Vanpayar Vazhaipoo Thoran is a simple, healthy nutritious Kerala style stir fry prepared with banana flower, red cowpeas as main ingredients. This makes an awesome combination with rice and Vathakulambu or Kara Kuzhambu. In Kerala, most of the houses will have Banana trees in their backyard. Bananas, ripened or raw, the flower, the stem, everything is used for cooking. That is why this thoran brings nostalgic memories to many Keralites outside Kerala. It is highly nutritious and power packed with all vitamins, fibres and proteins. This thoran is very easy to prepare with the easily available ingredients in your kitchen. Red cow peas also has lots vitamins and proteins in it, which is necessary for our body. Do try this recipe today in your kitchen and enjoy with rice.
Soak the Payar (Cowpeas) for about half-an-hour and keep it aside.
Clean the Vaazhappoo and remove the outer layers and cut it into very thin pieces. Wash the pieces well, remove water from the pieces and keep it separately
Change the soaked Payar into a cooking vessel/pressure cooker. Add some portion of the Red Chilli powder, Turmeric powder, Salt and 1 – 2 cups of water and cook the Payar properly.
When the Payar is cooked properly, put off the stove and keep the cooked Payar separately.
Heat Oil in a Chennachatti, add Crushed Shallots/Onion, Curry leaves, Chopped Garlic, Green Chilli, Ginger and Coconut pieces and stir it well. When colour of these ingredients turns into golden/brown, add some Red Chilli powder, Turmeric powder and Fennel Powder and stir it further.
Then add the Vaazhappoo pieces and required quantity of Salt and about ½ cup of Water and stir it well and cook the Vazhappoo pieces in medium flame for about ten minutes.
After about ten minutes, add the already cooked Payar into this mix and stir it further and cook this mix for another five minutes.
Vanpayar (Cowpeas), Vaazhappoo (Plantain Flower) Thoran is ready. This Thoran can serve with Dosa/Chappathi/Cooked Rice.
written by
SobhaKesavan
Myself, Sobha Kesavan, a retired Accountant in a MNC based in Delhi, where I was staying for 26 years. Afterwards, moved to Bangalore and stayed there for about 4 years and then shifted to my native place ( in Thrissur district), Kerala, along with my husband. My two sons and both daughters-in-law are working out of Kerala as Software Engineers.
I have immense passion for gardening and have been doing it since my stay in Delhi and most of
the ingredients (vegetables) used in my recipes are home grown. I am interested in cooking mostly North Indian and South Indian cuisines. The recipes shared in pachakam.com from my end would definitely tickle your taste buds.
I will be always looking forward for your valuable feedbacks or suggestions as there is always room for improvement.
continue reading