Ani's Kitchen Stories

Banana Blossom is a superfood, vegan friendly delectable plant based food with lots of nutritional benefits which has been long associated with Assamese Bodo Cuisine, South Indian as well as South East Asian cuisine. Koldil in Assamese and Thalit Mwikhun in Bodo language has always been my favourite plant based food since childhood and the way my mom prepares the banana blossom with potatoes will forever stay in my heart.

Food is a love language and I must say preparation of banana blossom and including it in your meal, to your diet and feeding it to your family is a way of showing your love to your family and health.

The process of cleaning and making a dish out of banana blossom may be time consuming but it’s worth it considering the benefits it has for our body. Banana Blossom contains plant based proteins, which fulfils our daily requirements of essential amino acids. This blossom is an alkaline and rich in many minerals, including calcium, potassium and magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. It improves Digestion, regulate blood sugar levels, and promote heart health. Research also shows that Banana Blossom helps you to stay younger.

It’s always based to purchase the fresh Banana Blossom instead of canned ones. And this particular dish calls for fresh ones. They have a savory taste and chewy texture. Caned ones will not give the same taste and texture.

The cleaning part of banana blossom is the most tedious and time consuming. If you’re new to it and trying to make banana blossom for the first time from scratch, it’s best to follow step by step instructions for cleaning the blossoms.

Rinse the banana blossom well and remove the purple leaves. Discard the tough outer leaves and keep the small yellow flowers inside. As you keep on discarding the thick purple leaves, the small flowers inside will turn paler and softer.

Now pick a flower, open by pulling the feathery petal, you’ll find the a long stick with a protruding tip like stem inside the flower. Remove it by pulling it out. It’s called stigma, which are not supposed to be consumed. This’ll make the dish bitter and is not digestible too.

Continue with the same method and the small flowers that are softer and smaller and harder to clean can be used as it is.

Now blanch the flowers with a teaspoon of salt. Drain and squeeze the excess water.

The blanched banana flower is ready to use for dish like curries, fritters and stir fries.

Ingredients: (3-4 servings)

1 whole banana blossom

2 medium size potatoes (sliced)

1 small onion

2 green chillies

1 red chillies

1 cassia leaf/bay leaf

1/4 tsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp garlic paste

1/4 turmeric powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns

Salt to taste

2 tbsp mustard oil for frying

Instructions:

▪️Wash the entire banana blossom.

▪️ Open the outer cover or leaves. Under each leaf you will find a group of yellow flowers.

▪️Keep repeating. While doing so, you’ll find the yellow flowers will be paler and softer.

▪️ Now pick a flower, open by pulling the feathery petal, you’ll find the a long stick with a protruding tip like stem inside the flower. Remove it by pulling it out. It’s called stigma, which are not supposed to be consumed. This’ll make the dish bitter and is not digestible too.

▪️Continue with the same method and the small flowers that are softer and smaller and harder to clean can be used as it is.

▪️Now blanch the flowers with a teaspoon of salt. Drain and squeeze the excess water.

▪️Chop the blanched flowers and set aside.

▪️Peel and chop the potatoes in small chunks. Wash.

▪️Heat oil in the pan. Add sliced onion, stir until translucent, add crushed red and green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Stir.

▪️Add chopped potatoes, salt, turmeric powder and cumin powder, stir and cover. Cook it in low to medium flame for 3-4 minutes

▪️Uncover the lid. Now add the chopped banana flower. Stir and cover. Cook it for another 5 to 6 minutes in low flame. Do not let it burn.

▪️Season it with crushed peppercorns. Stir well. Turn of the flame. Serve hot with rice.

Note: Banana Blossom has got high iron an zinc content, the blossoms while cutting may turn your hand or fingers black. Avoid using any sort of iron vessels, knife or pan. To further avoid discolouration, fill a large bowl with water, add lemon juice, 1-2 tablespoonfuls of salt and massage the flowers under the water for few minutes. (Only after discarding the inner stigma of the flower) The water becomes discoloured. Drain and refill the bowl with fresh water, wash it again and squeeze the water out.