Vazhakkai Podimas

Event: Blogging Marathon #42
Theme: South Indian meals 
Choice of state: Tamilnadu

According to the theme of the marathon, the dishes that are going to be showcased this week should belong to one particular south Indian state and a part of lunch menu. This was the least stressful theme considering that I am from the southern region and the dishes I chose were no fuss dishes and were a part of our lunch menu this week. It was so easy that in fact I cooked 2 sets of dishes from 2 states for this theme. I cooked Andhra dishes earlier but changed my mind and cooked Tamilnadu dishes again this week. 
The first one in the series is going to be a tasty and easy plantain stir fry called vazhakkai podimas. At my home, roasted plantain is the most preferred one among the curries I prepare using plantain. I have been noticing over the years that the Tamil kitchens have several other yummy versions and was planning to try them for sometime now. I used this opportunity to try out the podimas recipe. The plantain is parboiled and then grated to prepare the curry and surprisingly, the texture of the plantain and this cooking method makes this version of plantain curry yummy. This simple curry needs no prior planning or preparation and goes well with rice / rotis. Serve along with a dal for a filling meal.

Ingredients: (4 - 5 servings)
2 small / medium sized plantains (I used about 1 & 1/2 large sized plantains.)
2 tsp oil (I used canola oil)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal / skinned, split black gram
2 red chillies
2 - 3 green chilies (or adjust as needed)
A couple of pinches of asafoetida / hing
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
A sprig of fresh curry leaves
1/4 cup fresh, shredded coconut 
Salt to taste

Method:
* Wash and pressure cook the whole plantains directly without peeling the skin, for one whistle. (The plantains I used were big in size and so, I cut them in half to fit into the container I used. If you are using a container to go into the pressure cooker like I did to cook the plantains, add water to the container as well.) If you are not using a pressure cooker, cut the plantains into 2 or 3 pieces and cook in a sauce pan adding water just until done. Whatever method you pick to cook, the plantains should not turn mushy but just be done (or parboiled).

* Let the plantains cool for a bit and peel off the skins. Grate the plantains using a grater. I had about 2 cups of grated plantain.

* Heat oil in a pan and add uard dal and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add chillies and fry for few seconds. Then add curry leaves, turmeric and asafoetida.

* Stir and add grated, parboiled plantain, coconut and salt. Mix well with a spatula, cover and cook for 5 - 6 minutes, stirring once or twice in between.
* Turn off the stove and serve warm. I served it with fresh, steamed rice and eggplant sambhar.

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