Plantain Stem Sambar - My Mom's Favorite:)

Vazhai Thandu Sambar:

Other Names: Banana Tree's inner Stem in Lentil's based Curry.

Ingredients:

Plantain stem - tender, sliced
Thuvar Dal 1 cup
Onion 1 large
Tomato 1 large
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Sambar Powder(home made) 1-2 spoons
Tamarind paste 1 spoon
Ghee or oil few spoons
Cilantro leaves to garnish.

For Tempering:

Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Ghee/ Oil few spoons.

Method:

In a pressure cooker, add thuvar dal + salt + few spoons of oil. Pressure cook till tender. Maybe for 3-6 whistles. Set aside.

In a large crock pot, heat ghee. Add onions and fry till it is translucent.

Then add tomatoes and fry till they wilt. Add salt, turmeric and chili powder to this. Fry for about 2 minutes.

Add sliced plantain stem and cooked thuvar dal now. Bring this to boil. Add tamarind paste and sambar powder and cilantro leaves. Cook briefly and remove from heat.

In a separate pan, heat oil and fry the tempering items. Tun this tempered spices over the sambar prepared.

Plantain Stem Salad / Vazhai Thandu Thayir Pachadi

Vazhai Thandu Thayir Pachadi:(Reposting)

Plantain Stem with Yogurts.

Ingredients:

Tender plantain stem 60 cms
Yogurts 5-7 cups
Salt as per taste
Green chilies 6 finely chopped
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Chana dal 2 spoons
Urad dal 2 spoons
Asafoetida 1/2 spoon
Curry leaves few
Sesame oil fews spoons.

Method:

Clean and wash the plantain stem. Remove its outer bark.

Finely chop them. Leave them in salt water to avoid discoloration.

In a pan, heat oil. Add all the remaining items, except yogurts. Let them pop and splutter well.

Run this seasonings over yogurts. And mix this yogurts to finely chopped plantain stem.

A healthy salad is ready.

Vazhaithandu Soup:

Plantain Stem Soup.

Plantain stem is full of fibres! Tamilians use it as vegetable...only when it is tender. The bottom most stem is bit hard...with this tuff fibre, where it makes cooking hard! Sometimes....when you leave these stem for couple of days in fridge...there you go! Most of the moisture dries up! Only at those occasions we prefer juicing them or making soup recipe! Yeah....plantain stem is appreciated for its fibre....it helps to clarify ones gall stones! Its a perfect soluction for kidney trobles! The water content! Amazing...teeny little stem holds so much of nutritious water! If the stem is very slender and tender....eat them raw in lemon salad or yogurts based salad! Mid sized stem....poriyal, kootu and sambar. Again...bottom most generally discarded or thought unpalatable stem....goes into soup,juice or rasam recipe!

Ingredients:

To be Toasted Each Seperately and Powdered Togather:

Coriander seeds 1 fistful
Whole peppercorns 2 spoons
Cumin seeds 2 spoons

Coarsely Wet-Grind These:

Chilies 1-2
Onion 1 small bulb
Ginger 1-2" piece
Garlic 2-3 beads
Tomato 1
Curry leaves few
Coriander leaves few

To chop:

Plantain stem - finely grated/juiced(depends upon the stem you got)
Scalion 1
Tomato 1
Cilantro leaves few
Salt
Turmeric 1 pinch

Sesonning:

Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons.

Method:

In a wide pot/dutch oven, heat oil. Add pepper, cumin and curry leaves. Wait till it pops up.

Add chopped ingredients, salt and pinch of turmeric to it. Saute for few minutes.

Add 4-6 mugs of water...bring it to boil. Add powdered spices too. Let this boil really well over low-medium heat! Maybe till all the spices and stem's flavour steep into the soup liquid.

Remove from heat and serve immediately as a starter. Serves best as a in between- meals.

Vazhai-Thandu Kootu

Ingredients:

Plantain Stem 1 medium size(slender one)
Thoor dal 1/4 cup
Green chilies 3 finely chopped
Onion 1 finely chopped
Ginger-Garlic paste 1 spoon
Tomatoes 1-2 finely chopped
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons
Cilantro leaves few to garnish.

Method:

Finely chop the plantain stem. First by slicing....while slicing remove the fibre carefully. Then pile these slices and finely chop. Leave them in cold water until cooking to avoid discoloration.

Cook the dal in a pressure cooker.

Trim the ends of radish and finely grate them.

In a large wok/handi, heat oil. Add chilies, let it crackle well.

Then add ginger-garlic paste, fry real good...till its raw odour leaves.

Add onions and salt. Fry till onions turn to golden color.

Now add tomatoes, cover and cook. Once tomatoes wilt, stir-in finely chopped veggie.

Fry for few minutes, maybe till the veggies coats oil. Add cooked dal(lentils).

Add salt and turmeric too.

When the vegetable is done soft and much of the moisture is absorbed, remove from heat.

Heat oil, in a seperate pan...add mustards, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves to it.

Allow it to crackle well. Now run this seasoning over the 'kootu' prepared above.

Garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve warm as a side dish for South Indian Meals or as a subzi for chappathi/roti.

Vazhai-Thandu Vepudu:

Ingredients:

Thick and bottom plantain stem 1
Moringha Greens 1 fisful(optional) I didnt use any today
Garlic 1 whole head crushed along with skin
Peanuts/groundnuts – 1 cup (without shells)
Dry red chilies 10-15
Salt
Turmeric powder ¼ spoon
Ground nut oil – 1 cup
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Curry leaves crisply fried 1 cup – for decoration.

Method:

Dry toast the peanuts in a heated iron wok. Transfer them to a wide plate. Carefully rub them to remove the fine pink skin.(from the peanuts)

Again dry toast the red chilies in the same wok.

In a blender, add toasted peanuts + chilies and grate it. Set this aside.

Finely chop the stem. Each time after slicing....remove the excess fibre. Keep them in cold water until cooking to avoid discoloration.

In a wok, heat oil. Add mustard, cumin seeds and garlic to it. Let them pop and splutter well.

Add chopped vegetable now and sauté for few minutes. Further add salt and turmeric powder to this. Cover and cook for few minutes.

When the vegetable is half the way done, add grated peanuts and chilies, stir fry over medium to high heat. Maybe till they are really fried and fragrant.

Transfer them to display vessel and decorate with crisply fried curry leaves.

Serve warm as a side dish for curd rice, sambar rice, rasam rice or even with chappathi.

Vazhai Thandu Thayir Pachadi:(Tamizhar Style)

Plantain Stem with Yogurd.

Ingredients:

Tender plantain stem 2 feet
Yogurd 5-7 cups
Salt as per taste
Green chilies 8 finely chopped
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Chana dal 2 spoons
Urad dal 2 spoons
Asafoetida 1/2 spoon
Sesame oil fews spoons.

Method:

Clean and wash the plantain stem. Remove its outer bark.

Finely chop them without any lengthy fibres. Salt them....as they may chage color soon.

In a pan, heat oil. Add all the remaining items, except yogurd. Let them pop and splutter well.

Run this sesonning over yogurd. And mix this yogurd to finely chopped stem.

A healthy salad is ready.