This is my Mom’s special dish. Its really hard to find banana blossoms, here in America.  But whenever I get a chance…I make sure that I prepare it with utmost care. It takes hours to do all the prep work, cleaning and grinding part. But, certainly worth toiling.

• Plantain Flower 1 small
• Red Gram/Thuvar dal 1 cup
• Salt
• Ginger 3″ size peeled and chopped
• Garlic 6 cloves peeled and chopped
• Dry red chilies 10
• Onion 1 large finely chopped
• Fennel seeds 1-2 spoons toasted
• Oil for frying

Method

1. Soak thuvar dal for 20 minutes in water. Grate toasted red chilies and fennel seeds together. Set them aside
2. Wet-grind  ginger-garlic and soaked chana dal together to thick coarse paste.
3. In a large bowl bring finely chopped onions, grated chilies, fennel and chana paste.
4. Strain chopped plantain flowers and add to the above bowl. Mix them thoroughly. Add further salt.(for the flower)
5. In a wok, heat oil. Make small 2″ diameter vadas…using your wet hands and drop them in hot oil. Fry them both the sides. Do not crowd the oil with vada, fry few at each batch. Maintain the stove over medium to high heat. Fry till reddish brown to dark brown(in this vada…it comes out in dark brown color)
6. Serve hot as a side dish or as an evening snack.