Vazhakkai Roast recipe with Video. Vazhakkai roast makes an excellent side dish along with sambar and rasam rice. Pack it along with lemon rice or coconut rice for lunch boxes.
As this is a no onion and no garlic recipe, this is perfect for vrat days when they do not use either onion or garlic in their cooking for that day.
This roast is the most cooked way in my home especially on Amavaasai (new moon day).
And also since this roast recipe does not have coconut like other poriyal varieties, it does not spoil easily when packed in lunch boxes especially during the hot summer months.
Other than potato curry, this vazhakkai roast is my favorite to have along with lemon rice or puliodaharai (tamarind rice) in lunch box.
Vazhakkai also known as raw banana or plantain is cooked in many ways across the South Indian states as they are available in plenty. No part of the plantain tree goes waste infact.
I have another version of making it like oil roast as well, but this method is pan roasted and uses very minimal oil just enough to make the vazhakkai pieces juicy and succulent.
Can I pressure cook Vazhakkai?
Vazhakkai when cut is sticky to the touch. I personally feel that the stickiness goes away when it is cooked in an open pan enabling in using minimal oil while roasting.
While pressure cooking, the stickiness either remains the same or the pieces get over cooked as most of us go by the number of whistles.
As a result, when you roast the over cooked vazhakkai, you end up with a mushy lump. If the stickiness is there, you also end up using lot more oil to prevent it from sticking to the pan.
As such vazhakkai is a high water content vegetable which gets perfectly cooked within 3 to 4 minutes. So you need not have to worry about wasting fuel by cooking in an open pan and checking for the done-ness is easy which I have explained in the video.
You may also like these other recipes using Vazhakkai / Raw Banana,
Vazhakkai Roast Video:
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Vazhakkai Roast recipe details below:
Vazhakkai Roast
Ingredients
- Vazhakkai or Plantain - 2 nos small
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
- Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
- Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
- Sambar powder - 3 tsp
- Salt - to taste
- Oil - 2 tbsp
Instructions
To prep vazhakkai:
- Peel the plantain skin using a peeler.
- Cut into 1/2 inch roundels and set aside.
- Bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil.
- Add turmeric powder and salt to taste.
- Drop the plantain roundels into the hot water.
- Stir well and cook for 3 mins on medium flame.
- The plantain should be cooked soft but not till its mushy.
- When you insert a knife it should poke through easily.
- Drain into a colander and set aside.
To make vazhakkai roast:
- Heat a pan with oil and when hot simmer the flame.
- Temper with mustard seeds and let it splutter.
- Add urad dal, curry leaves, sambar powder and salt required for the tempering.
- Fry for 30 seconds till the sambar powder gets roasted well and the raw smell goes off.
- Add the cooked plantain roundels.
- Stir gently for the sambar powder to coat the roundels well.
- Keep shaking the pan frequently taking care not to break the plantain roundels.
- Cook on low flame for 4 to 5 mins for the sambar powder coated roundels to get roasted well.
- Vazhakkai Roast is ready to be served.
- It tastes great when served as a side dish with sambar, rasam, lemon & coconut rice.
Video
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