Vazhaippo Vadai (Banana Florets Vadai)

Type of cuisine : South Indian

Preperation time : 30 minutes

Cooking time : 20 minutes

Serving : 6

Ingredients :  

1. Toor/arhar dal (yellow lentil) - 1 cup

2. Banana flower - 1 cup (finely chopped)

3. Onions - 2 (finely chopped)

4. Whole red chillies - 4

5. Ginger - 1 inch piece (crushed)

6. Garlic - 6 pods (crushed)

  

7. Salt - to taste

8. Oil - for deep frying 

9. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs (chopped)

Method :  

1. Soak toor dal in water for about 30 minutes. Drain water and transfer into a blender. To the dal, add whole red chillies and crushed  ginger and garlic. Grind the mixture to a coarse paste by sprinkling water. Transfer into a container.

2. Pick banana florets from the pods and remove the pistils from each floret. Chop the florets finely and add to the ground mixture.

3. Chop the onions finely and add to the ground mixture.

4. To the ground dal mixture add chopped curry leaves, salt and mix thoroughly. Now the vada batter is ready to be deep fried.

                                   

5. Place a kadai on medium flame and pour oil into it.

6. Take a lemon sized ball of the batter and place it on a plastic sheet. Slightly press the ball to give it a flat round shape.

7. When oil becomes hot, transfer the round shaped vada batter into oil. Repeat the same procedure for rest of the batter. Not more than 5 or 6 vadas can be fried at a time.

8. Serve vadas hot with coconut chutney.