Nendrabale Kele Ambat/South Indian Cooking Banana Curry.

"Nendrabale Kele Ambat/South Indian Cooking Banana Curry" for Naivedyam ... A delicious sweet dish with a dash of spice that is prepared mostly by Konkani Saraswat's from Cochin (Kerala State) ... prepared this today as Naivedyam as it is Goddess Gowri (Parvati) Visarjan Day ..... Stay Blessed~ Spread Happiness …. 

** Kele Ambat is a famous sweet-spicy dish from the southern parts of India, specially from cochin from the state of Kerala and is prepared by large by cochikar’s ie Konkani Saraswats from Cochin. I learned to prepare this about 2 decades back or so, but was not happy as I had heard the recipe in random at a function, and I guess I goofed up while cooking. It was about 5-6 yrs back when a friend of mine shared this recipe with me and gave me a little bit to savor too that I found it to my satisfaction. After that I always prepare this whenever I find the Nendrabale Kele/South Indian cooking banana but again in the last 2-3 yrs as I started Blogging many dishes began taking back seat either due to lack of time or coz. of being busy preparing new dishes. 

** When hubby brought home some raw Nendrabale Kele that were right to be prepared for wafers/ chips, due to some health issue I could not prepare the same and it began to get ripe. It was then when it was in semi ripe condition that I remembered this dish, as for this one we need the banana to be slightly in the less ripe condition or else the dish will turn mushy and will not be very appealing while eating. This is a very simple recipe, and yes it is sweet with a tinge of spice but nevertheless goes were well as a side dish with roti, poori and rasvodo, a dish again which we prepare during Gudi Padva. I have posted it before and you can check out the same, I could not prepare it today, maybe the next time I will update it here. 

** I will not run into much traditional issues here as I myself do not know much history of this dish, as my Mom never prepared it. You can prepare this during any festival time for Naivedyam to God or just as it is to be relished on weekends, after all there is always plenty of reasons with Indians to prepare sweet dishes. Do try out this dish and relish with your family and friends. Serve this dish at room temperature as it tastes best in that way. Cashew nuts are actually optional, but the crunchy nuts do give a lift to the dish and makes it that much more tastier. Children love to munch on them. And please do not overcook the bananas or the taste is lost if it turns mushy. Again, spice should be in limit, so do not try to make it spicier. That’s it.

** Here is my simple recipe for "Nendrabale Kele Ambat/South Indian Cooking Banana Curry" … My Style …. 

** Ingredients: 

Nendrabale Kele/South Indian Cooking Bananas : 2 semi ripe ones 

Chana Dal/Bengal Gram Dal : 1 cup 

Jaggery/Goda/Gud : 75-100 gms grated. 

Cadamom Powder/Ellaichi pitti : pinch 

** Masala for Grinding : 

Coconut/Soyi : ½ cup 

Dry Red Chilli/Kumte Mirsanga/Byadgi Mirchi : 2 

OR 

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 1 tblsp 

Haldi/Turmeric Powder : ¼ tsp 

Jeera/Cumin Seeds : ½ tsp 

Soaked Rice : 2-3 tsp 

OR 

Rice Flour/Tandla Pitti : 2 tblsp 

** For Tempering/Seasoning : 

Ghee : 1 tblsp 

Jeera/Cumin Seeds : ½ tsp 

Mustard Seeds/Rai/Sasam : 1 tsp 

Curry Leaves/Kadipatta/Karbevu : 10-12 fresh ones. 

Cashew Nuts/Kajjubi : 10-12 

** Wash and soak chana dal in plenty of water for 15-20 minutes. Drain, rinse and then put it in pressure cooker pan along with 1.5 cups of water and pressure cook on medium heat to 4 whistles. Do not overcook the dal. We need it just cooked and not mushy. 

** In a mixer grinder add coconut, rice flour or soaked and drained rice, red chillies or red chilly powder, jeera, haldi powder and grind it to a very smooth paste. You can use the chana dal cooked water for grinding purpose, I always use the same when slightly warm as it gives a very fine consistency of ground masala. Keep this ready aside. 

** Add the cooked chana dal in a thick bottomed vessel along with the water in which it was cooked. Peel of the skin of the Nendrabale bananas and cut them into ½ inch thick slices and add to the chana dal. Check the water level and add if necessary and cook on medium flame mixing in between till the bananas are cooked to 50%, this will hardly take 4-5 minutes. 

** Now add in the grated jaggery, ground masala to the cooking ingredients in the vessel and mix well. Check and add water only if necessary, and bring the curry to a boil on medium heat. Cook on medium heat till you see bubbles appearing on surface. Remove from fire, add in the cardamom powder and keep it aside. Do not add too much water as it may become runny, you can always add on the water later once the curry is cooked and you find it too thick. 

** For Tempering/Seasoning : Heat the ghee in a small pan, when hot, add in the cashew nut and fry till the color changes very lightly, remove the cashews and add it to the curry. Now add in the mustard seeds, when they begin to crackle add in the jeera and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds and then pour it over the curry. Cover and keep it aside for some time to cool down and for the flavors to seep into the curry. 

** "Nendrabale Kele Ambat/South Indian Cooking Banana Curry" is done and ready to be served as Naivedyam to God and there by served to family and friends. This is a sweet dish with a slight spiced taste and tastes best when served at room temperature. Goes very well with rasvodo, another dish prepared along with this during Samsar Padvo, but I could not prepare the same today for lack of time. I will definitely post the combo next time, so keep a watch on my Blog. 

** Do Try out this delicious dish and enjoy with your family and friends, I am sure they will love it very much. You can savor this as it is too in a bowl as dessert, which I do as my dinner, tastes awesome. If you keep the texture thick, you can serve it with poori too another delicious combo which will be loved by children, if your children loves sweet dishes and are fussy during lunch time serve them with roti/parathas as this is definitely a nutritious meal too. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of different types in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it or have a query, please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Do try out various types of dishes included in the Blog and Enjoy them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. 

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