My 69th recipe, “Vazhaipoo Poriyal | Sautéed Banana Blossom”, a quick, easy and healthy banana flower recipe. A dish usually associated to its health benefits. However keeping the health benefits aside, this is one side which is perfectly delicious. And good on its own to serve on any South Indian meal spread.

While most of the folks from South East Asia might already know that most part of the banana plant is edible. Right from its stem to the banana leaves there are abundant uses in the Indian Cuisine. And the broader southeast asian cuisine.

Banana Flower was quite common where I grew up in South India. It was found in most grocery stores. However after moving to America, I never expected to find this wonder flower in a supermarket. I believe it is common in most tropical countries but not here. I had been to quite a few Asian Markets in the US searching for it. But never came across until today.

However today, When I saw that the local Indian store was selling vazhaipoo aka fresh banana flower, I was very excited. I believe they have started importing it from South America. I do love its amazing taste. Looking at the vazhaipoo, I will always be reminded of the vadai my mom used to prepare. That is one among the many banana blossom recipes I absolutely love.

Most of the times I hesitate frying stuff. Hence today I decided to make the Indian Style banana blossom stir fry aka vazhaipoo poriyal. It turned out perfectly crispy and awesome. With a slight bitter taste. You can have it as a healthy side dish with any south Indian rice. Or even better if you add it to steamed rice along with oil/ghee and enjoy it as it is. I always do the latter, very yummy 😉

Health Benefits of Vazhaipoo

We have already seen enough of the health benefits of the banana flower / vazhaipoo in my previous post. If you havent stopped by there yet, a quick recap for you. It is surely a super food. Banana flower has the potential to

Wards Off Infections
Reduces Free Radical Activity
Reduces Menstrual Bleeding
Manages Diabetes And Anemia
Rich Source Of Vitamins And Minerals
Boosts Mood And Reduces Anxiety
Helps Nursing Mothers
Assists with weight loss

How to clean banana flower

Honestly, I am a little lazy to clean the outer pink petals and chop the heart of the flower. I have written a detailed post on how to clean banana flower. Though it is a tedious process, a quick summary below for your reference.

Discard the tough outer petals / tough outer layers
Inner petals can be used, but I dont use them, but discard
From the individual florets, remove the stamen & the plastic like flap
Chop the edible flower and keep it in a bowl of water mixed with butter milk or lemon juice. It needs to be acidulated water to prevent florets from changing color.

Other delicious recipes

Refer here for some of my other delicious recipes using different part of the banana tree.

Raw Banana | Vazhakai Varuval
Ripe Banana Bonda
Banana Stem Poriyal
Banana Stem Kootu

Vazhaipoo Poriyal | Sautéed Banana Blossom

Banana Flower Poriyal

Revathi Palani

Vazhaipoo Poriyal | Sautéed Banana Blossom is an easy South Indian Poriyal / Stir Fry made with banana flower. Perfect as a side for rice or chapati.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Total Time 40

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Servings 2

Ingredients

1 Banana Flower
1 ½ tsp Sambar Powder (or) Red Chilli Powder ½ tsp + Coriander Powder 1 tsp
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Salt adjust per taste
Water As needed
1 small Onion finely chopped
4 Garlic Chopped
¼ Cup Grated Coconut

To temper

1 Tbsp Oil
¼ tsp Mustard seeds
½ tsp Broken Urad Dal
½ tsp Jeera
4 Curry Leaves chopped

Instructions

First, clean the banana florets and keep ready.
Add salt, turmeric, sambar powder to about 2 cups of water (sufficient water to cook the florets) and bring to a boil. Add the chopped banana flower into the boiling water and cook until the florets are 90% done. Drain the excess water and keep the cooked florets aside.
Now heat a pan with oil, add the mustard. Once it splutters, add the other items under "To temper" in the given order. Once the urad dal turn golden brown in color, add the onion and garlic.
Saute onions until it turns translucent. Add the cooked banana flower to the pan and saute until they are dry. Since they are already cooked, it should not take more than a few minutes.
Finally, add the grated coconut and toss for a couple of minutes until everything combines well.
Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy hot.