Banana Stem Juice

Here is a really complicated recipe for "Vazhai thandu Juice" or banana stem juice. This juice can help to treat urinary infection and is also part of weight loss programs .

Ingredients list - make sure you have all the ingredients - missing even one will result in you drinking nothing but water - which is also pretty healthy actually.

Ingredients

1. Banana Stem (1 foot long)

Now get ready for the preparation

Peel the outer fibreous sheath of the banana stem and cut the juicy core into cubes. Add water, salt for taste and enjoy with some ground pepper.

Banana Plant - Stem, Leaf, flower, fruit

We recently harvested a head of banana with 7-8 hands of bananas along with the flower.

Did you know that at one time in Indian homes, 90% of the banana plant is consumed by the family/community growing it? A banana plant yields just one head and a stem and no more. Hence once it is harvested, the main plant is removed leaving one of its daughters to become the main plant and the cycle repeats. The stem and the head are consumed by the family and the leaves are often used as plates to serve meals on. The used leaves are a real feast for the grazing cows or goats in the home or the neighborhood. They also consume the outer sheath when the main plant comes down following its yield.

Also the dried sheaths yield long and strong fibrous strands which are used to pleat flowers into garlands in India and are also spun into strong ropes. Its quite amazing how much just this one plant enables Indian villages in terms of eco-friendly living.

The other great aspect of the banana plants are that they are highly disease resistant and are absolutely zero maintenance. All they need is water - and its mainly recycled water which is virtually all the water utilized by the family that is diverted to a backyard banana grove.

The edible part of the plant is highly nutritious. The flower and stem have high medicinal value - curing indigestion and stomach bugs/ailments. The fruit is the most effective when it comes to clearing any plumbing problems in you. It is an excellent laxative. If you don't believe it, read this.

Here are some of the dishes you can make from the highly nutritious flower fingers and the stem.

Vazhai Thandu Juice
Vazhai Thandu Koottu
Vazhai Poo Kari
Banana Muffins

Translations of Tamil Words

Vazhai - Banana
Poo - flower
Thandu - juicy stem

Carrot Salad

This recipe is so simple that this will not even qualify for a blog post. Nevertheless I will post it here with the aim of reminding us all that some recipes are just plain simple, nutritious and tasty.

I had a bunch of carrots and fresh lemons which I had to find a way to use them. All you need are the following

1. 2-3 carrots grated
2. 1 lemon juice (one more lemon can be squeezed depending on the tartness that you require)
3. Green chillies (optional)

Add the lemon juice to the grated carrots. Add finely cut green chillies (optional). Add a little salt. Serve as is or with yogurt.

As a variation to this carrot salad, I add sprouted mung beans.