Banana flower fritters / Vazhaipoo vadai

 Vazhaipoo vadai is a delicious authentic Tamilnadu recipe. Banana flower have essential vitamins and carbohydrates. Banana flower also has high fiber and potassium. Banana flower increases hemoglobin level in blood. It also acts as an effective medicine for menstrual disorders. It also manages diabetes and reduces anxiety. Cleaning banana flower is a time consuming process, because of its health benefits we must try to cook atleast two times per month. The mixture of coarsely grounded chana dal, onion, fennel seeds and vazhaipoo gives good taste and crispy texture to the snack.

Prep time: 2 hours and 30 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Total time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Vazhaipoo / Banana flower – 1

Chana Dal – 1 cup

Dry red chilies – 6

Fennel seeds – 2 tbsp

Onion – 1 chopped

Coriander leaves – ½ cup, chopped

Curry leaves – 1 spring, chopped

Salt to taste

Rice flour – 1 tbsp

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Wash and soak chana dal for 2 hours.

2. Clean vazhaipoo and take the flowers separately, chop it and keep in buttermilk to avoid discoloration.

3. After 2 hours, drain chana dal and grind it coarsely without water. Grind red chilies and fennel seeds along with chana dal.

4. Now add chopped vazhaipoo, onion, and cilantro and curry leaves to the chana dal mixture. Now add salt and rice flour to it.

4. Heat oil in a pan, when it is super-hot, shape the mixture in to a vadai and carefully drop them oil.

5. Deep fry it till the vadai is well cooked and gives golden brown color. Serve hot.