Spiced Plaintain Powder / Vazhakkai Podi

South Indians love plantains because they are surplus in our tropical climate. They taste excellent when mildly spiced with chillies, dhals/grains, and coconut. There are several ways in which plantain is spiced and prepared, but this particular recipe that comes from my in-laws is the most unique of them all. This was the first time I even heard of it, so to me it is unique indeed. The plantains are roasted/broiled, then peeled and grated and mixed with a mixture of ground spices. Interesting, isn't it?

the spiced powder

Ingredients:

1. 2 plantains
2. 3 tablespoons thoor dhal / thuvaram paruppu
3. 1.5 tablespoons ulutham paruppu / split black gram dhal
4. ½ teaspoon hing / asafoetida
5. 1 teaspoon salt or as needed
6. 3 dry red chillies
7. 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

1. Brush the plantains with olive oil and broil them for 10-15 minutes until they are blackened on the outside and not too soft or tender to the touch. They should hold their shape to be grated. If you don't own an oven, roast the plantain (coated with some oil) over a low flame.
2. Allow them to cool, then peel and grate them on the larger side of a box grater. 
3. Meanwhile, dry roast the thoor dhal, split black gram dhal, hing, and chillies on medium heat until the dhals begin to change color. Let them cool and then grind along with salt to a slightly coarse powder. 
4. Without removing the spice mixture from the blender/grinder, add the grated plantain and mix everything together by pulsing just a couple of times. Do not try to over grind because the plantain would lump and stick to the blender. 

That's it. The spiced plantain powder is ready. A couple of spoons of it is mixed with some rice and some sesame oil/ghee to make a flavored/spiced rice. It tastes really good - almost like thengai (coconut) podi. The podi doesn't have a long shelf-life because of the cooked plantain. It stores well in the fridge for a few days, though.