Vazhakkai Thol Thogayal|Raw Banana Peel Chutney

Did you know that the peel of various fruits and vegetables can be used to make delicious dishes? Yes! The peel, in most cases, contains a whole lot of nutrients, and they are best eaten rather than discarded. This Vazhakkai Thol Thogayal or Raw Banana Peel Chutney is one such example of a beautiful dish created from the high-in-fibre peel of the plantain, which would otherwise have gone to waste.

When I recently read about Raw Banana Peel Chutney (‘Aratikkaya Tokka Pachadi‘ in Telugu) on Sakhi Ravoor’s blog, I was reminded of a similar chutney that Amma would make. Amma‘s chutney would be yummylicious but simple, while Sakhi’s version sounded like a jazzed-up version of the same. I decided to recreate Amma’s chutney in my kitchen, adding a few Sakhi touches to it. The result was so very lovely – a delight, which we polished off in no time.

This Raw Banana Peel Chutney is finger-lickingly delicious, bursting with flavour. It pairs wonderfully with idlis, dosas, rotis, parathas and steamed rice alike.

Here is how I made the Raw Banana Peel Chutney.

Ingredients (makes about 1 cup) :

1. Peel from 2 medium-sized raw bananas
2. 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon oil
3. Salt, to taste
4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
5. 2 medium-sized tomatoes
6. 5-6 cloves of garlic
7. A 1-inch piece of ginger
8. A small piece of tamarind
9. 2 tablespoons chana daal
10. 2 tablespoons urad daal
11. 4-5 dry red chillies, or to taste
12. 1 tablespoon jaggery, or to taste
13. 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds (til)
14. 1 teaspoon mustard
15. 1 sprig fresh curry leaves
16. 2 pinches of asafoetida

Method:

1. Cut the raw banana peel into small pieces. Chop tomatoes into quarters. Peel the garlic cloves. Peel the ginger and chop finely. Keep aside.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Add the chopped banana peel, and cook on low flame till they turn brown. Add chopped tomatoes, garlic cloves and ginger. Cook on low flame till the veggies shrink a little. Ensure that the ingredients do not burn. Transfer to a plate and allow these ingredients to cool down completely.

3. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in the same pan. Add the chana daal, urad daal and dry red chillies. Fry on low heat till the daals turn brown, taking care to ensure that the ingredients do not burn. Add the til in the end and fry for a couple of seconds. Transfer all the fried ingredients to another plate and allow to cool down completely.

4. Soak the tamarind in a little hot water for a few minutes, till it gets soft. Remove seeds, strings and impurities, if any, from the tamarind. Allow this to cool down completely. Reserve the water the tamarind was soaked in, too.

5. Take the cooked raw banana peel, tomatoes, ginger and garlic in a medium-sized mixer jar. Add salt to taste, jaggery, turmeric powder and tamarind along with the water it was soaked in. Pulse a couple of times for 2 seconds each, stopping to scrape down the sides of the mixer with a spoon and mix the ingredients.

6. Now, add the fried chana daal, urad daal, dried red chillies and til to the mixer. Mix the ingredients. Pulse a couple of times for 2 seconds each, stopping to scrape down the sides of the mixer and mix the ingredients. Stop when you get a chutney wherein the veggies are well ground and the daals are coarsely crushed. Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl.

7. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in the same pan. Add mustard seeds, and allow to splutter. Lower flame and add the curry leaves and asafoetida. Let them stay in for a couple of seconds. Transfer this tempering to the chutney in the serving bowl. Mix well. The chutney is now ready to be served.

Notes:

1. Use peel from bananas that are raw, green and firm, with not a hint of ripeness. This will give you the perfect-tasting Raw Banana Peel Chutney.

2. Adjust the quantity of salt, jaggery, dry red chillies and tamarind as per your personal taste preferences.

3. Finely chopped coriander can be mixed in too, after the Raw Banana Peel Chutney is ready.

4. Grind the raw banana peel, tomatoes, ginger and garlic first, along with salt, tamarind, turmeric and jaggery first. When almost done, add the roasted til, chana daal, urad daal and dry red chillies. This will ensure that the chutney retains a slight crunch from the daals.

5. We use only the peel of the raw bananas to make this chutney. The raw bananas can be used to make some other dish.

Did you like this recipe for Raw Banana Peel Chutney? I hope you will try this out, and that you will love it as much as we did!

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I’m sending this recipe to Fiesta Friday #220, co-hosted by Mollie @ The Frugal Hausfrau and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook.