BANANA STEM SALAD RECIPE

Banana stem / Vazha Pindi / Vazha thandu is a potassium rich food with high fiber content and it has many other amazing nutritive and health benefits. It is also rich in vitamin B6, which helps in production of haemoglobin and insulin. It improves the ability of body to fight against infection. It helps in lowering blood pressure and also helps in weight loss. It is a diuretic and helps to detoxify the body. Some believe that banana stem can prevent and treat kidney stones. It is a mild laxative. It Cools the body. Therefore consumption twice a week is recommended.

However, cutting the banana stem is cumbersome and time consuming. It can be had as raw,  juice or as a cooked food.

Banana stem salad is a healthy diet. It is very easy to prepare and need only basic ingredients for preparation.

INGREDIENTS 

1.    Banana stem : size of 6 inch
2.    Curd : 1 cup
3.    Salt to taste.

TO GRIND

1.    Green chillies : 1-2
2.    Ginger :  ½ tsp

TO TEMPER

1.    Oil : 1tsp
2.    Mustard seeds : ½ tsp
3.    Cumin seeds : ½ tsp
4.    Curry leaves : 1 spring

METHOD

1.    First Clean the banana stem carefully into small pieces.( Please read my post How toprepare banana stem for cooking? )
2.    In a bowl add chopped banana stem pieces, sprinkle salt and squeeze well so that salt will be evenly distributed to chopped pieces.
3.    Grind green chillies and ginger to a smooth paste and add to bowl.(You add finely chopped green chillies and ginger to chopped banana stem pieces. But grinding of ingredients will give a different taste. You can try both ways.)
4.    Now add curd to the bowl and mix well.
5.    Mix water to bowl to adjust consistency of mixture. If you need a thick consistency don’t add too much water.
6.    Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they splutters, add curry leaves. Add the tempered items to the bowl.
7.    Now banana stem salad is ready to serve.