Vazhaikkai Poriyal, Raw Plantain Curry

          I rarely cook raw plantains, the reason being when we were back in the US, I didn't like the big plantain variety that we got there, they were more suited for chips than for a curry. After coming to India also, might be because of habit, I hardly buy this vegetable. Apart from using in avials, chips and frying them, my favorite is this poriyal, but whenever I made it, I felt that the vegetable stuck together and didn't have the poriyal look. When my mom came and stayed with me for a couple of weeks, she made this poriyal and it was then that I noted the mistake. I used to do the seasoning, add the vegetable and water, cooked till the water was gone and then added the coconut, whereas she cooked the vegetable separately with water, drained it and then did the seasoning, the poriyal came out very well, like, as we say in Tamil, 'polpolana', the vegetable was not sticky. This curry goes well with rice and sambar or even better with rice and vathakuzhambu..

Need To Have

• Plantains - 4, small variety
• Onion - 1, chopped
• Dried Red Chillies - 4, broken ino two pieces
• Urad Dal/ Husked Black Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 3 tablespoons
• Curry Leaves - 10

Method

          Peel and chop the plantains, cook with enough water, salt and turmeric, once cooked drain and keep.

         Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering add the red chillies and as asafoetida, mix for half a minute, then add the onions, curry leaves and a little salt and saute till the onions turn translucent.

          Then add the drained plantain pieces and mix for a minute and finally add the grated coconut, mix, and remove.

Note
Keep the chopped plantains immersed in water till you start cooking, otherwise it'll start changing color.