Vazhakkai Poriyal is a simple South Indian dry dish made with raw banana or plantain. The banana is cooked with a basic tempering of spices and curry leaves. Freshly grated coconut is mixed in at the end for taste and texture. This plant-based dish is served as a side with rice, sambar, or rasam.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Ingredients

  • 3 small to medium raw bananas ((plantain or vazhakkai))
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 or 2 dry red chili (– seeds removed)
  • 1 green chilli (– chopped)
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon urad dal ((husked and split black gram))
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 8 to 10 curry leaves
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup water (or add as required)
  • 3 tablespoon grated coconut
  • 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))

Method

Preparation

  1. Rinse the raw unripe bananas first. Peel them lightly. I usually remove the black spots and keep the peels as they are.
  2. Dice them and add them in a bowl containing water, so that they don't darken.

Making raw banana poriyal

  1. Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a shallow frying pan. Keep the flame to a low and add mustard seeds and urad dal.
  2. Sauté till the mustard seeds crackle and the urad dal turn golden
  3. Then add cumin seeds and sauté till they splutter.
  4. Then add the dry red chilli, chopped green chillies, a pinch of asafoetida and curry leaves.
  5. Stir and saute till the red chilies change their color and.
  6. Now add the raw banana and salt.
  7. Add ¼ cup water. Stir very well.
  8. Cover the pan with a lid.
  9. On a low flame simmer till the bananas have cooked well and softened. Do check a couple of times when the bananas are cooking. If the water dries up in the pan then add some more water.
  10. When the bananas have cooked, there should be no water in the pan. If there is then simmer without the lid, till all the water dries. Then add 3 tbsp grated coconut.
  11. Mix the coconut with the rest of the banana stir fry.
  12. Add chopped coriander leaves. Mix again.
  13. Serve banana poriyal with sambar-rice, rasam-rice or any kulambu gravy-rice or any South Indian meal. It can also be packed in a lunch box or had with chapati or plain paratha.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.