April 18, 2006

Paruppu Usili with Banana Stem Flower


Paruppu Usili is such a versatile dish that you can make with almost any vegetable...I got this recipe from my mom who really makes it very tasty. I tried to follow the very same method and the method has not failed me. Well other suggested vegetables for this paruppu usili is cluster beans(goruchikkudi kayilu-telugu , kothavarangai-tamil) and regular beans can be substituted too for this usili.

The deep purplish colored banana flower is used as a vegetable in India,mainly I have seen much of their use in Southern India. They are long, slender, sterile male flowers with a faint sweet fragrance which are protected by large reddish bracts(outer reddish leaves). Higher up the stem are groups of female flowers which develop into fruits(white sticks). We dont need the bracts or the reddish leaves ..we just need the fruits..the white colored sticks for our Usili.

How to prepare this vegetable

Whenever working with this vegetable smear oil on both ur hands because touching them could sometimes be very sticky and dirty.Remove all the outer purplish leaves as they are very very mature and will taste bitter.But as you keep layering one leaf after another ,remove the fruits (white sticks)and keep aside in a bowl of (buttermilk + salt) else they will turn black. If buttermilk is not available use yogurt(4 tblsp).Churn it properly add salt and water and churn again. Once you get to the inner core, you will find leaves which are yellow in color meaning they are young and tender . You can use these leaves too. So now the fruits(the white sticks) , the tender yellow leaves should all have been soaked in buttermilk solution. Now chop these into fine pieces and again keep them soaked in the same solution. Once the chopping is done,wash the veggies thoroughly, transfer the contents to a pot of clean water, add salt and boil it till the vegetable is about 3/4 cooked.Thus preparation part is over!!!



Ingredients

Banana stem flower-1

Paste

coconut - 1 tbsp
jeera-1/2 tsp
hing-1/4 tsp
turmeric-1/2 tsp

Soak

toor dhal-1/2 tblsp
bengal gram dhal-1/2 tblsp
r.chillies-3 to 4

Seasoning

mustard,urad dhal,curry leaves - 1 tsp, 2 tsp,1 sprig

Method


  1. Soak the dhals with the r.chillies for about 1 to 2 hrs till the dhals get little soft.
  2. Once the dhals are soaked grind them with the other ingredients and make it into a coarse paste.
  3. Combine paste with the boiled vegetable and steam it for 15 min to 20 min.
  4. After the steamed mixture is cooled , just crumble it.
  5. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard, urad dhal, curry leaves and add the crumbles.
  6. Finally add the coriander and lemon to taste.

19 comments:

RP said...

I haven't had this banana stem flower dishes for a loooong time. We had some banana plants at my home and my mom used to cook dishes out of the flower. Yummy!!!

BDSN said...

Ashwini: If you try please let me know how it came out!!

RP: I havent tried anything else with this vegetable....Well when u post them i will surely give them a try..

Vineela said...

hI BDSN,
MY mom will make this curry but where to buy this in us.
Its very good for health.
Nice post.
Vineela

BDSN said...

Lakshmi:If you try let me know how it turned out

SH:It sure is yummy.We finished it that day!!

Reshma:It sure is available here...

Vineela:Well Vineela if you wanna try this u can try getting this vegetable in asian groceries...

Priya Sivan said...

First time visit to your blog. Nice post. Incidentally I have also posted parupusili with beans :)

BDSN said...

Indira: If you do try please let me know how it came out!!This flower has intimidated me too but not anymore...

shpriya:Wow!!This is paruppu usili season or what???Anyway thanks for visiting my blog!!!

KA said...

Looks delicious bdsn, I was alwyas kind of put off by the texture of banana flower but a look at your end result is making me think twice. Will try this recipe soon.

Vaishali said...

Hi BDSN,
Banana stem flower is cooked in the coastal region of Maharashtra as well. We call it 'kelphool'. I have never eaten or cooked it, though. What is the taste like? I'd like to know.

BDSN said...

Lera: I wish everyone try this vegetable..It's something different from all other vegetables..

KrishnaArjuna:All these days this vegetable has intimidated me, but as I got bored with other veggies I thought I should try something new...so I gave a call back home,got the instuctions and i was good to go!!!

Vaishali: 'Kelphool' is such a nice name..Well for the taste part I would say it tastes very very unique.(really very tasty which i totally love)

BDSN said...

Gini: Thanks for droppin by. oK that was really a very good question.You can call this vegetable banana flower or banana stem flower. Both mean the same thing. They call it banana stem flower as the flower dangles off the stem of the big banana bunch.Hopefully i cleared ur doubt.If not,let me give u this website info where you can pretty much clear any doubt u have regarding bananas...
http://www.uq.edu.au/_School_Science_Lessons/
BaProj.html#Lesson1


Santhi:No Santhi..U can find this flower in asian grocery stores.(Chinese,Vietname,Thailand....any asian grocery store for that matter).I found in Vietnamese store.

BDSN said...

Hey Ashwini...

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the concern....I had taken a big blogging break without informing but I should soon be in track with my recipes and meet u as soon as possible!!!

lost in thoughts said...

This is totally new to me. Sounds good !

KA said...

BDSN,
I tried this usili it turned out great(even though it took me better part of a day for preparation :-)). I prepared usili in a huge quantity and tucked it away in my freezer as I am planning to pair up most of my veggies with it. Thanks for the recipe!

BDSN said...

Spicehut:Thanks for stopping by!!Please do try and lemme know..

KrishnaArjuna: Iam so happy that it turned out great for u!!Yeah i know it could be literally a pain in the neck to prepare this vegetable ,but what i like most is the final taste you get from this usili...Thanks again for trying...

BDSN said...

Hey Sailu...Thanks for stopping by...This is quite an adventurous dish all by the preparation itself..but the final taste is worth it..so go ahead and try...

BDSN said...

LG:Ofcourse I have written which part i have cooked with..The first introduction para and the second para completely describes about ur doubt.,..Pls do have one more glance and if any doubt pls let me know...

Nandan said...

Hi BDSN, nice to see Banana stem flower mentioned here. I find certain ingredients are common to both Kokani (coastal Maharashtrian) and keralite cuisine. Jackfruit and banana stem flower to name a few. My granny makes banana stem flower sabzi with black peas and coconut. It is awesome, to say the least.

BDSN said...

Hey Nandan...
Thanks for stopping by..Yes the funny part is I have mentioned this veggie here and took great interest in cooking it with careful instructions from my mom.Well i have never heard of banana stem flower being cooked with black peas and coconut..hmmm interesting...black peas..never heard of it...

Anonymous said...

perfect recipe that gives perfect taste! I grew up having usli with banana stem flower and nothing else comes quite like this. Also the most nutritious combo compared to any other veggie usli. super!