Raw Banana / Plantain Fry (Vazhakkai Varuval)

Category: Lunch / Poriyal

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Servings: 2

Hey everyone, how many of you love Raw banana also known as Vazhakkai or plantain?

Vazhakkai / Raw Banana Fry

These versatile veggies are packed with complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, and they’re super easy to digest. They’ve been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I still remember the simple vazhakkai poriyal with pearl onions and fresh coconut I used to enjoy during my school days.

Back then, we didn’t have the fancy health benefits of veggies explained to us before we ate them. In our hometown, our houses were surrounded by banana trees and coconut trees. And guess what? In most of our dishes, we used fresh coconut, and once a week, we’d have Raw banana, banana flower, and banana stem on our menu. Also, since we’ll be growing small pearl onions in our farm, we used the pearl onions which is also called as "sambar vengayam" in our everyday cooking. The big onions which we’re used to now make a rare appearance in our home then.

After moving to the US, these things have become a bit of a challenge for me when it comes to cooking. We can buy raw banana and plantains here, but banana flowers and banana stems are a bit harder to find. And here, we’re used to using frozen coconut most of the time because it’s so convenient. 

But these won’t stop me from experimenting with my favorite veggie in new ways! Let’s see how to make this vazhakkai varuval with fresh ground masala. These go well with any South Indian meal - Rasam rice, Sambar rice, Morkuzhambu, or curd rice. If you’re like me, you can just enjoy it on its own!

Ingredients:

• Vazhakkai / Plaintain / Raw banana - 2 medium sized
• Onion, thinly sliced- 1 
• Oil - 1 Tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Salt-  to taste
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Coconut oil - 1 tsp

Carrot & Cabbage Stir fry / Carrot & Muttaikose Poriyal

Category: Lunch / Poriyal
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings:3 to 4 servings

Carrot- Cabbage Poriyal

Carrot & cabbage Poriyal is a simple Poriyal  / stir fry with simple ingredients. But the combination of these veggies is great and suits well with any South Indian meal. This goes well with any spicy Kuzhambu varieties, Sambar, Rasam or we can just mix it with rice and have it.

  Ingredients:

• Carrots - 3 nos
• Cabbage - 1/2 a head
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Channa dhal - 1 tsp
• Urad dhal - 2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Red / Green chilly, slitted - 1-2 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Salt- to taste
• Fresh coconut, grated - 3-4 Tbsp (Or Frozen coconut thawed at room temperature)

Broccoli - Sweet corn stir fry

Category: Stir fried veggies
Cooking Time: 10-12 mins
Servings: 2-3 Servings

Preparation Time: 10 mins 

Broccoli - Sweet corn stir fry is a very easy & versatile recipe and we make it often. This is very much kid-friendly and we can adjust the spices as per our taste and recipe. 

Broccoli - Sweet corn Stir Fry!

If we are using as a side dish for Indian rice varieties or kathi rolls, I use Garam masala and lime juice; for sandwich filling I prefer Italian seasoning and will add cheese along with it. Also we can just add cooked rice and mix it up to have a quick veggie rice :) Choice is up to us:)

Tasty & Healthy :)

Ingredients:

• Broccoli florets - 2 cups
• Sweet corn kernels - 1 cup (I used frozen)
• Extra virgin Olive Oil / any cooking oil - 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic - 1 Tbsp, finely chopped
• ٭Spice Powder - 1/2 tsp

Tindora fry / Ivy Gourd fry / Kovakkai Fry

Category: Stir fried Vegetables / Poriyal
Preparation Time: 5-8 mins 
Cooking Time: 10-12 mins
Servings: 2-3 Servings

Tindora / Kovakkai Fry

                            

Ivy gourd is a small green vegetable and is commonly known as Tindora or Kovakkai. Stir fried tindora is so tasty and also its very easy to cook. I prefer to cook in the cast iron pan since it gives the best tasting crispy veggies :)

Ingredients:

• Ivy gourd / Tindora / Kovakkai - 25-30 nos
• Oil - 1 Tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Sambar powder - 1 Tbsp 
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Salt - to taste