Atho Plantain Pith Soup recipe with video. Most commonly called as the atho vazhathandu soup.
This soup is vegan, gluten free and a no oil soup and when served with veg atho, it makes a very filling wholesome meal in itself.
It is full of fibre and protein making it very nutritious. I have been making this plantain soup atleast once a week and have it with few toasted crusty sourdough bread slices.
It makes for a light yet filling dinner. As you will have leftover soup after serving it with atho, you can always refrigerate and have it for the next day or 2.
I often make this vazhanthandu poriyal for lunch and have begun to keep a piece separately just for making this soup for my dinners.
As we all know plantain in rich in fibre and it is also one veggie that you can eat raw. So it tastes awesome as a salad as well.
Our Favorite Video:
Though Veg Atho can be eaten as such, it is served with this plantain soup to make it a wholesome and complete meal.
Points to note while making this soup:
- Instead of using shallots, you can also use regular onions but shallots enhance the taste and texture of the soup.
- Do not blend the cooked soup to a smooth liquid. It needs the texture, so use a manual whisk and just whisk vigorously for few seconds to mash only the dal and onions.
- There should still be pieces of plantain left to chew on.
- I prefer using red chili powder than pepper powder. Pepper powder makes the soup a bit darker in color.
- Lemon juice enhances the taste but always add it after switching off the stove. Adding it while boiling will make the soup taste bitter.
Check out the other soup recipes on the blog,
- Golden Glow Soup
- Creamy Broccoli Lentil Soup
- Vegan Tomato Celery Soup
- Broccoli Almond Soup
- Manathakkali Keerai Soup
Atho Plantain Soup – Vazhathandu Soup video:
Do subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more such video recipes.
Atho Plantain Soup – Vazhathandu Soup recipe details below:

Atho Plantain Pith Soup - Vazhathandu Soup
Ingredients
- Plantain pith or Vazhathandu - 2 to 3 tbsp
- Yellow Moong dal - 1/4 cup
- Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
- Red chili powder or black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
- Shallots or sambar onions - 2 to 3 tbsp
- Chickpea flour or besan or kadalai maavu - 2 tbsp
- Coriander leaves - for garnish
- Fried onions - to taste (see notes below)
- Fried garlic - to taste (see notes below)
- Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Salt - to taste
Instructions
Preparation:
- Chop plantain pith into thin 1/4 inch match sticks. Immerse in water to prevent darkening and set aside.
- Peel shallots and chop very finely.
To make atho plantain soup:
- Take yellow moong dal in a bowl. Rinse well.
- Add 1/2 cup water, turmeric powder, red chili powder or black pepper powder, whichever you are using.
- Add plantain match sticks, shallots and salt.
- Place the bowl in a pressure cooker and cook for 3 to 4 whistles. You can also cook this directly in the pressure cooker.
- Meanwhile, take chickpea flour in a bowl, add 1/3 cup water and mix well with a spoon.
- There should be no lumps and consistency should be runny and free flowing. Set aside.
- Once the pressure releases, whisk the contents vigorously.
- The dal, onions would get mashed completely leaving out just a few bits and pieces of plantain here and there.
- Transfer to a saucepan. If the soup seems very thick, add a little water to adjust the consistency and likewise check and adjust the salt also.
- Bring it to a boil over medium flame.
- Add the chickpea flour solution and mix well.
- Once the soup begins to thicken considerably, add coriander leaves, fried onions and fried garlic to taste.
- Stir well, cook for 2 mins and switch off stove.
- Add lemon juice if you are using and give it a stir.
- Atho plantain pith soup is ready.
- Add few tbsp of soup on top of Atho, give it a mix before eating.
- Keep repeating for every few mouthfuls.
Video
Notes

Leave a Reply