Mocha ghanto/Banana Blossom Dish

Few days back, while doing my weekly sabji bazaar I noticed these Banana Blossoms. There were only two left.  Banana Blossom is not that uncommon here, but those available, are the unsweetened variety, which has a bitter taste. These blossoms are comparatively small in size and look similar to the one we find in Kolkata. To be sure, I asked the mausi who was selling and there was a positive reply. Without thinking twice, I grabbed the two.

The mausi who was selling is from Ranaghat, a place in 24 Parganas, in West Bengal. There are few the vendors in this market who belong to this place and because of them sometimes I can give a change to my taste buds with some of the typical vegetables of Bengal, like, Kalmi Shak/ water spinach, Dhenki shak/ edible fern, kankrol/teasel gourd etc. Along with the native vegetables, the other incentive that I get is to speak and listen to a different variety of Bangla. These are the reasons why I come to buy vegetables from this market. This place is not very far from where I stay and the market is not a sophisticated one. I love to buy from such markets- may be developed this liking while accompanying Baba to bazaar in school days.

Those were not the supermarket days. The vendors used to sit with their stock in the ground. There was an effective communication between the buyer and the seller- from bargaining to personal info. Then there was an option of choosing your pick from several vendors to several varieties- the best option for a finicky buyer like my Baba. The truth is this that even I’m choosy and so I love to move through the whole market before picking up anything. This takes more time than usual but I enjoy. S helps me in this work by doing the babysitting throughout.

To make a Banana Blossom dish you should have enough time in your hand. A lot of time and effort are needed for the preparation of the dish. As it was a Saturday, so my job was easy. I took one of the blossoms, cut it and soaked overnight in turmeric water. The next day I prepared this dish Mocha ghanto.

Ingredients

1 blossom of 800 grams

2 potatoes Medium

1 Tomato small

2 green chilly

1 inch fresh ginger

2 tbsp Turmeric

1 tbsp jeera powder

1 tbsp dhaniya powder

1 tbsp red chily powder

Salt as per taste

Sugar as per taste

2 tbsp Mustard oil

Jeera/Whole Cumin seeds and Bayleaves/ tejpatta for seasoning

½ tsp garam masala

Few drops of ghee

Cleaning the Blossom:

Cleaning the blossom is time consuming. Moreover, you need to know which parts you need to discard. Coat your hands with oil. Open the petals one by one. Each petals have a group of long yellow coloured flowers attached with it. Remove those flowers from the petals and keep on a plate. Discard the used petal. The size of the petal decreases gradually. Repeat this process until you finish with all the dark coloured petals and reach the pale yellow coloured moist inner petals. Chop these petals.

Now, for the small bunch of flowers: there is a long thin stalk (the stamina) with a black dot below and a feathery papery layer. Remove those from each flower. Chop the remaining flower.

Method

Mix 1 tbsp of turmeric in normal water. Soak the chopped blossom in the water for atleast 8 to 10 hrs. This is to get rid of the bitter taste.

After 8 to 10 hrs remove chopped blossom from the turmeric water. Discard the water. In a pressure cooker add the soaked blossom with 1 and ½ cup of fresh water and ½ tbsp turmeric and salt. After 5-6 whistles remove from heat.

Make paste of the ginger.

Next cut the potatoes into medium cubes.

Chop tomatoes. Slit the green chilies

Heat oil in a deep-bottomed pan. When the oil is hot enough fry the potatoes with ½ tsp of salt and turmeric. When the potatoes turn golden remove them from the oil.

Open the pressure cooker, add all the spices- ginger paste, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chily powder, turmeric powder, salt and sugar one by one and mash the steamed blossom finely.

Now in the same oil put ½ tsp of Whole Cumin seeds and Bay leaves. Add the tomatoes and fry till it is soft. Add the mashed blossom and cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes and continue to cook again.

After 10 minutes the water should dry. Check whether the potatoes are cooked or not.

Add ½ tsp of garam masala and Ghee and switch off the flame.

Serve with steamed rice.