I had the urge to try something different to the usual saturday cooking and so decided to make this raw green banana curry. I usually make this with just salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder with a tadka of mustard, asafoetida and some curry leaves. Today was different. Here’s what I did.

Vazhakkai Masala Curry

Ingredients:

–   4-5 vazhakkais (raw green bananas), peeled and cubed

–   3 tbsps oil

–   1 tsp mustard seeds

–   ½ tsp turmeric powder

–   A pinch of asafoetida

–   3-4 sprigs curry leaves

To be ground into a coarse paste

–   4 tbsps fresh, grated cocounut

–   2 tsps coriander seeds

–   2 tsps cumin seeds

–   1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

–   6-8 dried red chillies

–   A small pebble-sized ball of tamarind

Method:

Grind to a coarse paste the ingredients for the paste, using as little water as possible.

In a deep bottomed pan, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the asafoetida, turmeric powder and curry leaves.

Next put the ground masala paste and sauté it for a few minutes. Now add the cubed vazhakkai and mix well. Add salt to taste. At this point, if you feel the curry is not spicy enough, you can add some red chilli powder also. Let it cook well and enjoy. This goes well with rice and dal or sambhar.

Verdict: This was a very different from what we normally eat for this vegetable. It was spicy, but not overtly spicy and my children could eat it with complaining. There was also a tangy undertone to the curry due to the tamarind in the masala which I liked a lot!