Recipe of Banana Flower Curry / "Mochar Ghonto"

Banana flowers is eaten as vegetable in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.  It can be eaten as fries, curry.  Banana, its flower, tender stem from inside the tree, everything can be cooked and it is delicious to eat.  Banana leaf also is used in many cooking ways to cover fish or vegetable and steamed in rice or on fire itself.  Banana tree is useful in all ways.

Here I have added recipe of  banana flower curry or "mochar ghonto".  This is a very popular veg recipe among bengalis and treasured it.  Personally this is one of my favorite items.  

Mochar Ghonto

Ingredients:

• Banana flower - 1
• Potato - 2 medium sized
• Ginger - 1 inch cube piece
• Red chili - 2 / 3
• Oil
• Salt to taste
• Cumin powder -  2 teaspoon 
• Turmeric powder - 2/3 of teaspoon
• Sugar to taste
• Ghee to taste
• Cumin seed - 2 pinches

How to prepare:

• One necessary thing is before you start cleaning the banana flower add little mustard oil in hand so that after cleaning the flower your hand remains free from stickiness and it is little hassle free to clean.
• The flower needs to be cleaned properly to cook.  If it is not cleaned properly, you won't get the proper taste of it.  The hard stem from inside and a transparent peeling cover needs to remove while cleaning.  Please see the picture to understand which part needs to throw.

  

  Hard stem of banana flower

   
• After cleaning the whole thing chop it in small pieces and clean then soak in water at least 30 minutes.

  

  Soaked chopped banana flower 

   
• Then put it in pressure cooker with salt and water and pressure cook it in medium flame for 15 minutes or 4 to 5 whistle whichever is earlier.
• After taking it out from pressure cooker and draining the remaining water once it is cool, squeeze it with your hand to bring towards mashing it. and keep aside.

  

  Boiled & mashed banana flower

  
  
• Heat 3 tablespoon oil  in a pan and add cumin seeds and cook for a minute. Then add a tablespoon of moong dal in it and cook til golden brown.
• Then add potato cut into small pieces and cook it til it is lil golden brown.

  

  Moong dal & potato

• Add banana flower, salt and mix it nicely, then let it cook for sometime.
• Next add turmeric powder, paste of ginger,cumin seeds and red chilis and cook it.

  

  Cooking mochar ghonto

• Once it is cooked add sugar to taste and stir it nicely.
• Add little ghee for flavour and smell just before taking it out from fire.
• "Mocha ghonto" / Banana flower Curry is ready ready to serve.