Paruppu usily ( a Delicasy in Tamil Nadu)
Using Nutri Dal Ball(Paruppu urundai_Nochi urundai)

Nutri dal ball(paruppu urunda

Ingredients	Quantity
Paruppu urundai (taken out of freezer&thawed turmeric powder salt water Cooking oil of your choice mustard Spllit black gram dal Red chilly Grated coconut(fresh or taken from freezer) Sugar(optional) Karipatha commonly used vegetable(beans or capsicum 2 or Bittergaurd 1 very finely chopped or raw Banana flower)	5 balls ½ teaspoon ¾ teaspoon 2 cups 2 teaspoons ½ teaspoon 1 teaspoon 2  cut into four pieces 1 tablespoon ½ teaspoon few leaves cut very fine

                           

Method

1. Boil finely chopped vegetable with water,Turmeric powder and  salt till soft, cool and drain.(In Induction cooker with medium power level it will take about 12 minutes)
2. Place a thick bottomed shallow frying pan on medium heat(600 power level in induction cooker).add oil, mustard and wait till it breaks.(It is advisable to close the pan partly to avoid mustard flying around.
3. Add black gram., red chilly and karipatha. When black gram turns golden in colour, add the Nutri dal ball( in case you forgot to thaw the ball, sprinkle some water and close the pan and bring down the heat to minimum. Open after 3 minutes)Break the ball with the help of the spatula’ Pressing the ball against the pan will break them in no time.Bring down the heat to minimum, cover and leave it for 5 minutes. The dal ball would have been broken and slightly roasted. Stir till you are happy with roastng. It takes 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add the cooked vegetable and strir and mix well. Add sugar and coconut and transfer to serving bowl if you want to reheat before eating.

As it is laboriuos to prepare the Delicious Banana flower( vazhai poo) Usily which my mother in law taught me, here I will try to explain it in an easy way.

White flowerlets are gathered and cleaned

Banana flower being cleaned

1. Buy a fresh banana flower from vegetable shop
2. Discard most of the outer layers with white flowerlet if you don't need large quantity. There is no harm in using them . I use only 2 cups of cut flowerlet. So it is easier to cut the tender ones.
3. Take one set of white flower-let. hold inside your left palm and disturb the top . You will see some blackish ,hard top. In tamil they jokingly say the Thief( in kerala they call it Kallan). You will have to remove each head with stem and discard them. Use the white flower only.After saving one lot of flower-lets group them and cut into fine pieces and proceed with the above recipe. As you reach the centre part of the flower, the thief will disappear and you can cut the flower let easily. If you don't remove the thief, the usily may turn bitter. But to enjoy the taste of this lovely dish ,It is worth all  the effort.

N.B: An interesting event comes to my mind. When I was newly married, my father in law accompanied me to Calcutta, He was very fond of vegetable shopping. He brought the banana flower and asked me to cook it. He was a wonderful person.While eating he very softly told me that I had not removed the thief and the vegetable was not edible(It was bitter). I apologised and told him that it was the first time I was cooking that vegetable which was never used in my parent's house.I had taken half a day to clean and cut the flower.I have sweet memories of him when my family enjoys the  banana flower usily.