Thursday, July 24, 2014

Vazhaipoo / Plantain / Banana flower Paruppu usili

Vazhaipoo is always a special veggie usually we make Vazhaipoo Vadas for all special occasions. After a long time I prepared this paruppu usili, when my sweet sister brought Vazhaipoo and best part is that she also helped me with cleaning process. Vazhaipoo Paruppu Usili  goes well with Mor Kulambu as accompaniment or hot rice with ghee.

Ingredients:
Vazhaipoo  - 1 small size
Butter milk – 1tbsp
Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
Salt to taste

To grind:
Toor dhal – ¾ cup
Jeera – 1tsp
Red chili – 4 no
Grated Coconut – 2 tbsp
Asafoetida – 2 pinches

For tempering:
Oil as needed
Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Curry leaves few

Preparation:
  • Wash and soak toor dal for 2 hours.
  • Wash, clean and remove the stamen part with white layer and Collect the bunch of florets.
  • Immerse these florets in water diluted in buttermilk to avoid discoloration until use.
  • Now grind the soaked toor dal into coarsely along with the items given under “to grind” section.
  • Make small balls of this toor dal mixture and place them in some greased oil idli plate or plain plate.
  • In a pressure cooker keep toor dal balls and collect the plantain florets from water and chop them nicely, place both in separate plates and steam for 15 minutes.
  • Crumble the pressure cooked dal with your hands or using a blender.
  •  In a non stick pan add oil and temper with the given items and saute the steamed plantain flower for 2 minutes.
  • Then add the crumbled dhal mixture. Cover and cook for few minutes until it gets soft.
  • Now adjust the salt and switch it off.
         Serve hot rice with ghee or Mor Kulambu
         Also check out my earlier post Vazhaipoo Vada.


Tip:
  • To save time and to enjoy the cooking this dish, you could clean the vazhaipoo the previous day and refrigerated them in plastic or Ziploc cover.
  • Apply some sesame oil in your hands before cleaning the plantain flower, this prevents stickiness and nails turning black.
  • You could use cluster beans instead of plantain flower, it also taste good.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

AVOCADO | BUTTER FRUIT SMOOTHIE

Avocado fruit has amazing health benefits also contains high levels of anti oxidants like vitamin –E, vitamin-C, folate and potassium. Due to high amount of calories it could be consumed in morning with breakfast.


Ingredients:
Avocado – 1no
Milk – 1cup
Water – ¼ cup
Sugar as needed
Ice cubes few

Method:
  • Slice and Scoop out the flesh and blend to smooth with the other ingredients and pour into a glass.



Serve immediately.

Note:
  • If the consistency is too thick, add extra milk and sugar to dilute per your taste.
  • While serving you could add few drops of lemon juice.