Vaazhaipoo Curry / Banana Flower Curry / Banana Blossom Curry

A purple colourish blossom which develops at the tip of the bunch of bananas called as the "Banana Blossom" which has numerous medicinal benefits. This flower is used in many cuisines of India and especially in Tamil Nadu, they make Vaazhaipoo Vadai, Vaazhaipoo Adai , Vaazhaipoo Paruppu Usili, etc., This time I made a simple Vaazhaipoo Curry which is an excellent accompaniment to all South Indian gravies. Out of great interest, I picked a big banana blossom so it yielded more quantity though.!! For cleaning and extracting the banana blossom completely, please refer to my previous post "Vaazhaipoo Adai".

Ingredients
Banana Blossom / Vaazhaipoo -  1 Big One
Red Onion shredded - 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
Salt - As Required.

Tadka / Tempering :
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash
Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
Cumin Seeds / Jeera - 1 tsp
Urad Dal / Minapappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp
Channa Dal / kadalai paruppu - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 5 or 6

To Grind a Paste :
Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1 tbsp
Garlic Pods - 2
Green Chillies - 3 Big ones

Method 

• Extract the small florets from the banana blossom and chop them nicely. Meantime, take 3 cups of water in a mixing bowl diluted with a tbsp of curd. Drop the chopped banana florets into this diluted water to prevent them turning black.
• Grind a thick coarse paste using the ingredients as mentioned above and keep ready.
• In a frying pan, add oil first and finish the tempering process by adding all the ingredients as mentioned.
• When the dals turn golden brown,add the onion and fry for a minute. Finally add the chopped banana florets from the diluted water after draining them thoroughly.
• Add turmeric powder to the pan and mix them well.
• Sprinkle some water into the pan and allow them to cook well by closing the lid for 3-4 minutes.
• After it gets cooked, add required amount of salt and add the grounded paste into the pan.
• Mix them well and fry them on medium heat for another 3-4 minutes. Once the raw smell goes off, switch off the flame. Enjoy this delicious curry in your meal.

Tips / Suggestions

• While cleaning the banana blossom, its better to coat your hand with little sesame oil which in turn does not make your hand sticky. 
• Adjust the green chilli quantity according to the size of the Banana Flower. If its too big, may be you could add 1 or 2 more. As we are not adding any red chilli powder in this curry, its important to add correct number of green chillies while grinding itself.