Banana Flower Vada

Directions

1. 1
   Undo the petals covering the flowers.
2. 2
   Pluck the flowers between the petals.
3. 3
   From every flower strip, remove the central thread like portion, which stands alone with a round at the top.
4. 4
   Finely cut the flower strips.
5. 5
   Add 1 cup buttermilk to a bowl of water.
6. 6
   Soak the cut flower strips in them in order to keep the flowers from darkening.
7. 7
   Wash them well and cook in the same buttermilk water till they are soft.
8. 8
   Drain.
9. 9
   Grind the cut banana florets with red chillies, turmeric powder, grated coconut, broken chana dal and fennel powder.
10. 10
    Sprinkle minium water while grinding.
11. 11
    Add the finely cut onions, ginger, green chillies, corriander leaves and curry leaves.
12. 12
    Mix the required amount of salt and asafoetida to ensure that the vada batter is quite thick.
13. 13
    Make equal-sized balls out of the vada batter.
14. 14
    Place on a greased plastic sheet.
15. 15
    Flatten them a bit to 5 cm diameter.
16. 16
    Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel.
17. 17
    Deep fry the vadas till they are crisp.
18. 18
    Serve hot with mint chutney.