Simply yummy and spicy balls prepared with vazhaipoo/banana flowers and lentils. It is a deep fried snack that can be enjoyed with tomato ketch up or any other dip of your choice. Also, you can prepare curry with this balls. Recipe will be posted soon for Vazhaipoo Kola Urundai Kuzhambu.

Ingredients:

Yields around 15 to 20 balls

• 1 to 1 1/2 cup - Banana flowers/Vazhaipoo
• 1/2 cup - Bengal gram/kadalai paruppu/chana dal
• 2 to 3 tbsp - Toor dal/thuvaram paruppu/Red lentil
• 2 to 4 no’s - Dry red chilies
• 1 no - Onion (chopped)
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp - Cumin seeds / jeera
• 1/4 tsp - Fennel seeds / Sombu
• 1/2 tsp - Ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp - Coriander leaves chopped
• Fresh curry leaves chopped
• Pinches of asafoetida
• Salt to taste
• Buttermilk to soak banana flower

Preparation method:

How to clean and cook banana flower:

1. Apply oil on both hands to avoid sticking.Take off the purple outer cover and remove the bunch of florets inside. Repeat the process until you reach the center.
2. The tricky part is to remove the stamen with bulged head and a pink color petal which is nothing but a hard pink layer found in each florets.
3. Separate each flower from the bunch and remove the stamen from each flower. You may use the banana flower as it is in any curry or chop the florets and soak them in buttermilk with a pinch of salt to avoid discoloration.
4. Heat water along with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt, add the chopped banana flower and cooked until it is 3/4 done. Allow them to cool completely and pulse once or twice in a blender. This step helps to get smooth balls.

How to make kola urundai/balls:

1. Wash and soak bengal gram/kadalai paruppu and toor dal for 1 to 2 hours. Set it aside.
2. Transfer the soaked lentils to a blender, add dry red chilies, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, asafoetida and salt to taste, blend it into a coarse paste with less water.
3. Transfer the lentil paste, cooked and crushed banana flower, onion chopped, coriander and curry leaves, rice flour as needed to make a perfect ball. Mix well thoroughly and make lemon sized balls.
4. Heat oil in a pan, deep fry the balls over medium flame until they are golden brown outside and soft inside. Enjoy the yummy kola urundai.

Notes:

• The purpose of removing stamen and pink petal from the banana flower is because they are a very hard to cook and digest.
• When you reach the center part, it would not be easy to remove the stamen and petal from the banana flower. At that stage, you may use the flower as it is in your cooking because the stamen and petal are not so hard to cook and digest.
• You may chop and use the white cone (tender part) when making curries.
• You may even clean banana flower and store it in a ziplock bag for later use ( the next day or two).
• You may directly use chopped banana flower/vazhaipoo instead of soaking them in buttermilk.
• Deep fry the balls over medium flame, we want our balls to be cooked thoroughly.