Vazhaipoo Adai / Banana Flower Lentils Crisp / Vaazhaipoo Adai

Vazhaipoo Adai / Banana Flower Lentils Crisp / Vaazhaipoo Adai

  

Banana Flower which is called as "Vaazhaipoo" in Tamil is a purple flower which blossoms at the edge of the banana bunch in its tree. Its widely used in many regional cuisines of India. Due to its dietary fiber and high protein value, including this healthy vegetable in our regular cooking is wiser. Also, its very good for stomach related problems. My mom often made this vegetable during our thanjavur childhood days, she generally made Vaazhaipoo Curry, Vaazhaipoo Paruppu Usili, Vadai, etc., Also I remember her Vaazhaithandu Mor Kootu which is one of my favourites. Though we dont get the Vaazhai Thandu ( Banana Stem ) here, I am lucky to see some fresh Banana Flowers atleast in a nearby China Market. Though I make many versions of food items using this great flowery vegetable, this time I made a protein rich Adai ( Lentils Dosa ) and its so... yummy and healthy. Try this out during tiffin time with a side of fresh curd and a spicy pickle. A very healthy tiffin item for all ages...

Cleaning the Banana flower seems to be a little time consuming job initially. Once you know the technique of it, its a matter of few minutes.

• Rub your hands with little oil while doing this job as your hands might turn sticky and black during this process.
• Open the purple petals one by one and take out the yellow colour florets carefully.
• Remove the two parts from every floret carefully.
• In the picture I added, I showed the two parts that are to be taken out from each floret. One part looks like a plastic ear phone and the other part is a thick long stem with a thick dot on its top.
• Chop the cleaned florets under each petal and immediately put them in a diluted buttermilk in a vessel. This is mainly to prevent colour changing.
• Follow the same process for all the petals till you notice a small cone shaped yellow tender bud. As this tender yellow cone is also highly nutritious, chop them too finely and add it to the vessel. Keep it ready.

Ingredients

Toor Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu / Kandhi pappu  - 1 Cup

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga pappu - 3/4 Cup

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 1/4 Cup

Rice / Idly Rice / Par Boiled Rice - 1/2 Cup

Dry Red Chillies - 4 or 5

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Salt - As required

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Chopped banana flower - 2 to 3 cups.

Oil - For making the Adais / Crisps.

Method

• Soak all the dals and rice in one vessel for nearly 2 hours.
• Grind them coarsely in a mixer grinder along with dry red chillies.
• To the mix, add required amount of salt, hing, curry leaves.
• Drain the chopped banana flower florets from the diluted buttermilk vessel and add them to the Adai batter.
• Just grind it for another few seconds with these additional ingredients. Now the Adai batter is ready to make. Make sure that the batter is neither too thick nor too watery.
• Heat the griddle or frying pan  make the surface smooth and ready for making adais.
• Pour one full ladle of the adai batter and spread them uniformly and make a thin circle. Pour oil along the edges and allow them to cook on both sides.
• Flip to the other side and take out the adai from the tawa after both sides are completely cooked and crispy.
• Serve with a cup of fresh curd and a spicy pickle or chutney.

Multi Beans Adai / Multi Beans Crispy Dosa

Multi Beans Adai / Multi Beans Crispy Dosa

Beans Adai with a side of a cup of Blueberry Kesari and Aviyal ( Vegetable Stew in coconut gravy ).

Legumes ( Beans ) are generally referred as "poor people's meat" but i prefer to call them as "healthy people's treat".  Legumes supply more amount of  Good Protein to the body and there are many varieties of legumes found in the world which are widely used in many cuisines across the world.

One of the important health benefits of  legumes ( beans ) is its rich source of cholesterol reducing fiber. It reduces the blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal so its a best choice for diabetic people.  It also protects against breast cancer. In addition to the high fiber content, beans also contain lots of antioxidants, folic acid and other vitamins.

Another important issue that stuck in our mind is the  gas problem due to the intake of Legumes / beans. Its natural for any human digestive system to produce gas ( intestinal gas ) during regular digestion. But after consuming beans, we might feel that excessive intestinal gas getting produced. In order to minimize this excessive intestinal gas, its always suggested in many health magazines to break down the fiber in Beans by mashing, grinding..etc., Also by adding good amount of ginger into the recipe, this problem could be minimised and helps in easy digestion.

Multi beans Adai is one of the food items I tried out last week. I followed the same method of making  traditional adai but substituted legumes ( Beans ) instead of lentils ( Dals / Paruppu ).  As I mentioned, ginger is always a good accompaniment for any legume based food item. So it is a good idea to make some spicy Ginger Chutney and serve this as a side for the Adais.

Ingredients

Black Eyed beans ( White Karamani ) - 1/4 cup

Rajma - 1/4 cup

Soy Beans - 1/4 cup

White Channa Dal ( White Kondakadalai ) - 1/4 cup

Red Moth - 1/4 cup

Brown Masoor Dal - 1/4 cup

White Beans ( Lima Beans ) - 1/4 cup

Green Gram ( Pesara pappu ) - 1/4 cup

Idly Rice - 1 Handful

Ginger -  1 inch square or 3 tbsp grated

Hing - 1 Dash

Dry Red chillies - 3 or 4

Salt - To Taste

Oil - Enough to fry the Adais on the kadai / Pan.

Method

• Soak all the Beans and rice in water for 4-5 hours. Then drain the water and grind them coarsely in a wet grinder along with ginger, dry red chillies.
• Add required amount of salt, dash of Hing, crushed curry leaves to the Adai Batter and leave it aside for an hour.
• Then, heat the frying pan and pour the Adai over the pan, spread them uniformly and make a round shaped Adai.
•  Add few drops of oil along the edges of the adai. Fry them till it turns golden brown in colour on both sides.
• Continue the process for the rest of the batter. Serve the crispy hot Beans Adai with a side of spicy Ginger Chutney and a small bowl of fresh curd.

Tips / Variations

You can add different varieties of legumes of your choice and try it out.

You can add finely grated red onion pieces into the batter and make some yummy Onion Adais too..

A Side of Aviyal is also a good choice for this Beans Adai.

HOW TO MAKE Adai - Protein Rich Lentils Dosa

Adai is one of the traditional South Indian tiffin which is mostly served with Aviyal in restaurants. This is made with a mixture of different Lentils and there are many varieties of Adai like Carrot Adai, Cabbage Adai, Coconut Adai, Drumstick Leaves Adai, Onion Adai, etc., based on the vegetable we add to the Lentils Mix. Now, I am blogging about the regular Adai with some onions in it. I try to make this often for breakfast as its a rich high protein breakfast for kids. With a side of fresh curd, Adai is definitely an ideal wholesome breakfast.

I used the Lentils like Moong Dal ( Green Gram ), Thuvar Dal ( Split Red Gram ) and Channa ( Chickpea / Bengal Gram ) in my Adai along with some Idly Rice.

Upon looking at the nutritional benefits of Lentils, they are having highest level of protein, contain dietary fiber, folate and other vitamins. Sprouted Lentils also contain sufficient levels of all amino acids and they are a good source of Iron.

Ingredients
Channa Dal / BengalGram - 1 Cup
Moong Dal / Green Gram - 1/4 Cup
Thuvar Dal / Split Red Gram - 1/2 Cup
Idly Rice - 1/2 Cup
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash
Dry Red Chillies - 3 
Red Onion shredded - 1/2 cup
Curry Leaves - 7 to 8.
Salt - To Taste
Oil - To fry the Adais.

Method :



Making the Adai Batter :

Soak all the Lentils and Idly rice in a same container with water for 2-3 hours. Drain the water and grind it using a mixer grinder with Hing and Dry red chillies. Add some water into the coarse paste and make it little thicker but not like thin dosa batter. Add required amount of salt and crushed curry leaves to the Batter and keep it ready. After 2 or 3 hours, start making the Adais as they taste better after you leave the batter for sometime. But it should not be kept for fermentation.

Making the Adai on the Stove :

Heat the frying pan on the stove on medium heat. Using a red onion, spread little bit of oil onto the frying pan/tawa and make the surface uniform and smooth before pouring the batter. When its sizzling hot, reduce the flame and pour one round of batter into the center and slowly extend it and make a big round like below.  Apply oil along the sides of the Adai and in the middle. Fry the Adai on medium heat on both sides.

Continue the same process for the rest of the Adais and serve the crispy thin adais with a side of thick fresh curd and ginger pickle. 

Tips / Variations:

While frying the Adais, turn it to the other side of frying only after the first is fried to slight golden brown and crispy.

Add drops of oil in the middle of the Adais instead of pouring more oil on its sides.

Try to serve with a side of good Aviyal if you are making this on special occasions.