Plantain Stem (Vazhathandu) is one of the vegetable with rich nutritional benefits. Adequate amount of dietary-fiber in the food helps normal bowel movements, thereby reducing constipation problems. Plantains are also rich in Vitamin A. A very healthy vegetable we should try and use it atleast once a week. I have seen many kids staying away from this healthy veg. So I thought of sharing Vazhathandu bajji recipe which I had seen in one of the TV shows couple of weeks before. Though making bajjis very frequently are not healthy, atleast once we should try and give this Plantain Bajji (Vazhathandu Bajji) and impress the kids and then we could try other dishes using Plantain like Vazhathandu Poricha Kuzhambu or Vazhathandu Curry.
We can make bajji using many vegetables. Conventionally we use Raw banana, Chilli or potato. But we should try Plantain bajji, carrot bajji, capsicum bajji which gives a unique taste. Lets see how to make this yummy dish.
Remove the outer rings of the stem so that there are no more rings seen in the cross section. Cut the stem into medium sized disks(not too thin or thick). Remove the fibers between the disks by one of your fingers.It is the most frustrating part of preparing banana stem for cooking :-). Wash the coriander leaves and grind it to a fine paste in a mixer by adding little water
Dip each plantain disk in the coriander leaves paste and marinade them. Heat a pan of oil for frying the bajjis. Lets prepare the bajji batter. Take a mixing bowl and add gram flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, salt and hing and mix well. Add 1 tablespoon of hot oil and mix well. Add water little by little and prepare the bajji batter. The batter should be thin like a dosa batter.
Dip the marinated plantain stem disks one by one in the prepared bajji batter and gently drop it in oil. Fry the bajji in medium flame till they are golden brown color and becomes crispy outside. Remove the bajji and place it in a paper towel to drain the excess oil
The delicious Vazhathandu (Plantain Stem) Bajji is now ready to serve!
