Ingredients

• 1/2 cup - tur dal
• 1 - vazhaithandu (plantain stem)
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp - turmeric powder
• 1 cup - curd
• For grinding:
• 1 tsp - oil
• 4 - red chillies
• 1/4 tsp - pepper
• 1/2 cup - grated coconut
• 1/4 tsp - cumin seeds
• 1 tsp - raw rice
• For seasoning:
• 1 tsp - oil
• 1 tsp - mustard seeds
• 1 tsp - urad dal
• Curry leaves, a few

How to Make Plantain Stem Poritha Kuzhambu

• 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 fibres between the disks using your fingers.
• It is the most frustrating part of preparing banana stem for cooking.
• Slice the disks into smaller pieces and immerse the same in the butter milk and water mixture as this will preserve the original colour of the stem otherwise this will turn out to be black in colour.
• Cook the tur dal in the pressure cooker till soft and mash it well.
• Soak the raw rice in water for some time.
• Cook the plantain stem in a heavy-bottomed pan by adding water along with a pinch of turmeric and salt.
• In a separate pan, pour the oil and add the red chillies and pepper and fry for a minute.
• Grind these along with coconut, cumin seeds and raw rice soaked in water to a fine paste.
• Add these ground paste to the plantain stem once they are cooked.
• Add curd once the kuzhambu starts to boil and then stir it well and switch off the flame.
• In a separate pan, pour the oil and add mustard seeds.
• When the mustard seeds begin to sputter, add the urad dal and fry until it turns red and then add curry leaves.
• Add to the kuzhambu.
• Now the poritha kuzhambu is ready to serve with rice.
• Recipe courtesy: Subbalakshmi Renganathan
• http://www.subbuskitchen.com/