Plantain Stem Stew Recipe | Vazhaithandu Kootu Recipe

Vazhaithandu Kootu is one of the healthy, fiber rich tasty kootu. Best accompaniment to rice, Kuzhambu or rasam. Like other vegetable stews, Plantain Stem Stew has also the same procedure of making it. A slight variation that i adopted here – I have used toor dal instead of moong dal. It’s very flavorful, creamy and very tasty

Plantain Stem (Vazhaithandu)

Banana tree is the only plant which is useful to us from leaves to stem. Plantain stem is a nutritional rich veggie. It is rich in fiber and very good diet for diabetic patients too. Generally many of us find it difficult or lazy to cook plantain stem because of its fibrous nature. To chop the Plantain stem, we need little more patience. We have to put more efforts to cook Plantain stem and Plantain flower, but once we are done with the chopping, then preparation of the dish is quite simple.

Other Recipes made using Vazhaithandu (Plantain Stem)

Vazhaithandu Mor Kootu – Yet another way to cook the healthy Plantain Steam (Vazhaithandu) in a more tasteful way!
Bajji made using Plantain Stem – Crispy and tasty Bajji with Coriander paste
Vazhaithandu Poriyal – Healthy fiber rich Poriyal Variety

Recipe card for Vazhaithandu Kootu (Plantain Stem Stew)

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.

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

For Grinding

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

For Tempering

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

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!

You can also few pepper corns along with the frying ingredients

Method with step by step pictures :

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.It is the most frustrating part of preparing banana stem for cooking :-)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

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 and allow it to cook for 2-3 whistles. Once the plantain stem is cooked, allow the pressure to release and then gently remove from cooker and set it aside.

Pressure cook the thurdal with a pinch of turmeric. Once cooked, mash the dal nicely and set it aside

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. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add split urid dal and saute them till the dal turns golden brown. Then add broken red chili and curry leaves and saute for few seconds.