Aratikaya Fry Recipe or Aratikaya Vepudu is a simple stir fry that calls for a few aromatic spices bringing immense flavour to the well roasted plantains. It’s flavour is all about simplicity. This vegetarian stir fry is a perfect side dish to rice along with sambar or rasam….and a papad on the side is an extra bonus!!
This dark greenish vegetable is widely grown and consumed in tropical climates, it is a popular vegetable especially in South India. This veggie with a tough skin may not look exciting enough but when cooked in the right way, they taste super delicious. Raw Plantains are a low glycemic source of carbohydrate with high amounts of resistant starch. Resistant starch is a type of starch that cannot be broken down by enzymes in your digestive system and, therefore, acts more like a fibre than a starch. Like the ripened yellow banana, the green banana is also high in potassium.
Plantain itself is cooked in a variety of ways – as a stir fry, as a curry or as fritters. Additionally, different parts of the plantain tree such as the leaves and the branches/stalks are also used in traditional cooking. It’s leaves have a religious significance as they are used during festivals and traditional gatherings to serve food.
The key to this recipe is to use fresh and firm green plantains. This starchy vegetable is simple to cook since it doesn’t really need a whole lot of spices to impart flavour to it. The only aversion I have with this veggie is the stickiness of it’s skin. It gets to your hands and takes a couple of thorough rinses to get rid off completely. Check my notes at the end of the post for a tip on this!!
If you can spare a few extra minutes, then try out my Vazhakkai Varuval Recipe with a homemade spice paste…..it tastes awesome 🙂
Off to Aratikaya Fry Recipe!!
Easy steps to follow for Aratikaya Fry Recipe:
- Select firm raw bananas. Trim the ends of the Raw bananas and peel the skin .
- Cut into cubes or slice it to thick slices and add to a bowl with filled with water.
NOTE:
- If you don’t immerse the cut raw banana pieces immediately in water, it will start to blacken very soon.
- Even better is to add a tablespoon of yoghurt to the water, mix well and then add them to this water.
- While working with raw bananas apply a thin coat of oil to your palms. This will avoid the juice to stick to the hands which is difficult to remove and also avoids staining your clothes.
- Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, lentils (channa & urad dal) and dry red chillies (broken).
- Once the mustard seeds pop up and the lentils turn light brown, add in the chopped onions and green chillies.
- Sauté till the onions turn translucent.
- Add the cubed or sliced plantain pieces, salt, turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste. Stir well, close the lid and cook for 2- 3 minutes.
- Open the lid, add a few curry leaves and red chilli powder.
- Stir fry for 4-5 minutes over medium high heat. Constantly stir to ensure they don’t burn or stick to the pan.
- Now, reduce the heat and fry over medium heat till the banana pieces are well roasted and soft.
- Turn off the heat when you get a nice golden brown colour.
- Transfer Aratikaya Fry to a serving bowl and serve as a side to hot rice along with sambar, rasam or yoghurt rice.
- I love to have it along with Pappu Charu (a version of Andhra style sambar) and a papad.
A Quick Summary:
Aratikaya Fry Recipe | Aratikaya Vepudu Andhra Style | Raw Banana Fry South Indian
Ingredients
- 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 Tablespoon Channa dal
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal
- 2 Dry red chillies
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 green chilli finely chopped
- 3 raw green plantains peel, slice into cubes and place in a bowl of water
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- A sprig of Curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
Instructions
- Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, lentils and dry red chillies.
- Once the mustard seeds pop up and the lentils turn light brown, add in the chopped onions and green chillies.
- Sauté till the onions turn translucent.
- Add the cubed or sliced plantain pieces, salt, turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste. Stir well for 2 minutes.
- Now, add a few curry leaves and red chilli powder.
- Stir fry for 4-5 minutes over medium high heat. Constantly stir to ensure they don’t burn or stick to the pan.
- Reduce the heat and fry over medium heat till the banana pieces are well roasted and soft.
- Turn off the heat when you get a nice golden brown colour.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and serve as a side to hot rice along with sambar, rasam or yoghurt rice.
My notes:
- Adjust spiciness with red chilli powder to suit your tastebuds.
- Add cut raw banana pieces immediately in a bowl with water, otherwise they will blacken very soon.
- While working with raw bananas apply a thin coat of oil to your palms. This will avoid the juice to stick to the hands which is difficult to remove and also avoids staining your clothes.
- Preferably use a nonstick pan but even a well seasoned cast iron pan will work wonders giving it a great texture and taste.
Hope you enjoyed this simple Aratikaya Fry recipe. Check out other Vegetable stir fry recipes from blog!!
Many more to come!!…..STAY TUNED!!
Hungry for more? Never miss a recipe!!…Subscribe to MasalaKorb and have posts delivered straight to your inbox! And connect with me on Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for all of the latest updates.
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma.
