Vazhakkai Fry (Poriyal)

Vazhakkai Fry aka poriyal is a Tamil Nadu style side dish of stir fried unripe bananas with spices and herbs. Sliced unripe green banana is tossed with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and sambar powder, for a flavorful and delicious dish. It is eaten as a side with rice, rasam, sambar or kootu. For a simpler meal you may serve it with lemon rice, curd rice or curry leaves rice.

About Vazhakkai Poriyal

Unripe green bananas also known as cooking bananas or curry bananas are one of the much loved vegetable in South India. More commonly known as raw banana (in India), these are similar to the plantains but look shorter. These are best cooked when they are unripe, firm and green in color. They cannot be consumed like a banana after ripening because it is not a fruit.

It is a staple vegetable in various regional South Indian cuisines like Andhra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We make various dishes with them like stir fries, Bajji, curry, kootu, kofta and sambar. Vazhakkai is the Tamil word for green banana and poriyal is a stir fry. At home we love this veggie so I often make various dishes using them. I have shared some recipes here like Aratikaya Fry, Masala Banana Curry and Green Banana Kura.

In this post I share one of the many ways to stir fry them. This dish is kids’ friendly if you make it less hot but also note that it can be very bland if you cut down the spices too much. I use my homemade Sambar powder and red chili powder to spice up and flavor the dish.

You may use store bought sambar podi, but make sure you adjust (may be cut down) the quantity to keep the spice levels moderate. Store bought spice blends can be extremely hot. On occasions I have also made this with Bisi bele bath powder and vangi bath powder with great results. Here are some tips that will help you if you are a beginner.

Expert Tips

• Choose tender and young vazhakkai. Mature green bananas may require a splash of water as you stir fry but that can also make them stick to each other. So add only if needed.
• Always use firm, fresh looking and fat green bananas. Avoid using banana that have begun to ripe and have turned softer. They are not great to stir fry.
• I have sliced the veggie here, you may chop them to bite sized pieces and use.
• Using a wider pan, helps to get these stir fried easily.

Photo Guide

Step by Step Photo Instructions

1. Wash the raw bananas and chop off both the ends. Peel the skin completely. High amounts of pesticides are used in the cultivation of bananas, so it is good to peel the skin completely unless you are using home-grown produce.

2. Slice the bananas and add them to a pot of water. Slice them evenly and not too thick or too thin.

3. Heat a wide pan with oil. Add mustard, cumin, red chilli and urad dal. You can also omit the dal.

4. When the dal turns golden, throw in the curry leaves and sprinkle hing.

5. Lower the flame and add the turmeric, sambar powder and red chili powder.

6. Mix it well.

7. Drain the banana slices and add them here.

8. Mix well and fry for 2 minutes. Then sprinkle 1 to 2 tbsps of water. Mix well.

9. Cover and cook on a very low to medium flame until the banana slices turn tender/soft. If needed sprinkle more water and then stir and cook covered again.

10. Check if the vazhakkai has cooked properly.

11. Sprinkle salt evenly.

12. I sprinkle another tbsp of water since I use pink salt that is coarse. This way the salt dissolves and coats the banana slices well. I also cover and cook for 2 to 3 mins.

Serve vazhakkai fry with rice or variety rice.

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