1. Take the outer covers of the plantain flower and remove bunches of florets one at a time.

2. Hold them gently in hand and remove the stamens from the centre. Then chop the bunches fine and soak them in water mixed with a little buttermilk to prevent discolouration.

3. Boil the chopped flowers with a pinch of haldi powder. 

4. Fry and powder red chillies, bengal gram, dhaniya seeds, til seeds, khus khus and coconut gratings with a little hing powder. 

5. Dilute the tamarind paste with 1 cup water and pour it into the boiled mixture

6. Now slowly add the grinded powder to the above mixture without any lump formation. 

6. Now add the cooked dhal add salt and a little jaggery if preferred. 

7. Transfer to a pressure pan, keep on stove and put the weight. Remove from flame after the first whistle. Let it cool.

8.  Now in a small kadai add a little oil. As soon as the oil gets heated add the urad dhal. When they turn golden brown in colour add the mustard seeds. Let the seeds splatter, now add roasted peanuts and curry leaves. 

9. Transfer this into the cooked pitlai.  Add the chopped coriander leaves now. Vazhaippoo Pitlai is ready.

P.S: For a change you can omit the cooked dhal, fry the ingredients and grind them to a paste instead of powdering them and do this preparation.

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