Plantain in mustard masala (dry) - aava pettina aratikaya

This is one of those easy to cook recipes with a load of nutrition from plantains, and all the spices(mustard, cumin etc). I can gobble up any amount of thoran and fries before it reaches the dining table.

Plantain, banana stem (vaazhai thandu), banana flower and (sweet) banana are feature regularly  in our diet. I am a total foodie, a health conscious one at that.... because my amma repeats the nutrition chart with every meal she serves...lol.

Health facts

Plantain, Banana and its stem are known to be effective in treating high blood pressure and Renal diseases (Kidney). There is a difference between the usual banana we eat as a fruit and the raw green plantain we cook. Although all of them are botanically the same, the difference is in the sugar levels in each variety.This is why plantain is considered better for people dealing with diabetes

Banana Stem - Vaazhai thandu

Image source: wiki

Banana flower - Vaazhai poo

Image source: wiki

Banana varieties - (L-R) Plantain, red banana (nendram pazham), small banana (malai pazham), regular banana

image source: wiki

I love raw banana in any form, in avial, kootu, fry or as simple plantain chips! yum...The recipe featuerd in this post is is one of the most common plantain fries I make at home. Nothing fancy about the dish, just that we need to fold in a masala paste into the regular plantain fry.

 Plantain in mustard masala

What you need : serves 2
Raw plantain - 2
salt-to your taste
hing (asafoetida)-pinch
Turmeric powder-pinch
Khuzhambu powder - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 6-8
coriander leaves /cilantro - finely chopped for garnish
Water - 1/2cup
oil - 1tsp (I prefer coconut oil)

Masala
Mustard seeds - 2tbsp
Jeera/Cumin - 1tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2tsp
Green or red chillies -2
Ginger - 1/4 " piece

Process:

• Slice the plantains into any shape you prefer - cubes/rounds/ 1" long pieces
• Dry roast the masala ingredients and grind into a fine powder
• Par boil sliced plantain in 1/2 cup water with salt, hing and turmeric in a covered container (saves energy)
• Once the planatain seems to be al-dante (half done), add the paste and cook
• Add oil and curry leaves to the cooking plantains and gently mix everything in and cook until the paste looses its raw smell
• Garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves

Yummy fry is ready to be served with rice or carb of your choice!

Trivia

• Andhra cuisine has a dish called Ava pettina aratikaya koora (avalu means mustard in telugu, aratikaya - raw banana)
  
• Telugu and Bengali cuisines are known for their extensive use of mustard masala in their cooking.
• Raw banana based recipes are common in South and East Indian, Sri lankan, Thai, Indonesian, Singapore and Malay cuisines