I keep my cooking very simple with not much add-ons. Mostly I prefer to stick to traditional menus. Plantain flower poriyal and vada are commonly prepared but not many make kootu with vazhaipoo. Plantain flower kootu is very tasty and delicious. Though it is a bit time consuming to remove the style and clean the flower, I make it a point to cook plantain flower at least once in a week as it is rich in dietary fiber. Today we will learn how to make plantain flower kootu/vazhaipoo kootu following this easy recipe.
Vazhaipoo Kootu Recipe-Plantain Flower Kootu
Prep Time : 20 mins
Cook Time : 20 mins
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Category: Side Dish-Kootu Recipes
Recipe Cuisine: South Indian-Tamil Brahmin
Author:Padhu Sankar
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Category: Side Dish-Kootu Recipes
Recipe Cuisine: South Indian-Tamil Brahmin
Author:Padhu Sankar
Ingredients needed
Plantain flower-1
Tur dal-1/4 cup
Tamarind -small gooseberry sized ball
Turmeric Powder -1/4 tsp
Channa (chick peas) -handful or 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Fry and grind
Channa dal or bengal gram-1 tbsp
Coriander seeds-1 tbsp
Red chillies-4
Raw rice -1 tsp
Coconut -3 tbsp
For the seasoning
Oil -2 tsp
Mustard -1/2 tsp
Asafoetida/hing- a pinch
Curry leaves-little
Preparation
Remove the style and the small white cover from the flower (shown in the picture below). Check out my detailed post on how to clean plantain flower. Cut banana flower finely. Keep it in diluted buttermilk to prevent discoloration.
Remove from buttermilk, rinse and pressure cook for 3 whistles adding turmeric powder, little water and salt needed.
Pressure cook tur dal for 3 whistles or until soft. Mash it well and keep it aside.
Soak channa overnight and pressure cook with a little salt along with dal, keeping it in a small bowl separately.
Soak tamarind in hot water, extract the juice and discard the pulp. (around 1 cup)
Fry the ingredients mentioned under “fry and grind” in a tsp of oil, adding coconut at the end. Then grind it to a smooth paste adding little water.
Method
Now we have cooked plantain flower, cooked dal and channa and the ground paste ready. We will proceed to make vazhaipoo kootu.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add hing and curry leaves.
Then add the cooked banana flower and the tamarind extract.
Boil well until the raw flavor of the tamarind goes.
Then add the cooked tur dal, cooked channa, ground paste and boil for a few more minutes on medium flame.
Turn off the heat and garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice or as an accompaniment to rice.
Do check my
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Thank you! Going to try it soon, but you should specify that the flowers soaked in buttermilk should be pressure-cooked only in a stainless steel pressure cooker (as opposed to an aluminum), as buttermilk is acidic and acids will dissolve part of the aluminum of the pressure cooker into the food, causing aluminum poisoning. Aluminum is abundantly present in nature and it will be filtered by the kidneys. However, if it is too much, it will deposit in the organs, making it past the blood-brain barrier and causing problems such as multiple sclerosis.
It doesn't I have tried it
I have never liked the bitter taste of vazhaipoo. but tried this recipe and was amazingly good and tasty. thanks for posting it.
Can i substitute chana dal in place of tur dal & chana and make like pulikootu.
Yes, you can Anuradha
I tried it few days back and it turned out to be too tasty. Your recipes are good and the steps are very clear. I refer your recipes often. I have tried some of your recipes which have comeout well. Iam also learning many tips then and there from your site. Thank you very much. Keep going with your great work.one doubt. Whether soaking vazhaipu in butter milk will add taste or only to prevent colour changing?
Thank Aaradhana for your kind words. Soaking vazhaipoo in buttermilk is just to prevent discoloration.
Pl do tell me if I can use moong dal instead of food dal
Tur dal is more tasty in the dish. You can use a mix of tur dal and moong dal. That also tastes good.
We are regular users of vazhai poo but have never made kootu. Thank you for the recipe. It turned out good.
Thanks . Always did paruppu usili with banana flower. Your recipe is too easy to try and good
Hi Padhu,
I need recipe for other edible flowers as well – like Agathi poo, Murungai poo, cucumber etc. I read about them in The Hindu Metroplus – "The blooming Indian palate". Would much appreciate if you could share any of your such recipes.
Thank you
Gandhimathi
Agathi poo and murungai poo are having very good health benefits you saute the cleaned flower like any other stir fry vegetables and add a little bit of salt and scraped coconut on top to get a fine taste in Coimbatore vegetable shops these two edible flowers are available in plenty most of the time