said...

thoran looks awesome. love it

Mélange said...

Extremely yummy and tempting recipe..You can't ask for more healthy veg !

Faseela said...

wow....my fav thoran...yummy

Suja Manoj said...

Healthy and delicious thoran..love it.

Vardhini said...

One of my favorite veggie and it has a been a really long time since I had it. Looks good.

Vardhini
Event: Legumes
Event: Fenugreek/Kasuri Methi

Julie said...

Healthy delicious thoran..yum yum!!
Cook in any recipe with Cilantro/Cumin as one of the main ingredients & rush it in my EP Series-Herbs n Spices
Erivum Puliyum

Anonymous said...

A very nutritious vegetable indeed...thoran looks yum

Priya Sreeram said...

a healthy platter there and fine clicks

Vidhya said...

Thoran looks fabulous.Lovely presentation.

Shylaja said...

Thoran looks delicious.love to have this with sambar

Anonymous said...

A delicious and yummy looking thoran

Pari Vasisht said...

You have patience to clean and cook, definitely healthy. Thanks fr linking it to ONLY. Sorry for the delay in accepting, had some blogger issue.
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nisha said...

Beautiful , how nicely you have chopped the stem

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chefgonin said...

Hello friend kaveri, I present my respects from Spain, I am interested in your culture recipes and I found a wonderful blog, mom blog Kaveri. I hope to learn a lot from you, a hug from Spain

sushmita pandit said...

Hi Kaveri, this is for the first time i am on ur blog, ur blog looks wonderful and the recipes are really impressive. yes we indians use all the parts of banana and each part tastes delicious, i know that the stem cutting is a tiresome process but with such tasty end product we do take that much of pain. This is a wonderful stir fry recipe and am loving it. Do drop by at my space sometime...Regards Sushmita.

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