| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | Banana flower (chopped) |
| 1 cup | Bengal gram / Kadalai paruppu |
| 1/2 cup | Onion (finely chopped) |
| 2 | Green chilli |
| 2 tablespoons | Ginger garlic crushed (6 garlic, 2 inch ginger) |
| 10 leaves | Curry leaves |
| 3 teaspoons | Coriander leaves (finely chopped) |
| ½ teaspoon | Cumin seeds |
| ½ teaspoon | Fennel seeds |
| 2 pinch | Turmeric powder |
| ¼ teaspoon | Asafoetida powder |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Salt (or to taste) |
| 3 cups | Oil (for deep frying) |
| 2 cups | Buttermilk (diluted) (for soaking) |
| 1 teaspoon | Rice flour (optional) Check notes |
| 1 teaspoon | Gram flour (optional) Check notes |
Lets see how to make this vazhaipoo vadai….(வாழைப்பூ வடை)
Lets first clean the vazhaipoo first….
How to clean the banana flower? A tedious and time consuming process, but its all worth it, when it comes down to the final product.
1. Apply oil to both hand to avoid sticking.Take off the purple outer covering and remove the bunch of florets. Repeat the process until you reach the center.
2. Separate each flower from the bunch and remove the stamen. Chop the florets and soak them in buttermilk with a pinch of salt to avoid discoloration.
This is how the flower bunch looks like..
Florets with stamen as shown…
Stamen separated from the flower.
Florets without stamen.. keep this chopped and soaked in that buttermilk while you work on the ingredients for vadai.
To make the vadai,
- Soak bengal gram for at least a couple of hour. (2 to 3 hours preferred)
- Then wash and drain the water completely with a paper towel. (use a colander and drain all the water)
- Grind coarsely using am ixer or food processor with green chillies.
- Mix chopped onion, crushed ginger garlic, curry leaves, coriander leaves, asafoetida powder, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, chopped flowers (drain all water before adding to Dal) with salt.
- Mix everything to form a thick dough.
- Heat oil in a kadai… shape the dough into little vadai and deep fry them in batches.
- Fry them till golden on all sides over medium flame.
- Drain excess oil by placing the vadai over a paper towel.
- Serve hot with a cup of tea.
This vadai dough was made using Indian mixer mate…. I have also updated a new picture for which the dough was made with food processor… which yields uniform outer layer which will remain crisp for a long time.
Notes
- Makes 10 vadais.
- Using a food processor actually helps to yield unifrom outer layer which stays crisp for longer time.
- Adding a tsp of rice flour + gram flour will help to shape the vadai evenly and also helps to stay crisp. Actually this is optional buts helps when you grind using a food processor.
- Adding cumin fennel sombu adds in ton of flavor.
- Freshly crushed ginger garlic is a must for this masala vadai and also that garlic with skin on will make it more attractive.
Some vadai recipes to try from our page…
38 Comments
[…] Vazhaipoo Vadai […]
Hi Mullai, I tried it and it was very tasty. Thank you for the pictures and the clear recipe.
Wow!! I tried it..and it turned out to be incredible 🙂 🙂 Thanx a lot for the recipe…
Mullai,
Migha migha nandri. Nan vazha poo vadai try panen..nijamave rombo naal irunthuthu! sorry taste le mayangi, i forgot to take snap. Next time, kandipa podren! 🙂 Actually. i wanted to try that cauliflower varuval from ur site..but some how adu thalii pochi and made vazha poo vadai.
Nandri nandri nandri…
Priya
The recipe of Vazhaipoo Vadai is really clear and the pictures have made it easier. I prepared vadai on last weekend dinner….It was so delicious! Everybody liked it… I appreciate your effort to provide such authentic Tamilnadu recipes. Carry on.
Hi Mullai…
This Vazhai Poo Vadai is my hubby fav.. So thought would make it with the help of ur recipe… But when I was taking out the flower bunch.. I found that except for the first few.. everything else are totally black!! Does this mean its bad?? or can I cook with them?? I have no idea how it should look… I have kept them in butter milk for now…
Can I make vadai with it? or should I discard them??
Priyakrish
Priyakrish, I think you meant the opposite, usually the one on the outside will look black like the one shown in my picture. The inner tightly packed flowers will look white or at least pale white. Soak them in buttermilk immediately and then they should be good until you clean or use. Sometimes storing them in fridge for long time will make the whole flower go bad, so always cook as soon as you get from the market. Soaking and storing in fridge will last for couple of days, also will look slightly dark… not too dark but will look with brown tinge here and there. Its ok to use them but if its too dark , then throw them away.
Hi Mullai,
I need your help. My friends r coming over to dinner this saturday(16th). But they dont eat dishes that r made with onions and garlic. I dont know any dishes like that. Any suggestions? I need a variety rice and a gravey for a chapathi.Awaiting ur reply.
You have very few choices, as onion and garlic is a must for most of the dishes. All i think of is plain dal and salad. Anyway.. for chapati try Dal Makhani, Baingan Bharta (follow the recipe avoiding onion and garlic, include ginger and add an extra tomato), Paneer Jalfrezi , simple Toor dal tempered (Thalitha paruppu), Carrot Cucumber raita and Gutti Vankaya koora. Exclude onion and garlic and proceed with the recipe.
For rice all I can think is vegetable fried rice excluding garlic and onion, lemon rice, tamarind rice, curd rice.
My choice — Tamarind or Lemon rice with simple potato curry. Chapati with mixed vegetable avial or tomato channa masala and raita.
Thanks a lot Mullai. Great Ideas.
Hi Ms.Mullai,
We are in California. I haven’t found these banana flowers here. Are there any other names for it here in US? In what type of stores do you get this product? Please brief it as it is very good for health and tempting too. Thanks.
Jas, check Patel bros chain, they have for sure. They usually have fresh ones on Mondays.
I dont think there is patel bros grocery store in ca. But u can find in almost all indian groceries and in chinese and few american groceries too. i have seen them thru out the yr!
hey…looks gud……will try it soon
hi,vazhapoo vadi is very nice, all u r recipe picture was soo good
thank u mullai. today i’m going to prepare that vadai
hi mullai,
dont we have to boil the banana flower before adding to the dal when making vazhaipoo vadai?
Rajii, its not necessary to boil anything. Simply add to the ground channa and fry.
Hi,
Your vazhapoo vadai recipe is great! Do you have an authentic recipe
for garlic pickle,Chettinaad Style, ? Kindly provide.
Thanks
Ragini D
Hi,
Your vazhapoo vadai recipe is great! I would like an authentic
garlic pickle receipe! Kindly provide if you have.Thanks.
Ragini D
Hi mulli,
Where u get vazhaipoo in US.
Check your local farmers market, you might get lucky. I got mine from a local Vegetable market. Chinese and Indian grocery stores carry once one a while.
Hi
Tried you recipe and came out good. Thanks.
SARATHA RAVI
tried your recipe today..did really excellent.. appreciate your efforts to post pictures for easy understanding
Hi Mullai,
First time in your Site and found so many lovely recipes. I tried preparing Vazapoo poriyal or ussili but it became so bitter that I had to throw it all off. what might have been the mistake? I did take out the inedible part.
I made Vazhai Poo vadai today. Turned out good. Thanks
hai
this recipe is kool.i really appreciate your effort to show it with pictures.excellant work!!!
Hi,
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, It was big hit in our house.
Divya.
this is the best recipe for valaipoo vadai for beginners lovely pictures. could u please give the recipe for sambhar powder, coriander, turmeric n chilli powders if possible. that would b a gr8 help.
Thank you very much. May I know who you are? Recipe requests are for registered users only. Moreover what do you mean by recipe for Turmeric power? Please clarify before this comment gets deleted.
hi am lakshmi how should i get registered. sorry that is turmeric powder (do u dry the fresh turmeric then grind them )
Lakshmi….. i just go with store bought turmeric powder. You get fresh ones only in India. Registration is simple, you will find it on the homepage, on right hand side(top corner), just fill in the details, you will recieve an email for activation.
i already got registered. thank u. do u make ur own sambhar powder? if so pls post the recipe. am fed up with store bought masalas n wan everything freshly ground.
Normally I get them from India. My MIL use to make them. Once in a while i use store bought powder, MTR brand is really good. It might take sometime for me to post the recipe with photo.
This is an awesome recipe…i love all your recipes…
everyone one of them that I have tried so far have been a big Hit!! :-)) Keep posting more!
Hi,
Vadi was really good….thanks for ur wonderful recipies.Good quality picture is adding more temptation to cook.
Glad to hear, try my other recipes too.
hi
vazhapoo vadai came soo good..thanks! never knew how wash vazhapoo and u picture was soo good described so well that i made it last week.