Vazhakai Ghee Roast / Plantain Ghee Roast

Ghee Roast is a popular dish from Karnataka. Recently I had posted recipe for Chicken Ghee Roast. It was a super hit. Two readers tried vegetarian version of Ghee roast instead if Chicken and they dropped me a message that the ghee roast masala tasted good with vegetables too. I am glad that they loved it. And I wanted to try vegetarian version too. So here is a twist on Ghee roast , a recipe with plantains / vazhakai / raw banana

Ingredients

• 2 Raw Bananas / Plantains
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• a pinch of Turmeric Powder
• 2 Tablespoon Ghee
• 1 Sprig Curry Leaf

For dry roasting

• 4 Kashmiri chillies
• 4 Bedgi chillies ( I used the normal dry red chilli, but use bedgi chillies for authentic taste )
• 1/2 Teaspoon whole black pepper corns
• 1/2 Tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1/4 Teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 Teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• a big pinch of tamarind / about 1/2 teaspoon of tamarind

Directions

1. Peel Raw banana and discard the skin. Chop them into small sized cubes of equal size

2. In a pot add water to completely immerse banana cubes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and pinch of turmeric powder and cook it on medium flame for 5 minutes until plantains are half way cooked through. Drain water immediately and set the plantain pieces aside     

3. In a frying pan, add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, black pepper corns and dry roast until you smell the nice aroma of the spices. Finally add red chillies (both Kashmiri and bedgi) and roast for few seconds. Switch off the flame and cool them completely
4. In a spice grinder add all the ingredients we dry roasted from step number 3 along with 4 garlic cloves, tamarind and 1 or 2 tablespoon of water into fine paste

4. In a pan, heat Ghee. When the ghee is hot, add Curry Leaves. When they splutter, add the ground paste we prepared at step number 4 and roast the masala well in ghee and keep the flame low

7. When the masala is nicely roasted, add par boiled plantain pieces and 2 tablespoons of water

8. Check salt and add more if required

9. Now cook the plantain until all the water evaporates and the masala is coated evenly on the plantain

10. Switch off flame. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot with steamed rice. I had it with Sambar,  rasam , steamed rice. It was a heavenly combo !!!