Monday, October 5, 2009

Plantain Flower Usili (Vazha poo/ Anti poo)



Vazha poo curry2


Plantain flower(Vazha poo/Antipoo) is one of the most delicate ingredient(Should I call it flower/vegetable!!!! I am not sure) that is used for cooking. You need a lot of patience and time to remove the petals and clean them up. But the pains taken are absolutely worth it. The usili curry is so yummmm :)


Ingredients:

Plantain flower(Cleaned and Chopped) - 1 cup
Red chillies - 5
Thoor dhall - 1/2 cup
Coconut scrapings - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - for taste
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves


Note: Take a look at this link to know what parts of the flower you need to remove before cooking.



Vazha poo curry1


Method:

Clean and chop the plantain flowers into small pieces and soak it in watery butter milk until you use.

Cook the chopped plantain flower in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles and keep it aside.


Soak thoor dhall in water for 1 hour and grind along with red chillies, coconut scrapings, cumin seeds, asafoetida , turmeric powder and salt. The batter should be coarse and thick. Do not add excess water while grinding.

Now steam cook the batter in a pressure cooker like idly. Once it it done let it cool for a while. Crumble the idly finely with hands. For best results, cut the idlis into small portions and run it in the mixie slightly to crumble it well. Keep this aside.

In a pan take a tsp of oil, cracle mustard, add the curry leaves and then add the cooked plantain flower and fry for few min till it becoms dry. Finally add the crumbled powder and then fry for 2-3 min till it all blends well.

Plantain flower usili is ready to eat. I bet no one can hate it :)

Serve it with curd rice or just mix it with steamed white rice along with some ghee. :)


Vazha poo curry
Decoration: I have used the plantain flower petals to mock a lotus design.


I would like to thank Ambika for giving me the giant bear hug and thanks to Sangeetha Subash for giving me the one lovely blog award :) I should thank Raje for sharing her love by awarding me both together. It gives me so much energy to go on :)



Written by: Nithya
post your queries to fourthsensesamayal@gmail.com


51 comments:

Anu Nandu said...

Nithya, This looks awesome - its true its a painstaking process to peel the vazhaipoo. I'm sure the usili is all worth it and more!

Rohini said...

Wow.. I just love Vazhai poo usli, but don't have the patience to do it! So I stick to amma's preparation.. But you have kindled my memories now!! I am off to grocery store tomorrow to buy a Vazhai Poo. :)
Beautiful presentation dear!!

Pari Vasisht said...

Hi! Lovely presentation dear. I keep looking that and forget to read the recipe.

Preeti Kashyap said...

i love this dish! and great presentation nithya!

Raje said...

I remember my Grandma taking all the pain to make this. Never tried to prepare myself. Your looks great, lovely presentation.
I like to share some awards with you. Pl collect

Unknown said...

As always pics amazing and nicely decorated nithya..usili sounds delicious...never tried this...

Menaga Sathia said...

வாவ்வ்வ்வ்வ்வ்வ் ப்ரெஷண்டேஷன் அட்டகாசமா இருக்கு.பாராட்டுக்கள்!! உசிலியும் சூப்பராக இருக்கு.பார்க்கும் போதே சாப்பிடத் தோனுது!!

Abhilash Pillai said...

Wah ustad wah!

The decorations are really nice. From where do you get these ideas?

We also prepare this sabzi at home. At hope it is a sabzi right?

It looks good. Hey one question... Is this all made by you or.... made by mother and decorated by Nithya ??

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

Indeed a lot of patient is needed to in preparing Vazhaipoo kootu...very delight to see ur lovely preparation and looks so delicious.

Priya Suresh said...

Delicious usili, beautiful presentation Nithya..

Namitha said...

vazhappo is my all time fav and this looks very delicious :-)

Gita Jaishankar said...

Good one Nithya...I have been searching for recipes with vazhaipoo other than kootu...this dish sis sure to please everybody :)

Uma said...

beautiful!! looks so good and yummy Nitya!

Madhavi said...

This is very new for me and it looks mouth-drooling!!!

Unknown said...

I remember sitting with my grandma and processing the vazhai poo. Looks nice!

Sanghi said...

Yummy usli.. Loved the decoration as usual dear!

Unknown said...

Loved the decoration..looks nice..always had plantain instead of potatoes..but never its flower..

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Hi nithi this is my fav one... looks yummy. The decoration reminds me college day !!!! Looks great.

Vidhya said...

wow.. I love the picture. I make this very often...

chef and her kitchen said...

Never cooked this so far...nice decor..

Kanchan said...

I remembering helping out mom to peel these .. just brought back my memories !
Wonderful Presentation :)

LifenSpice said...

Looks nice. Loved the pic!

Unknown said...

Neat and lovely presentation!

Chitra said...

looks really yumm..i too have it in draft..will post next week :)

Jeyashris Kitchen said...

great patience for u to clean and cut the valaipoo.But we all r a great fan of this. Nice presentation.

Anuradha said...

Namaskaram! Mee amulyamaina bojanam ki na subhakanchalu!

Shri said...

All along, I was thinking it is a flower..Beautiful, beautiful decoration/presentation, Nithya!I never dared to make it but I love to eat when someone makes it!

Vidya Rao said...

Wow! What a presentation...amazing!Interesting recipe too..

Anu said...

Wow nice dish and yummy... Beautiful presentation...

Sh... said...

I love this too. I usually soak the cut plantain flower in buttermilk + turmeric powder to nullify the bitterness...:)

kittymatti said...

my husband's fav..but i always dodge him and make it not more than once in 2 months..haha.. i hate separating the palatable parts..boring job

GEETHA ACHAL said...

சூப்பர்ப்..மிகவும் நன்றாக இருக்கின்றது.

Srilakshmi said...

Simply WOW! Absolutely love the presentation and it makes Vazhai poo look scrumptious (I'm not a fan)

Unknown said...

Yummo loved both the usili n the picture...awesome!

Anonymous said...

கண்ணை பறிக்கிறது..ரொம்ப ரொம்ப நல்லா இருக்கு நித்யா..

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Wow Nithya... looks awesome and yummy.

Lena Jayadev said...

Nithyaaa..this is amazing dear...wonderful snap..i love to have it with hot rice, pappad, pickle and curd...amazing snap.. :)

Unknown said...

You are awesome buddy. Luved the way you arranged the dish.Looks delicious too:).

BALLET NEWS said...

Nithya, another really great post - how do you do it !!

Velva said...

I learned something today! I knew nothing about the Plantain flower. How interesting! Thank you for sharing.

Vibaas said...

wonderful pics and i'm so sad now because i dont get vazhapoo here and you have tempted me too much :)

Sailaja Damodaran said...

super....u should have sent it for ur event.....

Rohini said...

One more award awaiting you in my blog dear.. Pls collect it! :)

Soma Pradhan said...

I have never tried this before..Always saw it in shop but never dared to buy as I didnt know what to do it and how to do with it..This definitely sounds intersteing...

I guess cleaning part will be pain.but is worth for the recipe

Raks said...

My SIL too have blogged the same :) Your presentation is as usual great :)

Kanchan said...

Congrats Nithya ....
I am sharing the well deserved “One Lovely Blog Award” with you. Kindly collect it from my blog!!

Sreelekha Sumesh said...

Hi Nithya,

First time here..U got a nice blog..following u..

Anonymous said...

wonderfully decorated

Jen Kumar said...

Seems my RSS reader is hiding your posts. I thought of you today- "Why hasn't she posted lately?" I thought! I came to your blog to see this!! Pure inspiration. You are my inspiration! Awesome photos and that dish would be just mouthwatering. Love banana flower.

Haddock said...

Love curry made from Vazha koombu

gtyuk said...

I love vaazha poo poriyal, but it's as if it has been ages since i ate it; i can never get it here; this is one among those precious things I eat madly each time I go to India. lovely presentation too!

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