Vada curry with banana flower

Bonjour mes amis,

I am going to share a healthier version of vada curry. I have only steamed the vada , instead of deep frying in oil, like in the original recipe. There is a special ingredient , which is 'tender banana blossoms'. Please make sure you don't use the first few layers of the blossom. They will be thick and won't taste good. 

For the curry:

Onion - 1 large, finely chopped

Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped

Tomato - 1 medium, chopped

Tamarind - 1 gooseberry size, soaked and pulp extracted

Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

Coriander powder - 3 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp (or according to your spice tolerance level)

Asafoetida(hing) - 1/4 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Salt as per taste

Curry leaves - a few

Coriander leaves - few 

For the dumplings:

Banana blossom - tender pieces from the inner layers; deveined and chopped roughly

Channa Dal - 2 tbsp

Toor Dal - 4 tbsp

Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Dry red chillies - 2 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida powder - a pinch

Salt - as per your taste

Grind all the above ingredients together coarsely. Add the chopped banana blossom to this and mix well. 

Heat a pan, and apply little oil on a steamer plate(I use cooking spray). Make a dumplings out of the dal mix and arrange like in the picture below. 

Then steam for 3 to 5 minutes, based on the size of your dumplings(see the picture)

In a pan, heat 2 tbsp oil, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then add hing, curry leaves, chopped onion, garlic and saute. Once the onion turns pink, add the chopped tomato and close the lid for 2 minutes, so that the tomatoes will get cooked. Now, add the salt, turmeric, coriander and chilli powders and mix well. Then add the tamarind pulp and 2 cups of water. 

Once this comes to a boil, add the steamed dumplings and let it cook for 5 minutes. Done! Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve!

This is a perfect combination for rice, idiyappam or arisi upma. Enjoy and please don't forget to subscribe to my blog and post your valuable comments below.