vazhaipoo biryani recipe
Biryani Recipes, Lunch Recipes, Pressure Cooker Recipes, Recipes, Rice Recipes

Vazhaipoo biryani recipe, Banana flower biryani

Banana flower biryani/ Vazhaipoo biryani is a delicious, healthy and interesting one pot recipe where sauteed banana flower and rice is cooked to perfection along with spices. Banana flower/ Vazhaipoo is not liked by much for its bitter taste but adding it to our diet in an yummy way is a must as it rich source of vitamins, minerals, helps nursing mothers, cures anemia, regulates menstrual cycle and much more benefits.

We usually make stir fry, some variety rice or the popular vadai with banana flower so when I asked my mom I was bored doing the same recipes every time with this banana flower she suggested this biryani recipe of her’s using seeeraga samba rice an aromatic short grain rice used for making biryani in Tamil Nadu. So tried making this recipe at home and it was sure hot at home, the bitterness of the flower was lost completely and the biryani tasted yum.

You can also use regular rice or basmati rice for making this biryani in that the water quantity will change accordingly. Also I did a no whistle method using pressure cooker and turned out good, you can do in the same method or pressure cook it with whistle as well according to your convenience. Also you can clean the banana flower the previous day night and store in the fridge or clean it just before preparing the biryani. So I served it with some raita. So do try this unique biryani at home and let me know your comments. So let’s get to the making!
banana flower biryaniYou may be interested in other recipes below:

Vazhaipoo biryani recipe, Banana flower biryani
Serves 3
Print
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. 1. Vazhaipoo/ Banana flower – 1 ½ cup
  2. 2. Seeraga samba rice – 2 cups
  3. 3. Onion – 1 (medium sized)
  4. 4. Tomato – 1 (small sized)
  5. 5. Mint – ¼ cup
  6. 6. Coriander/ Cilantro – ¼ cup
  7. 7. Green chilli – 2
  8. 8. Ginger garlic paste – 1 ½ tsp
  9. 9. Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
  10. 10. Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  11. 11. Red chilli powder - 1 ½ tsp (depending on spice level)
  12. 12. Salt – to taste
  13. 13. Water – 3 cups (approx)
  14. 14. Oil – 2 tbsp
WHOLE SPICES
  1. 1. Bay leaf - 1
  2. 2. Cardamom - 2
  3. 3. Clove - 2
  4. 4. Cinnamon stick - 1
  5. 5. Fennel seeds - ½ tsp
  6. 6. Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Note
  1. * 1 cup = 235 ml
Instructions
  1. Open the banana flower leaves one by one inside it you will find a batch of banana flowers which are edible. Now remove it gently from the banana blossom.
  2. Now pull the feathery plastic like petal back. Discard this feathery plastic petal as it is not edible.
  3. Now look for the matchstick like stem inside the flower and remove it as well. Discard this one too as it tastes bitter. Now repeat the process for each banana flower till you see tiny white part which can be eaten raw.
  4. Wash and soak rice in water for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of soaking drain the water and keep the rice aside. Slice onions thin, tomatoes thin, chop mint and cilantro finely, make slit in green chilli.
  5. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaf, clove, cinnamon stick and cardamom. When aromatic add sliced onion and green chilli. Saute well and add ginger garlic paste. Saute well until the raw smell goes. Now add sliced tomato, chopped mint, cilantro, required salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Saute well.
  6. Now add the cleaned banana flower snd saute well. We want the raw flavors of banana glower to go fully before adding rice and water.
  7. When the banana flower is sauteed well and 3 cups water and lemon juice. Mix well. Allow the mixture to boil well. When the water is boiling well add soaked rice. Now allow the mixture to boil well.
  8. When the mixture has started to boil close it and pressure cook for 2 whistles in medium flame. When the pressure has subsided allow it to rest for 5 more minutes. Now open the cooker.
  9. When the rice looks done take it from the sides using spatula and fluff it gently. Serve it hot with raita! (As shown in the picture I dint put the whistle so what I did was kept the flame in high for 4 to 5 minutes then put the flame to low for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I switched off the flame snd allowed the rice to rest for 5 more minutes. So after 20 minutes open the pressure cooker when the rice looks done fluff gently from sides and serve it hot with raita)
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How to make Vazhaipoo biryani with step by step images


vazhaipoo

  1. Open the banana flower leaves one by one inside it you will find a batch of banana flowers which are edible. Now remove it gently from the banana blossom.
    vazhaipoo bajji
  2. Now pull the feathery plastic like petal back. Discard this feathery plastic petal as it is not edible.
    vazhaipoo
  3. Now look for the matchstick like stem inside the flower and remove it as well. Discard this one too as it tastes bitter. Now repeat the process for each banana flower till you see tiny white part which can be eaten raw.
    vazhaipoo biryani
  4. Wash and soak rice in water for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of soaking drain the water and keep the rice aside. Keep the vazhaipoo ready. Slice onions thin, tomatoes thin, chop mint and cilantro finely, make slit in green chilli.
    vazhaipoo biryani
  5. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaf, clove, cinnamon stick and cardamom.
    vazhaipoo biryani
  6. When aromatic add sliced onion and green chilli. Saute well and add ginger garlic paste. Saute well until the raw smell goes. Now add sliced tomato, chopped mint, cilantro, required salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Saute well.
    vazhaipoo biryani
  7. Now add the cleaned banana flower and saute well. We want the raw flavors of banana glower to go fully before adding rice and water. This should take about 5 minutes.
    vazhaipoo biryani
  8. When the banana flower is sauteed well and 3 cups water and lemon juice. Mix well. Allow the mixture to boil well. When the water is boiling well add soaked rice. Now allow the mixture to boil well.
    vazhaipoo biryani
  9. When the mixture has started to boil close it and pressure cook for 2 whistles in medium flame. When the pressure has subsided allow it to rest for 5 more minutes. Now open the cooker. When the rice looks done take it from the sides using spatula and fluff it gently. Serve it hot with raita! (As shown in the picture I dint put the whistle so what I did was kept the flame in high for 4 to 5 minutes then put the flame to low for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I switched off the flame snd allowed the rice to rest for 5 more minutes. So after 20 minutes open the pressure cooker when the rice looks done fluff gently from sides and serve it hot with raita)
    vazhaipoo biryani