Go Back
–+ servings
Vazhaithandu Kootu | Plantain Stem Kootu
Print Recipe
4 from 11 votes

Vazhathandu Kootu Recipe | Vazhaithandu Kootu | Plantain Steam Stew

Vazhaithandu Kootu is one of the fiber rich kootu. For this kootu, i have used Toor Dal along with the coconut paste. Banana Stem cooked in Toor dal and tempered with coconut and tadka.
It's flavorful, tasty and healthy stew which is a very good accompaniment to Rice and any spicy kuzhambu and Rasam.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Accompaniment, Main Course, Stew (Kootu)
Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Brahmin, Tamil Nadu
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 289kcal
Author: Sowmya Venkatachalam

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  • 250 grams Vazhathandu / Plantain Stem
  • ¼ cup Toor Dal (Pigeon pea)
  • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Salt (adjust to your taste)

For Grinding

  • 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil (or any cooking oil)
  • 1 teaspoon Split Bengal Gram (Channa Dal / Kadalaparuppu)
  • 1 nos Red Chili (adjust to your spice level)
  • 2 teaspoon Coriander seeds
  • 2 tablespoon Grated Coconut

For Tempering

  • 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil (or any cooking oil)
  • 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Split Urad Dal
  • 1 nos Red Chili
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves

Instructions

Cleaning and Chopping the Vazhaithandu (Plantain Stem)

  • Remove the outer rings of the stem so that there are no more rings seen in the cross section.
  • Cut the stem into thin disks. Remove the fibers between the disks by one of your fingers.
  • Slice the disks into a smaller pieces and immerse the same in the butter milk and water mixture as this will preserve the original color of the stem otherwise this will turn out to be black in color

Cooking the Vazhaithandu and Toor Dal

  • I always prefer to cook the Plantain stem in pressure cooker as it will take more time to cook over gas top. Take the chopped plantain stem in a vessel and add turmeric powder and water. Place the vessel in the cooker
  • Also add the Toor dal in a separate container within a pressure cooker. Cook them in the pressure cooker over 3 whistles
  • Allow the pressure to release and then gently remove Vazhaithandu from cooker and set it aside. Mash the dal nicely and set it aside

Prepare the coconut ground masala

  • Heat oil in a pan and fry the grinding ingredients other than coconut.
  • Take these in a mixer and add coconut to the mixer
  • Grind all these to a nice paste.

Cooking of the Kootu

  • Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add split urad dal and saute them till the dal turns golden brown. Then add broken red chili and curry leaves and saute for few seconds. 
  • Add the cooked plantain stem to the pan. Add the mashed dal to the pan and mix well
  • Next, add the ground paste along with salt and mix well. Bring the stew to boil and then switch off the flame. 
  • The healthy Plantain Stem Stew is now ready to serve!

Notes

  1. You can also few pepper corns along with the frying ingredients 

Nutrition

Serving: 100g | Calories: 289kcal | Fat: 14.8g | Saturated Fat: 8.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4.4g | Sodium: 1461.7mg | Potassium: 499.9mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 17.4g | Vitamin A: 23.5IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 3.3mg | Iron: 11.7mg