Go Back

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.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

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:

Method
 

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.