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The best use of overripe bananas: Recipe for Banana Raita

Banana Raita/Pazham Pachadi is simple, frugal dish from a Tamil Brahmin kitchen and my favourite way to use overripe bananas. A perfect match to spicy rice dishes or an accompaniment to rotis and curries too.

Ingredients
  

  • 4 bananas medium sized overripe
  • 400 - 500 ml yogurt fresh
  • 2 tsps dal flour udad
  • 1/2 tsp salt

For tempering:

  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1 tbsp dal udad (whole or split, either is fine)
  • pinch asafoetida
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 2 chillies dried red

garnish: Optional

  • 2 tsps pomegranate ,
  • 1 tsp coconut fresh .

Kitchen equipment:

    Instructions
     

    • Peel and roughly mash the bananas with a fork in a large bowl. Whisk the yogurt with the udad dal lentil flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add it to the mashed bananas. Remove into a serving bowl.
    • Heat the oil in a small pan or a tempering ladle, add the udad dal. On medium flame, allow it to turn golden brown (will take a minute or so), add the asafoetida, curry leaves, red chillies, mustard seeds. The seeds will crackle and the red chillies will turn crisp. Transfer this over the raita.
    • Garnish with few pomegranate pearls and a tsp of fresh grated coconut.

    Notes

    To make udad dal flour, roast 4 tbsp of udad dal (either split or whole) on a low flame, until aromatic, for roughly 5 minutes. Allow to cool and dry grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder or the small jar of a mixer.