Vazhaipoo/Banana Blossom Kootu

Banana blossom , the flower of banana is well know as vazhaipoo in tamil, this flower grows on the end of the stem holding a cluster of bananas, considered as an Asian or tropical vegetable, this banana blossom consits of tightly packed leaves or bracts that wrap around rows of thin stemmed male flowers,  the inner pale colored brats are usued for food dishes..Banana blossom can be sliced and served with rice, as gravies, as stir fries sometime as deep frying dishes..To clean this banana blossom, a particular techinic is followed since ages which goes for time consuming process but its still worth to do when its comed to the final product, buttermilk with a pinch of salt is used to soak this cleaned florets to avoid the discoloration..How to clean the banana flower, apply oil to both hand and take off the purple outer covering and remove the bunch of florets, repeat this until u reach the center of the blossom, separate each flowers from the bunch and remove the steam, chop the florets and soak them in buttermilk with salt to avoid the discoloration, now this banana blossom is ready to prepare,u can either prepare as stir fries or either pressure cook them to make out gravies etc, this banana blossom is a good alternative medicine for stomach ulcers, dysentry, menstrual disorders and painful digestion also rich in vitamin A and C...Here i prepared kootu with this healthy banana blossom and this kootu tastes too fantastic with hot steaming rice served with any sort of spicy side dish..

1no Banana flower(chopped & pressure cooked)
1cup Cooked moongdal
1no Onion (chopped)
1no Tomato (chopped)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
1/4tsp Mustard seeds
1/4tsp Cumin seeds
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
1tsp Coriander powder
1/4tsp Red chilly powder
 Salt
Oil
Curry leaves + Coriander leaves (chopped)

To Grind:
1/4cup Grated coconut
1tsp Cumin seeds
3nos Green chillies

Heat a tbsp of oil, let splutters the mustard seeds & cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onion pieces and ginger garlic paste, sauté until the raw smells goes on, now add the chopped tomatoes, cooked banana blossom pieces and sauté again with turmeric powder,red chilly powder, coriander powder and fennel seed powder..cook everything in simmer until the veggies get well tossed with the spice powders, meanwhile grind all the ingredients from the list to grind as fine paste, add this paste to the cooking veggies and stir occasionally, after few minutes add the cooked moongdal to the veggies, salt and curry leaves and give a stir..add enough water if u need, cook everything in medium high flame until the veggies get well cooked..finally add the chopped coriander leaves and put off the stove..

Serve hot with hot rice, idlis or rotis..